NHL Grind Down: Thursday, December 17th
The RotoGrinders NHL Grind Down article will give you an in-depth analysis into the NHL schedule. This article will break down the numbers for every single game and give you analysis on which trends you can exploit. While matchups are a major factor in daily fantasy hockey there are plenty of other factors to consider such as injuries, salaries, and more.
The analysis should point you in the right direction, but it is still up to you to decipher the information and make your own selections. Hockey is an extremely high variance sport. The best choice is not always the right choice but following the trends will win you money over time.
Remember, these writeups are done prior to lineups being released, so make sure to check our Starting Lineups page to ensure the recommended options are playing.
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Vancouver Canucks at Philadelphia Flyers – 07:00 PM EST
| Vancouver Canucks | Philadelphia Flyers | ||||||||
 | Ryan Miller |  | Steve Mason | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 11-13-8 | 13-12-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.50 | 2.84 | 18.40% | 77.90% | Team Stats | 2.10 | 2.71 | 16.90% | 80.00% |
Vancouver has truly become a one line team and on the road that is not a good recipe for success. They have only scored five goals in regulation over their last five road games while on their way to a 0-3-2 record in those games. Not surprisingly both Daniel and Henrik Sedin have five points in those five games so you do the math. The fact is that no one else even comes close to these two when looking at the Canucks and even then, they should only be considered in GPPs tonight.
The Philadelphia Flyers are finally starting to show a little life. Coach Dave Hakstol has moved Jakub Voracek from the right wing to the left wing making one think ‘why would he be better off on the wing he sees less of the net from?’. Nonetheless he responded with netting his second goal of the season along with assisting on two others in a 4-3 overtime win against Carolina Tuesday night. He still gets top power play duty with Claude Giroux, Brayden Schenn and Shayne Gostisbehere and that should come into play tonight as the frustrated Canucks are tied for fifth in the league in taking minor penalties. Vancouver has given up 12 goals in their last 13 games while short-handed, only further justifying the Flyers case on the power play. Gostisbehere is in play as he has not only provided a pulse for a team that was flatlining, he has two goals and two assists in his last five games.
Elite Plays
VAN: None
PHI: Claude Giroux
Secondary Plays
VAN: Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin
PHI: Shayne Gostisbehere, Jakub Voracek, Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds
Florida Panthers at New Jersey Devils – 07:00 PM EST
| Florida Panthers | New Jersey Devils | ||||||||
 | Roberto Luongo |  | Cory Schneider | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 15-12-4 | 16-11-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.52 | 2.39 | 18.40% | 80.80% | Team Stats | 2.39 | 2.32 | 20.60% | 83.20% |
With ten other games on the slate tonight, this may be one you want to avoid. The Panthers come into this one winning seven of their last ten games including big wins against Washington (5-1) and at the New York Islanders (5-1). It’s tough to see them cracking the Devils defense though, especially at home as they scored just two goals in this same arena just 11 days ago. Team scoring leader Jaromir Jagr figured into both of those goals that night and missed the last game with an illness. He should be in the lineup tonight, but I’d make sure before rostering him. Defenseman Aaron Ekblad has been hot of late as he has scored three goals and assisted on two others in his last five games. Although the top line of Reilly Smith, Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau all have four points in their last five games, I still think they should be considered as GPP plays only on the road tonight.
The New Jersey Devils top line of Michael Cammalleri, Lee Stempniak and Adam Henrique is the place to start if you are looking at New Jersey players for your lineups tonight. Although they do not all play on the top power play unit they have scored three, four and five points respectively in their last five games with Stempniak leading the way with three goals in those games. Kyle Palmieri makes an intriguing play as he mans the point on the top power play unit and has responded by scoring three goals to go with two assists in his last in his last five games. Both teams take a lot of penalties but neither team really stands excels at putting the puck in the net with the man advantage.
Elite Plays
FLA: None
NJ: None
Secondary Plays
FLA: Jonathan Huberdeau, Reilly Smith, Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad
NJ: Michael Cammalleri, Adam Henrique, Lee Stempniak, Damon Severson
Anaheim Ducks at Buffalo Sabres – 07:00 PM EST
| Anaheim Ducks | Buffalo Sabres | ||||||||
 | Frederik Andersen |  | Robin Lehner | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 11-13-5 | 13-16-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 1.90 | 2.48 | 17.30% | 87.10% | Team Stats | 2.28 | 2.63 | 22.00% | 76.90% |
Despite only scoring just five goals in their last three games, the Anaheim Ducks have won two of their last four games. John Gibson has started the last eight games in between the pipes and it’s quite possible the workload got to be a bit too much as he had to be pulled from the last game on December 11th after giving up three goals on just 17 shots. The Ducks have played once since their game with the Penguins back on December 6th and that was the 5-1 loss to Carolina. Sometimes a lot of rest isn’t good in the middle of the season because it is hard to recreate the pace of a regular game when all you are doing is practicing. The Ducks have only three of their 11 wins on the road and should be in for a tough battle tonight. With the lack of scoring in recent games it may be wise to use the Ducks as GPP plays only and even then it would probably be just Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf that are in play. Perry has three goals in his last five games while Getzlaf has just three assists over the same time period. If you are of the ilk to play second liners on the road, Jiri Sekac returns for the Ducks and was placed on a line with Jakub Silverberg and Ryan Kesler which could be in play if the Ducks decide to come out and play tonight.
After dropping their last game to the New Jersey Devils by a score of 2-0 the Sabres are back at it as that was their first home loss in the last four tries. We can almost give them a pass as their last four games has games has taken them from Calgary, to a home date with the Kings, over to Detroit and then back home to play the Devils all in a matter of six days. They had a night to rest before tonight’s tilt against the Ducks and should be ready for the task. Ryan O’Reilly is a good place to start here as he has flourished so far this season by tallying 11 goals to go with 17 assists in his first 28 games. It also doesn’t hurt that he has two goals and four assists in his last five games. It’s probably safe to stick with the top line as Jamie McGinn and Sam Reinhart skate with O’Reilly as well as team up for the team’s top power play line. Reinhart has accumulated three points over the last five games while McGinn has tallied two points. Rasmus Ristolainen makes a fine play on defense as he is enjoying a nice rookie campaign by virtue of his seven goals and 16 assists so far this season.
Elite Plays
ANA: None
BUF: none
Secondary Plays
ANA: Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf
BUF: Ryan O’Reilly, Sam Reinhart, Jamie McGinn, Rasmus Ristolainen
Los Angeles Kings at Montreal Canadiens – 07:30 PM EST
| Los Angeles Kings | Montreal Canadiens | ||||||||
 | Jonathan Quick |  | Carey Price | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 19-9-2 | |||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.53 | 2.17 | 18.20% | 84.50% | Team Stats | 3.13 | 2.25 | 20.00% | 86.70% |
After a mediocre start the Los Angeles Kings seem to have righted the ship as they now lead not only the Pacific division, but the whole NHL by giving up only 66 goals in their first 30 games. Losses in the last two games have drug the Kings down a bit though as they are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games. Tonight they face a Montreal team that is 1-5 in their last six games and have only scored more than two goals in regulation just once in their last nine games. If we knew what line Montreal is going to try to shut down it would make our job a bit easier as the Kings have two lines that can score. Anze Kopitar is a good spot to start with as he has an assist in his last three games while defenseman Alec Martinez has a goal and three assists in his last three games. There is probably not going to be a lot of scoring in this one so it’s just a matter of picking a line and going with it. Kopitar skates with Tanner Pearson and Marian Gaborik while Jeff Carter, Milan Lucic and Tyler Toffoli make up the teams second line. Tiffoli finally found the scoresheet last game as he had been absent from it the previous seven games.
As stated above, the Montreal Canadiens have had their share of troubles in the goal scoring department of late. The Kings have only given up two power play goals in 19 times being short-handed over the last six games, so there is probably no help there tonight. It looks like Montreal will have to rely on their studs if they want to break out of this scoring funk. Max Pacioretty leads the team with 14 goals but has only tallied one in his last six games with that lone goal being his only point as well. To everyone’s surprise Dale Weiss is second on the team in goals with ten and has been recently promoted to the top power play unit. He is also in play as he has a goal and two assists in his last two games. Small sample size I know, but you still can’t discredit him for scoring when others aren’t. There are a few other games coming up on the docket that would appear to have more scoring in them than this one so proceed with caution here.
Elite Plays
LAK: None
MTL: None
Secondary Plays
LAK: Jeff Carter, Milan Lucic, Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty
MTL: Max Pacioretty, P.K. Subban, Tomas Plekanec
San Jose Sharks at Toronto Maple Leafs – 07:30 PM EST
| San Jose Sharks | Toronto Maple Leafs | ||||||||
 | Martin Jones |  | Jonathan Bernier | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 15-14-1 | 10-13-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.57 | 2.63 | 17.70% | 81.90% | Team Stats | 2.24 | 2.66 | 18.70% | 80.00% |
The Sharks were able to snap a six game losing streak by surprising the Montreal Canadiens Tuesday night by winning their first game of a five game road trip by a score of 3-1. Before we all jump back on the Sharks bandwagon it must be recognized that San Jose was outshot badly in this game by a count of 27-18. So yes, they are still playing bad hockey and more than likely just got lucky in that one. Toronto isn’t that great of a team either and when two bad teams get together, anything can happen and usually does. San Jose has scored 11 goals in their last 13 games on the power play however and that should be not only the starting point, but the finishing point tonight as well. Joe Pavelski has scored two goals to go along with two assists in his last five games and going with the team leader in any game is always a good idea. With the injury to Logan Couture it has been Joel Ward who gets the call to skate on the top power play unit as Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Brent Burns round out the top five. With the lack of scoring on the Ducks part so far they can be only viewed as GPP plays at this time.
Head coach Mike Babcock continues his quest to bring the Toronto Maple Leafs back to relevancy and based on the last three games, he may be making some headway. After losing a 3-1 lead to Tampa at home Tuesday night Daniel Winnik was able to tie the game with 6 minutes left to send it into overtime. Tampa proved to be too much as Vladislav Namestnikov got the game winner two minutes into the extra frame. The loss still doesn’t discount the fact the Maple Leafs have scored ten goals in their last three games. That’s a far cry from the 58 goals they have scored in the first 26 games. If there is any damage to be done the top line of Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk and P.A. Parenteau should lead the charge as this line has accounted for five goals and six assists in the last three games.
Elite Plays
SJ: None
TOR: None
Secondary Plays
SJ: Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns, Patrick Marleau
TOR: Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk, P.A. Parenteau