NHL Grind Down: Thursday, January 21st
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 Boston Bruins – 07:00 PM EST
| Vancouver Canucks | Boston Bruins | ||||||||
 | Ryan Miller |  | Tuukka Rask | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 19-17-11 | 24-16-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.32 | 2.72 | 17.10% | 80.10% | Team Stats | 3.00 | 2.58 | 27.00% | 84.50% |
Vancouver continues their east coast swing as they play their fifth game in eight nights with a visit to TD Garden to face the Bruins. It’s been over a month since the Canucks have scored more than three goals in regulation but have somehow managed to win seven of those twelve games. In fact four of those games have been won with the Canucks scoring just two goals. That my friends is tough to do. Usually when talking about the Canucks, Daniel Sedin is somewhere in that conversation but he has only been able to snag just four points in his last ten games. With his brother Henrik sidelined until at least after the All Star break, Daniel will have to find another way to kick it in to gear. Bo Horvat has been the team’s catalyst over the last eight games by scoring six goals and assisting on four others. Sven Baertschi has added another three goals and two assists over that same time frame. This is important because not only does this duo skate on the second line, which is good to target on the road, but they have scored 11 of the team’s last 17 goals. As with most team’s that aren’t scoring, it becomes very tough to predict goals that may never happen.
David Krejci was spotted working on the top power play unit at yesterday’s practice and has been listed as questionable for tonight’s game. The Bruins have been doing ok without him as they have rung up three straight wins by a composite score of 11-4, including a nice win over the Montreal Canadiens by a core of 4-1. The odd thing here is that the top line of Patrice Bergeron (3), Brad Marchand (2) and Brett Connolly (1) have six of those goals while registering no assists. Loui Eriksson makes a decent play as he has two goals and two assists in his last four games while line mate Ryan Spooner has 11 points in his last ten games. Torey Krug gets the top power play minutes but maybe Zdeno Chara is the better selection tonight as he has pointed in five of the last seven games.
Elite Plays
VAN: None
BOS: None
Secondary Plays
VAN: Daniel Sedin, Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi
BOS: Ryan Spooner, Loui Eriksson, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Torey Krug, Zdeno Chara
Ottawa Senators at New Jersey Devils – 07:00 PM EST
| Ottawa Senators | New Jersey Devils | ||||||||
 | Craig Anderson |  | Cory Schneider | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 22-18-6 | 23-19-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.72 | 2.98 | 18.40% | 76.20% | Team Stats | 2.19 | 2.30 | 17.40% | 82.00% |
The NHL schedule has been a bit crazy this year and if you don’t believe me, just ask the Ottawa Senators. They started off this five game road trip with a loss to Washington and then traveled cross country to lose to Anaheim only to then beat Los Angeles and San Jose. Now they fly all the way back to the east coast to play the Devils tonight in Newark, New Jersey. Will they be tired? Probably, but the way this season has been so far, anything can happen. Ottawa currently sits in ninth place in the Eastern conference with 50 points and find themselves just one point away from the eighth place Devils. The Devils have given up power play goals in six of their last seven games making that the logical place to start where Ottawa is concerned. The top line of Bobby Ryan, Milan Michalek and Mika Zibanejad also make up the 60 percent of the team’s top power play unit. Ryan is second on the team in scoring and Zibanejad has been hot of late grabbing two goals and assisting on two others in his last four games. Mike Hoffman was hurt in the last game against San Jose so it looks like Zack Smith was placed on the second line with Kyle Turris and Mark Stone. Erik Karlsson is the play on defense as he leads the team in scoring and has collected six assists in his last seven games.
New Jersey needs to take care of business tonight to stay in the thick of the playoff hunt. Besides the Washington Capitals, who have 73 points, the next 12 teams are only separated by nine points in the standings with the Devils right in the middle of the 57-48 point spread with 51. Mike Cammalleri returned last game and promptly hit the scoresheet as line mates Adam Henrique and Lee Stempniak also registered points in the Devils 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night. It is probably safe to stick with this trio tonight as they are the top line and should be able to match up well against a defensively challenged Ottawa team. Kyle Palmieri leads the team with 18 goals and makes a nice one-off play tonight.
Elite Plays
OTT: Erik Karlsson
NJ: None
Secondary Plays
OTT: Bobby Ryan, Mika Zibanejad
NJ: Mike Cammalleri, Lee Stempniak, Adam Henrique, Kyle Palmieri
Calgary Flames at Columbus Blue Jackets – 07:00 PM EST
| Calgary Flames | Columbus Blue Jackets | ||||||||
 | Karri Ramo |  | Sergei Bobrovsky | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 20-21-3 | 17-26-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.66 | 3.02 | 14.90% | 74.80% | Team Stats | 2.49 | 3.21 | 17.80% | 80.60% |
Columbus and Calgary come into this one with a combined 287 goals against and yes, that is a lot. Columbus leads the league with 152 against while Calgary has given up 135 goals, which is tied for fourth worst in the league. Calgary has however scored six power play goals in their last five games while the Blue Jackets have given up goals while a man down in four of their last six games. Johnny Gaudreau leads the team in virtually every offensive category including power play points, so there is a good place to start. Sean Monahan and Michael Ferland skate on the top lines with Gaudreau but in all reality they haven’t been producing of late as it’s been Ferland with the upper hand with four points in his last eight games. Mark Giordano on the other hand has been on fire in the last eight games by evidence of netting a goal to go along with seven assists over that time frame. Sam Bennett skates on the second line and has six goals in the last four games, including four in the game against Florida eight days ago. Mikael Backlund is the man to pair Bennett with if you are going with the second line on the road as he has collected four assist in his last four games.
First it was Ryan Johansen getting benched and now it looks like head coach John Tortorella doesn’t know how long he will sit Scott Hartnell, the team’s leading scorer. I get the fact that the Blue Jackets haven’t had their top goalie for most of the season, but this kind of treatment certainly can’t make the others feel comfortable and ready to play. Defensemen Seth Jones and Ryan Murray look to be in play tonight as Jones has four assists in his last three games while Murray has a goal and assist over the last two games. The top line of Brandon Dubinsky and Boone Jenner should be in play with Jenner leading the team in goals (16) and Dubinsky grabbing three goals and assist in his last six games. You could drop to the second line that features Brandon Saad and Alexander Wennberg but that’s a reach as Saad has four points in his last eight games while Wennberg is the hot pick with two goals and an assist in his last three games.
Elite Plays
CAL: Johnny Gaudreau
CLB: None
Secondary Plays
CAL: Mark Giordano, Sean Monahan, Sam Bennett
CLB: Seth Jones, Brandon Dubinsky, Boone Jenner, Ryan Murray, Alexander Wennberg, Brandon Saad
Philadelphia Flyers at Pittsburgh Penguins – 07:00 PM EST
| Philadelphia Flyers | Pittsburgh Penguins | ||||||||
 | Steve Mason |  | Marc-Andre Fleury | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 20-16-8 | 21-17-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.23 | 2.57 | 15.70% | 79.20% | Team Stats | 2.42 | 2.44 | 18.70% | 84.60% |
It’s been 291 days since we last saw an Eastern conference battle between the Flyers and the Penguins. These games are always entertaining as there is truly bad blood oozing off of both benches. Ironically, if the playoffs were to start today both teams would be playing in their off season benefit golf tournaments. Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek each have a goal and five assists in their last six games while skating on both the top line and the team’s top power play unit. Wayne Simmonds and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere have each added two goals and an assist over the last five games and get plenty of minutes on the top power play unit. If you are looking for a one-off it would probably come in the form of second liner Sean Couturier who has three goals to go along with four assists in the last seven games. The Flyers have won the last eight regular season games against the Penguins.
UPDATE: As reported by Flyers beat writer Tim Panaccio, Sean Couturier will not play in tonight’s game. This makes the Penguins an even more lucrative play.
The Penguins power play has been on point of late by virtue of scoring a goal with the man advantage in ten of their last 14 games. Defenseman Kris Letang leads by example with five goals and nine assists in his last eight games which is quickly followed the six goals and six assists that Sidney Crosby has tallied over the last ten games. Patric Hornqvist and Chris Kunitz skate on the top line with Crosby and should be considered in play tonight. Hornqvist seems like he is finally fitting into the scheme of things as he has tallied two goals and five assists over the last six games while Kunitz has three goals in the last four games. Evgeni Malkin leads the team with 44 points in 45 games while line mate Phil Kessel has collected five assists in his last six games.
Elite Plays
PHL: None
PIT: Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby
Secondary Plays
PHL: Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, Shayne Gostisbehere
PIT: Chris Kunitz, Patric Hornqvist, Kris Letang, Phil Kessel
Carolina Hurricanes at Toronto Maple Leafs – 07:30 PM EST
| Carolina Hurricanes | Toronto Maple Leafs | ||||||||
 | Eddie Lack |  | James Reimer | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 20-19-8 | 17-20-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.36 | 2.72 | 17.40% | 80.70% | Team Stats | 2.43 | 2.73 | 16.50% | 79.70% |
Only four teams in the NHL have scored less than the 111 goals that both the Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs have scored this season. After winning a season best four games in a row, the Hurricanes have dropped their last two games by a collective score of 8-2. Carolina’s recent bright spot has been the power play which has scored goals in five of the last six games. This should bode well especially against a Toronto team that has given up four goals while short-handed in the last four games. Elias Lindholm and Eric Staal skate on the top power play unit and although they have three goals and seven assists in their last six games, there have not found the scoresheet in their last three. Speaking of not finding the scoresheet, defenseman Justin Faulk has only two assists in his last 11 games. Noah Hanifin continues to play the point with Faulk on the power play and it almost reminds me of when John Michael-Liles played on the power play last year. He keeps playing there but doesn’t score many points. In his last 19 games, Hanifan has tallied just three assists which all came in a three game stretch earlier this month against Columbus and Vancouver. The Hurricanes use Andrej Nestrasil on the top power play unit instead of Staal’s line mate Kris Versteeg. The latter makes the better play here as Versteeg has six points in his last six games. The third line which features Victor Rask and Jeff Skinner seem to have the most talent by evidence of Skinner leading the team in goals with 17.
Toronto finally broke through with a win against the Philadelphia Flyers after losing five games in a row. Their 3-2 victory signified the most goals they have scored since they defeated the Anaheim Ducks back on January sixth by a score of 4-1. The injury to James van Riemsdyk has definitely put a crimp in things as there is one player that skates on the top two lines that has more than two points in their last six games. This does not bode well for daily play especially on a ten game slate. What it does do however is drive the ownership numbers down as it is very likely that you won’t find many Toronto players on cash game rosters tonight. Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov are the choices here with Komarov leading the team in scoring and Kadri grabbing three assist in his last six games. If you want to drop to the second line Tyler Bozak and P.A. Parenteau are the guys you want to target for your GPP only plays. Dion Phaneuf continues to log top power play minutes on the point and has added two asissts in his last two games.
Elite Plays
CAR: None
TOR: None
Secondary Plays
CAR: Eric Staal, Elias Lindholm, Kris Versteeg, Justin Faulk, Jeff Skinner
TOR: Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov, Dion Phaneuf, P.A. Parenteau, Tyler Bozak, Morgan Rielly