NHL Grind Down: Thursday, December 1st - Page Three
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Los Angeles Kings at Arizona Coyotes
| Los Angeles Kings | Arizona Coyotes | ||||||||
 | Jeff Zatkoff |  | Mike Smith | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 12-9-1 | 8-10-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.55 | 2.41 | 12.10% | 82.40% | Team Stats | 2.33 | 3.10 | 11.70% | 78.70% |
Picking on Arizona hasn’t worked overly well for fantasy players over the last week, but I’ll still be going back to that well tonight. Los Angeles fell behind early to the San Jose Sharks in last night’s game and were never able to claw their way back, but they had won each of their five previous games and look to be rounding in mid-season shape. The Coyotes are not only ranked as the worst puck possession team in the NHL this season (45.29 CF%) but they’ve also surrendered an NHL worst 34.4 shots against per game and, correspondingly, a league high 11.02 SCA/60 (5 on 5 scoring chances against per 60 minutes). Marian Gaborik returned over the weekend and his presence may force Darryl Sutter to shake up his lines a little bit, but for now it’s still Anze Kopitar centering Trevor Lewis and Dwight King on one line and Jeff Carter leading Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson on another. Kopitar hasn’t yet put up the offensive numbers we’ve grown accustomed to, but he could really benefit from playing alongside an offensive weapon of Gaborik’s level. On the other hand, Carter has been wielding a white-hot stick and now posted eight goals and six assists in his last 13 games. On defense, Los Angeles has three very fine options this evening. Drew Doughty is the headliner and will likely draw the most attention, but both Jake Muzzin and Alec Martinez deserve your attention as well. Martinez actually leads the group with 14 points in 23 games this season and offers similar shot blocking abilities as Mr. Doughty (41 blocked shots this season). All three players see plenty of run with the man advantage which bodes well for them as Arizona owns just a 78.7% penalty kill.
It’s a 12-game slate and the Arizona Coyotes are the worst team in the NHL league. To make things worse, they’re not only rated out as the worst puck possession team in the NHL this season, but they’ll square off against a Los Angeles team that happens to be the league’s best by Corsi standards. Oliver Ekman-Larsson has proven to be rather matchup proof at this point and he’s the only ‘Yote that should be considered in play for cash games this evening. They do benefit from the fact that Los Angeles was in action last night, but there are just too many other options on the board tonight to consider them as anything other than GPP fliers.
Los Angeles Kings
Team Metrics – 2016-17 – 53.69 CF%, 5×5 Goal Differential 6, 109.5 CP60
Elite Options
Jeff Carter ($7,300 FD, $7,100 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 62.8 CF60, 2.35 xGF60, 102.86 PDO
Anze Kopitar ($6,900 FD, $5,600 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 63.22 CF60, 2.72 xGF60, 99.45 PDO
Drew Doughty ($5,700 FD, $5,300 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 60.69 CF60, 2.38 xGF60, 101.8 PDO
Secondary Options
Tyler Toffoli ($6,100 FD, $6,000 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 62.67 CF60, 2.55 xGF60, 102.65 PDO
Marian Gaborik
Alec Martinez ($4,500 FD, $5,000 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 61.44 CF60, 2.41 xGF60, 96.28 PDO
Jake Muzzin ($4,800 FD, $4,600 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 65.3 CF60, 2.37 xGF60, 95.87 PDO
Expected Netminder
Peter Budaj – My Ratings (out of 10): 8 Cash, 7.5 GPP
Arizona Coyotes
Team Metrics – 2016-17 – 45.29 CF%, 5×5 Goal Differential -7, 117.6 CP60
Elite Options
None
Secondary Options
Oliver Ekman-Larsson ($5,900 FD, $5,200 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 54.92 CF60, 2.19 xGF60, 100.79 PDO
Expected Netminder
Mike Smith – My Ratings (out of 10): 2.5 Cash, 5 GPP
Anaheim Ducks at Vancouver Canucks
| Anaheim Ducks | Vancouver Canucks | ||||||||
 | John Gibson |  | Ryan Miller | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 11-8-4 | 10-11-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.57 | 2.35 | 22.40% | 82.70% | Team Stats | 2.26 | 3.00 | 14.90% | 85.70% |
After inexplicably losing three straight home games last week, the Anaheim Ducks rebound nicely with two very impressive wins in the last two games over San Jose and Montreal, respectively. Expectations aren’t nearly as high in Anaheim as they have been in recent memory and if they want to stay competitive in the Pacific Division, they simply can’t afford to leave points on the table in matchups like tonight’s game in Vancouver. Anaheim dominated the Canucks in their only previous meeting this season; winning a 4-2 decision and outshooting Vancouver 37-19 in the process. Offensively, it all starts with the duo of Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf on the top forward line where they’re slated to be joined by Rickard Rakell. Perry and Getzlaf are known commodities and fine options this evening while Rakell benefits greatly from his current line assignment and remains well underpriced for a guy who has scored nine goals and added four assists in just 14 games this season. Alternatively, Ryan Kesler has gotten out of the gates nicely this season and actually sits tied with both Perry and Getzlaf for the team lead with 18 points. He centers a very capable secondary scoring line with Jakob Silfverberg and Andrew Cogliano on his wings and also sees a healthy dose of playing time alongside Perry and Getzlaf on the Duck’s #1 power-play unit. It’s a crowded scene on the Ducks blue-line, but both Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen have both already reached double-digit points and see the lions share of the work with the man advantage.
If you were asked to describe the Vancouver Canucks in just one word, odds are that the word you choose won’t be overly complimentary. Boring and mediocre are two that come to mind for me, and that’s not exactly what I’m looking for on such a robust slate. Vancouver has averaged just 2.26 goals per game this season and face a defensively sound Anaheim team that has only allowed 2.35 goals against per game. This does not set up well as a team you’ll want to target tonight outside of GPPs, but at least Vancouver’s offense is fairly easy to predict. The Sedin twins may be well passed their prime, but they’ve each posted 14 points in 23 games and remain a scoring threat every time they hop over the boards. They’re joined by Brandon Sutter both on the top forward line and #1 power-play unit. Meanwhile, former ninth overall pick Bo Horvat looks to be the future of this team and he has been red-hot lately; scoring four goals and adding eight assists in his last 11 games. The 21 year-old now leads Vancouver with 18 points on the young season and has some chemistry building with Loui Eriksson and Markus Granlund. With Chris Tanev and Alexander Edler both sidelined on the blue-line, the doors are wide open for either Ben Hutton or Troy Stecher to step up and make a name for themselves. Both will see a healthy dose of playing time on the power-play, but we haven’t seen too much to get excited about just yet.
Anaheim Ducks
Team Metrics – 2016-17 – 48.89 CF%, 5×5 Goal Differential 0, 107.66 CP60
Elite Options
Ryan Getzlaf ($7,300 FD, $6,500 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 54.57 CF60, 2.87 xGF60, 98.14 PDO
Corey Perry ($7,000 FD, $6,600 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 60.08 CF60, 2.98 xGF60, 99.01 PDO
Secondary Options
Ryan Kesler ($6,900 FD, $6,000 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 55.21 CF60, 2.8 xGF60, 104.05 PDO
Rickard Rakell ($5,700 FD, $6,300 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 47.23 CF60, 2.08 xGF60, 105.38 PDO
Sami Vatanen ($5,000 FD, $4,500 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 59.16 CF60, 2.93 xGF60, 102.5 PDO
Cam Fowler ($4,900 FD, $5,100 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 54.8 CF60, 2.92 xGF60, 100.36 PDO
Expected Netminder
John Gibson – My Ratings (out of 10): 8.5 Cash, 8 GPP
Vancouver Canucks
Team Metrics – 2016-17 – 50.2 CF%, 5×5 Goal Differential -17, 108.01 CP60
Elite Options
None
Secondary Options
Bo Horvat ($4,800 FD, $4,300 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 54.45 CF60, 2.63 xGF60, 99.48 PDO
Daniel Sedin ($6,800 FD, $5,500 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 57.65 CF60, 2.32 xGF60, 98.77 PDO
Henrik Sedin ($5,100 FD, $4,500 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 56.87 CF60, 2.2 xGF60, 97.77 PDO
Expected Netminder
Ryan Miller – My Ratings (out of 10): 4.5 Cash, 5.5 GPP