NHL Grind Down: Thursday, November 10th
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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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Columbus Blue Jackets at Boston Bruins
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Boston Bruins | ||||||||
 | Curtis McElhinney |  | Tuukka Rask | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 6-3-2 | 7-6-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.20 | 2.10 | 35.50% | 91.40% | Team Stats | 2.38 | 2.69 | 14.60% | 83.00% |
It took an overtime goal by defenseman Zachary Werenski to save what could have been a comeback win by Anaheim last night as the Blue Jackets bested the Ducks by a score of 3-2. Columbus has now won four of their last five games as they head into Boston tonight. The Bruins lost a tough on last time out by dropping a 3-2 decision in Montreal Tuesday night. The top line that features Alexander Wennberg and Nick Foligno lead the team in points with 12 apiece with line mate Brandon Saad right behind them with 10. Scott Hartnell has been moved up to the second line with Boone Jenner Cam Atkinson and this could be the line to target tonight on the road tonight. We need to remember that the statistics for the Blue Jackets are a bit inflated over the last week or so because of their ten goal outburst last Friday night at home against Montreal. Although Werenski is the play on defense, Ryan Murray can make a nice value option as it appears he is getting more chances now that Seth Jones is on the shelf for a bit.
The top line that features Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak will probably be a popular play in cash games tonight. They lead the Bruins in scoring as Marchand has 15 points in 13 games while Pastrnak leads the team with nine goals while having 13 points to his credit in 11 games. Add Patrice Bergeron to those two and you are looking at a cash play line stack tonight. With Columbus playing last night I wouldn’t be opposed to using the second line of Ryan Spooner, David Krejci and David Backes either as this line, along with Bergeron, have been seeing a bunch of power play time with defenseman Torey Krug. John Michael-Liles and Brandon Carlo lead all Boston defenseman in scoring with four points, so maybe staying away from Krug here is a good idea. Look for the Bruins to improve on their 2-3 record in front of the home crowd tonight.
Elite Plays
CBJ: None
BOS: Brad Marchand , David Pastrnak
Secondary Plays
CBJ: Nick Foilgno, Alexander Wennberg, Zachary Werenski
BOS: Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Ryan Spooner
Anaheim Ducks at Carolina Hurricanes
| Anaheim Ducks | Carolina Hurricanes | ||||||||
 | Jonathan Bernier |  | Eddie Lack | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 6-5-3 | 3-5-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.69 | 2.31 | 26.10% | 84.60% | Team Stats | 2.50 | 3.33 | 21.10% | 88.90% |
Anaheim almost pulled out a come from behind win in Columbus last night but fell just a bit short as the Jackets took the win in overtime by a score of 3-2. Columbus did a great job of wrapping up Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf as they allowed them only four shots on goal all night. Rickard Rakell continues his assault on opposing goaltenders as he scored his fourth goal in his fifth game back while recording his seventh point. He makes a great one-off play here along with second line center Ryan Kesler. Rakell sees secondary power play time while Kesler is joined by defensemen Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen to form the top power play unit along with Perry and Getzlaf. Until guys like Jakob Silfverberg and Andrew Cogliano start scoring it’s tough to take Kesler’s line mates on a ten game slate like we have tonight.
Carolina is another one of those teams that the NHL schedulers were not kind to early in the season. This will be there fourth home game of the year as they have fallen to the bottom of the Metropolitan division with a 3-5-4 record. Anaheim comes into this one after playing last night in Columbus and by all accounts, came out a bit flat. Although the Hurricanes have only scored seven goals in their last four games they have gotten a few points by going 1-1-2 over that span. Jeff Skinner is in play here as he leads the team in points with six goals and six assists while playing on the top line with Victor Rask and now Elias Lindholm. Lee Stempniak used to be on the top line but his lack of production earned him a demotion the third line. Rask is a decent play here as well as he has ten points through the first 12 games while skating alongside of Skinner on the top line and on the team’s top power play unit. With Justin Faulk seemingly still injured defenseman Noah Hanifin is the play here as he has collected seven assist so far this year with three of them coming with the man advantage. Andrej Nestrasil could be used as a one-off here in deeper GPP play as he skates on the team’s second line but gets some looks when the team goes on the power play.
Elite Plays
ANA: Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf
CAR: None
Secondary Plays
ANA: Cam Fowler, Sami Vatanen, Ryan Kesler, Rickard Rakell
CAR: Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, Noah Hanifin
Minnesota Wild at Pittsburgh Penguins
| Minnesota Wild | Pittsburgh Penguins | ||||||||
 | Devan Dubnyk |  | Marc-Andre Fleury | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 6-4-1 | 9-2-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.00 | 2.00 | 14.70% | 93.50% | Team Stats | 3.08 | 2.62 | 22.70% | 82.30% |
Minnesota plays their second game on the road as they try to improve on their 2-3 record away from the friendly confines on the Xcel Center. They have a tall order to fill tonight as the Penguins have not lost on home ice while the Wild have struggled to score goals over the last two games. Mikael Granlund has the only goal over the last two games as he is joined by Mikko Koivu and Jason Pominville on the second line. This line could make for a nice GPP play but with nine other games on the slate, it’s probably best to stay away. Defenseman Ryan Suter is the only thing that resembles any sense of consistency as he has racked up ten points to lead the team here in the early going. In spite of Pittsburgh’s decent record at home they have given up at least two goals in each of those games so maybe Eric Staal and Charlie Coyle can cash in for a goal here but I wouldn’t expect much from the top line tonight.
Pittsburgh is a pretty good team to handicap unless Connor Sheary decides to net two goals like he did the other night against the Edmonton Oilers in the Penguins 4-3 home win. Sidney Crosby has been on fire over the last six games as he has tallied seven goals to go along with two assists. Patric Hornqvist and Carl Hagelin skate on the wings and make a great GPP play tonight but as far as cash games go I’d go with the pair of Crosby and Hornqvist as they see the most minutes together with the man advantage. The same could be said for Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel as they are two thirds of a second potent Pittsburgh line that has seen them combine for seven goals and six assists over the past six games. Chris Kunitz has added five points over that same time period to complete the full line stack if you choose to go that way tonight. Kris Letang is the play ion defense as he quarterbacks one of the most dangerous power plays in the league as no one touches his 25 plus minutes a night of ice time.
h3. Elite Plays
MIN: None
PIT: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin
Secondary Plays
MIN: Ryan Suter, Eric Staal, Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund
PIT: Kris Letang, Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist
Vancouver Canucks at Detroit Red Wings
| Vancouver Canucks | Detroit Red Wings | ||||||||
 | Ryan Miller |  | Jimmy Howard | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 5-8-1 | 7-6-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 1.86 | 2.86 | 9.30% | 85.00% | Team Stats | 2.57 | 2.64 | 18.00% | 79.10% |
Vancouver is trying everything in the book where the defensive position is concerned. It seems that Philip Larsen and Troy Stecher are alternating in and out on almost a nightly basis while seeing plenty of time on the top power play unit. The Canucks finally broke up their eight-game losing streak with a win at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. They finish up their six-game road trip with a trip to yet another historic NHL site, the Joe Louis Arena as they prepare to take on a Detroit team that has been streaky, to say the least. Just because Vancouver poured in five goals against a laid-back New York ranger team doesn’t mean they won’t revert back to the team that has scored only nine goals in the previous eight games, in fact, I’d count on that tonight. As usual Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin lead the team in points and could be used as a GPP play here tonight. They both get plenty of power play time with second liner Brandon Sutter, who has only mustered six points in the team’s first 14 games. You can use him as a one-off here at your own risk but there are better options on the board tonight. Only one defenseman has more than three points and that’s the aforementioned Larsen, who was a healthy scratch last game. This team is a complete mess despite finding a way to score five goals last game.
Two losses, six wins, five losses, one win. This is how the Red Wings results page reads on any site you look it up on. A bit streaky for my liking but the good news is that they did win their last game and they host the Vancouver Canucks tonight. Detroit is finally shaking things up as the top line of Dylan Larkin, Henrik Zetterberg and Gustav Nyquist now looks like a formidable line to target on home ice tonight. The only problem with that is that Tomas Tatar and Zetterberg lead the team with four points each over the last six games but it looks like Tatar will stick on the top power play unit.Putting them on your roster with defenseman Mike Green would make sense here as Green leads the team in scoring but we can’t discount Niklas Kronwall as he fills out the team’s top unit when they go on the power play. As usual, I’d keep the pairs together here, Larkin and Zetterberg or Tatar and Nielsen while trying to fit Green into the mix.
Elite Plays
VAN: None
DET: None
Secondary Plays
VAN: Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin
DET: Tomas Tatar, Henrik Zetterberg, Mike Green, Dylan Larkin, Frans Nielsen
San Jose Sharks at Florida Panthers
| San Jose Sharks | Florida Panthers | ||||||||
 | Martin Jones |  | James Reimer | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 7-6-0 | 6-6-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.31 | 2.46 | 18.60% | 88.20% | Team Stats | 2.69 | 2.46 | 18.80% | 81.10% |
The Sharks started their six-game road trip on the right foot as they defeated the defensive-minded Washington Capitals by a score of 3-0 on Tuesday night. The take the trip south tonight to face a Florida Panther team that has seen better days as they have only won three games in their last eight games. Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton lead the team in points from the top line while defenseman Brent Burns adds the punch from the blue line, especially on the team’s top power play unit. Logan Couture has been a bit quiet of late from the second line as his two goals on 42 shots could be a bit better. Since Joel Ward was moved to the top line it looks like Patrick Marleau and Tomas Hertl could make a nice GPP play here as Marleau completes the top power play line while Hertl has four goals and four assists so far this season.
Jonathan Marchessault continues to lead the team in scoring with 13 points in 13 games, now if only linemates Jaromir Jagr and Aleksander Barkov can start getting to the act, that’d be great. This line serves as the top power play that has scored four goals in the last three games so sticking with them tonight may be an optimal play. Defenseman Keith Yandle is starting to heat up as he has collected five of his seven assists over the last five games. Aaron Ekblad completes the top power play unit but he has only scored two goals which is clearly a disappointment so far this season. You could use second liner Vincent Trocheck or third liner Colton Sceviour as GPP plays as they each have three goals and two assists over the last five games. The Sharks shut out the Capitals last time out but I wouldn’t think they could turn the trick two times in a row.
Elite Plays
SJ: Brent Burns, Joe Pavelski
FLA: Jonathan Marchessault
Secondary Plays
SJ: Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl
FLA: Keith Yandle, Jaromir Jagr, Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck