NHL Grind Down: Thursday, November 12th
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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Colorado Avalanche at Boston Bruins – 07:00 PM EST
| Colorado Avalanche | Boston Bruins | ||||||||
 | Reto Berra |  | Tuukka Rask | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 5-9 | 7-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.67 | 2.80 | 19.70% | 82.00% | Team Stats | 3.36 | 3.21 | 33.30% | 70.40% |
Boston has a sterling 6-2 record on the road yet unfortunately, tonight’s game is at home where we find them with a paltry 1-4-1 record. Their 7-6-1 record has them smack in the middle of a six-team dogfight for second place in the Atlantic division, making every point valuable, even this early in the season. It’s tough to settle on a top line for the Bruins as they have split up their talent guys into three pairs on three different lines, so it’s to the power play we go to for our selections tonight.
The Avalanche started their seven game road trip by handing the Philadelphia Flyers a 4-0 shutout loss Tuesday night. Now before we get all crazy, let’s remember the Flyers aren’t that good of a team and with the injury to goaltender Semyon Varlamov, it is very unlikely that Reto Berra can put together two good games in a row. Colorado is 5-9-1 and in last place in the Central division. The interesting fact here is that as bad as the Avalanche seem to be, they have scored 40 goals and have only given up 42.
Elite Plays
COL: None
BOS: David Krejci, Loui Eriksson
Secondary Plays
COL: Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Jarome Iginla, Tyson Barrie
BOS: Torey Krug, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron
Washington Capitals at Philadelphia Flyers – 07:00 PM EST
| Washington Capitals | Philadelphia Flyers | ||||||||
 | Braden Holtby |  | Steve Mason | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 10-4 | 5-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.00 | 2.29 | 20.40% | 85.00% | Team Stats | 1.80 | 2.87 | 13.60% | 78.90% |
The Capitals come into this one in second place in the Metropolitan division, just four points behind the New York Rangers with a game in hand. I know it’s much too early to talk about how many games teams have left, but as we have seen in the past, every game counts. Washington will try to shake off a tough loss to Detroit as the Wings beat them 1-0 despite Alex Ovechkin shooting the puck on net 15 times.
If you like train wrecks, the Philadelphia Flyers are your team. After being shut out on home ice by the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday night, coach Dave Hakstol thought he would “hold the team accountable” for their lackluster play by having a hard practice. It doesn’t matter how many team meetings there are or how many ‘battle drills’ are run in practice, a bad team is a bad team. If not for the three shutouts authored by goaltender Michal Neuvirth, the Flyers would be a lot worse than 5-7-3. The only thing more amazing about this team is that there are two teams below them in the division standings. Oh wait, I was wrong, it’s the fact that 13 of the 21 players that have appeared in a game this year for the Flyers have more goals than Jakub Voracek.
Elite Plays
WAS: Alexander Ovechkin
PHI: None
Secondary Plays
WAS: T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson
PHI:Claude Giroux, Mark Streit
Minnesota Wild at Carolina Hurricanes – 07:00 PM EST
| Minnesota Wild | Carolina Hurricanes | ||||||||
 | Devan Dubnyk |  | Cam Ward | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 9-3 | 6-9 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.07 | 2.71 | 19.20% | 76.70% | Team Stats | 2.00 | 2.87 | 11.50% | 79.40% |
Minnesota comes into this contest with a 9-3-2 record, which is good for third place in the Central division. However, they are only 2-2-2 on the road which could prove to be problematic in tonight’s contest as they are basically a one-line team, especially without superstar Zach Parise. Coach Mike Yeo does an excellent job at home by utilizing the last change advantage, but on the road, he just doesn’t have the firepower to compete as well.
As you can tell, I am not too high on taking any players from this game and there’s no reason to think that Carolina would be in the mix tonight. There are plenty of other good options on the slate tonight as Carolina owns a 2-4 home record and is 6-9 overall, good for seventh place in the Metropolitan division.
Elite Plays
MIN: None
CAR: None
Secondary Plays
MIN: Mikko Koivu, Thomas Vanek, Ryan Suter
CAR: Eric Staal, Justin Faulk
St. Louis Blues at New York Rangers – 07:00 PM EST
| St. Louis Blues | New York Rangers | ||||||||
 | Jake Allen |  | Henrik Lundqvist | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 11-3 | 11-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.80 | 2.07 | 14.30% | 84.50% | Team Stats | 3.00 | 1.60 | 16.20% | 88.00% |
St. Louis carries an 11-3-1 record into Madison Square Garden tonight as they look to improve on their 7-2 road record against the Rangers. Jeremy Rutherford is reporting that the Blues will use the same lineup as they did the other night, which means the top line of Alexander Steen, Jori Lehtera and Vladimir Tarasenko will stay intact. It seems more and more teams are splitting up their best players on the road, making it difficult for opposing teams to mix and match, but the Blues will keep using the strategy that has been working for them.
The Rangers come into this game with a 7-1-1 home record as well as riding a six-game winning streak. Their 11-2-2 record has them at the top of the heap in the Metropolitan division and upon further speculation, the Rangers have given up only 25 goals so far this season, which is the least in the league. This, of course, not only has to do with playing great defense, but having Henrik Lundqvist in net, who sits fourth in goals against average (1.65) and third in save percentage (.949). If there is a chink in the St. Louis armor, it is their penchant for taking penalties. Their 68 minor penalties rank second in the league, making the Rangers power play a viable option for tonight’s contests.
Elite Plays
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko, Alexander Steen
NYR: None
Secondary Plays
STL: Jori Lehtera, Colton Parayko, Kevin Shattenkirk
NYR: Mats Zuccarello, Derick Brassard, Rick Nash, Keith Yandle
Vancouver Canucks at Ottawa Senators – 07:30 PM EST
| Vancouver Canucks | Ottawa Senators | ||||||||
 | Ryan Miller |  | Andrew Hammond | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 7-4 | 7-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.94 | 2.44 | 13.70% | 82.20% | Team Stats | 2.93 | 3.13 | 17.40% | 75.00% |
After a hot start, the Vancouver Canucks seem to be coming back down to Earth. Their 7-4-5 record has them at the top of the heap in the Pacific division, but are only 4-3-3 in the last 10 games and two of those wins have come against Philadelphia and Columbus. Head coach Willie Desjardins has tried to jump start Radim Vrbata by reuniting him at times with the Sedin twins, but to no avail as Vrbata continues to struggle with just three goals and three assists. Tonight it looks like he will skate on the second line and remain on the top power play unit, which is good as Ottawa ranks third in the league as they have taken 66 minor penalties so far this season.
Ottawa is almost a mirror image of the Canucks at this point in the season as they too are 4-3-3 in their last 10 games while they sit in third place in the Atlantic division with a 7-5-3 record. The alarming thing here is that the Senators have given up 49 goals so far, which is good for fourth most in the league. They look to rebound tonight after two tough road losses, an overtime loss to Carolina and a 7-5 loss at Nashville. Ottawa is another team that breaks up their lines on the power play, so your choices are take the top skating line or select players that skate on the power play.
Elite Plays
VAN: Daniel Sedin
OTT: Kyle Turris, Erik Karlsson
Secondary Plays
VAN: Henrik Sedin, Radim Vrbata, Alexandre Burrows
OTT: Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, Bobby Ryan