NHL Grind Down: Thursday, October 29th
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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Carolina Hurricanes at New York Islanders – 07:00 PM EDT
| Carolina Hurricanes | New York Islanders | ||||||||
 | Cam Ward |  | Jaroslav Halak | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 30-41 | 47-28 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.23 | 2.67 | 18.80% | 84.70% | Team Stats | 2.99 | 2.73 | 18.70% | 78.00% |
The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Detroit Red Wings last time out in a lackluster game from both sides. The Canes are 3-6-0 on the season and travel to Brooklyn tonight to face the Islanders. Star defenseman Justin Faulk has points in back-to-back games and Eric Staal scored an empty net goal last game. Staal will play tonight on a new-look first line alongside Victor Rask and Elias Lindholm, with Kris Versteeg moving to the third line. Carolina is a very solid puck possession team, but they have trouble putting the puck in the net. The match-up against the Islanders is mediocre as the club has been playing solid defensive hockey. Thomas Greiss will start over Jaroslav Halak, which is a plus for the Hurricanes, but Greiss has been more than serviceable to start the year as he spots a 2.44 GAA and a .932 SV%. The Hurricanes are only in play as low-owned tournament options tonight.
The New York Islanders (6-2-1 on the season) shutout Calgary 4-0 on Monday and will look to establish a three-game winning streak tonight against the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes are scoring under two goals a game, yet average almost 30 shots on goal a game. The Islanders are a significant favorite to win at home, and Thomas Greiss should see plenty of shots, therein making him an elite play in net tonight. Anders Lee is poised to move back to the first line alongside John Tavares and potentially Josh Bailey. There is a lot of value to be had in the Islanders top-six, as the second line, including Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo, has been producing extremely well lately. Look for the Islanders to win this game handily.
Elite Plays
CAR: None
NYI: John Tavares, Anders Lee, Kyle Okposo, Thomas Greiss
Secondary Plays
CAR: Eric Staal, Justin Faulk
NYI: Frans Nielsen, Josh Bailey, Nick Leddy
New Jersey Devils at Philadelphia Flyers – 07:00 PM EDT
| New Jersey Devils | Philadelphia Flyers | ||||||||
 | Cory Schneider |  | Steve Mason | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 32-36 | 33-31 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.15 | 2.55 | 19.30% | 80.60% | Team Stats | 2.59 | 2.72 | 23.40% | 77.10% |
The New Jersey Devils lost to Columbus on Tuesday, bringing an end to their 4-game win streak. There isn’t much to love on this Devils offense outside of the top line of Michael Cammalleri – Adam Henrique – Lee Stempniak. This line was on fire over New Jersey’s winning streak, but was held off the scoresheet last time out. Defending a one-line team is significantly easier than defending one with depth and the Devils will struggle if they cannot find some balanced scoring throughout their lineup. The match-up against the Flyers is decent, however, because the Philadelphia penalty kill (77.4%) has struggled to start the year. Cammalleri is always a great cash game and tournament play due to his high shooting value (which provides a nice floor) and the multi-point upside he brings every night. Look to the New Jersey blueline if you are in need of cheap, value defensemen who will see power-play time in a good spot.
The Philadelphia Flyers will look to rebound tonight against the Devils, having lost to Buffalo in overtime on Tuesday. Despite a 4-2-2 record to start the season, the Flyers offense has simply not been clicking. There is a ton of talent on the top two lines here, yet they are averaging 2.25 goals per game and sporting a 15.4% power-play percentage. Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek account for only 8 points in 8 games this year. This duo will break out in a game sometime soon, possibly tonight against an atrocious New Jersey penalty kill (75%). If you are playing Giroux and Voracek in tournaments, pair them with Mark Streit as the powerplay quarterback defenseman’s points highly correlate with those of the duo. Cory Schneider is an elite netminder capable of stealing games, but the Flyers should win this game handily.
Elite Plays
NJD: Adam Henrique, Michael Cammalleri
PHI: Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Mark Streit
Secondary Plays
NJD: Lee Stempniak, Damon Severson
PHI: Wayne Simmonds, Michael Raffl, Sam Gagner
Buffalo Sabres at Pittsburgh Penguins – 07:00 PM EDT
| Buffalo Sabres | Pittsburgh Penguins | ||||||||
 | Robin Lehner |  | Marc-Andre Fleury | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 23-51 | 43-27 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 1.87 | 3.28 | 13.40% | 75.10% | Team Stats | 2.65 | 2.49 | 19.30% | 84.80% |
The Buffalo Sabres won their last game in overtime against the Philadelphia Flyers and get to face the Penguins tonight who will be playing on a back-to-back. Buffalo is a much improved team from last season, but still has some issues on the back end as they are giving up over 3 goals against per game. Losing talented winger Evander Kane to an injury hurts this club on the offensive side, but they still have a lot of talent. Ryan O’Reilly leads the Sabres with 8 points in 9 games and is joined on the top line and power-play by Tyler Ennis who has 5 points in 9 games. Much of Buffalo’s offensive production this year has come on the power-play where the team is converting at a 25% rate, but the Penguins penalty kill largely neutralizes this advantage as it has been holding the opposition off at 86.2%. The Penguins have been extremely sturdy on the defensive side of the puck and I don’t recommend targeting the Buffalo offense heavily tonight.
The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Washington Capitals 3-1 last night in Washington. The Capitals offense has been deadly on home ice, which makes last night’s Pittsburgh victory even more impressive, particularly from a defensive perspective. Though Sidney Crosby remains shockingly invisible on the score sheet this year, Evgeni Malkin has 8 points in 9 games and Phil Kessel lit the lamp last night to give him his 4th goal of the season. While the Pens have struggled to score goals despite their extremely talented forward corps, they have held the opposition to under 2 goals against per game played. Marc-Andre Fleury has been spectacular to start the year, sporting a 1.90 GAA and a .937 SV%. Even on the back-to-back, Fleury is a borderline elite play against this Buffalo team with the way the Penguins have been defending. Also, the Buffalo penalty is defending the opposition at an abysmal 69.6%, which puts anyone on the Pittsburgh power-play in play tonight.
Elite Plays
BUF: None
PIT: Phil Kessel, Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin
Secondary Plays
BUF: Ryan O’Reilly, Tyler Ennis
PIT: Marc-Andre Fleury, Patric Hornqvist, Chris Kunitz, David Perron
Colorado Avalanche at Tampa Bay Lightning – 07:30 PM EDT
| Colorado Avalanche | Tampa Bay Lightning | ||||||||
 | Semyon Varlamov |  | Ben Bishop | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 39-31 | 50-24 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.55 | 2.72 | 15.00% | 84.60% | Team Stats | 3.16 | 2.51 | 18.80% | 83.70% |
The Colorado Avalanche fell to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday 4-1, dropping their record on the season to 2-5-1. While the Avalanche are managing 2.5 goals scored per game, their possession metrics are the worst in the league and they are allowing over 3 goals against a game. Frankly, the goals against numbers would be a lot higher if not for the talented play of goaltenders Semyon Varlamov and (surprisingly) Reto Berra. Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon are the only fantasy relevant forwards on this team right now, each having recorded 7 points in 8 games. Matt Duchene is extremely talented, but only has 2 points on the year. The Avs get a tough match-up tonight against Tampa Bay who will be playing on home ice. It’s reasonable to have some exposure to Colorado’s top duo in tournaments, as well as power-play quarterback Tyson Barrie (Tampa Bay’s penalty kill is terrible at 75%), but I would look elsewhere for reliable cash game plays.
The Tampa Bay Lightning return from a 4-game road trip tonight to a juicy match-up against the Colorado Avalanche. The Lightning struggled on the road, going 1-1-2 and were shut out for the final two games. There may not be a better team to play than Colorado when you are looking to rebound from a few losses and jump-start your offense. The entire top-6 Lightning forwards are in play tonight, as are power-play defensemen Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman. The Triplets line of Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson, and Ondrej Palat has seen a slow start to the season, but they are in a great spot tonight and hopefully will come with slightly depressed ownership due to their recent performance. Steven Stamkos has 5 goals in 10 games and it would be surprising if he didn’t hit the score sheet tonight.
Elite Plays
COL: Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon
TBL: Steven Stamkos, Tyler Johnson, Victor Hedman
Secondary Plays
COL: Tyson Barrie, Matt Duchene, Jarome Iginla
TBL: Jonathan Drouin, Ryan Callahan, Ondrej Palat, Nikita Kucherov, Anton Stralman
Anaheim Ducks at St. Louis Blues – 08:00 PM EDT
| Anaheim Ducks | St. Louis Blues | ||||||||
 | Frederik Andersen |  | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 51-24 | 51-24 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.78 | 2.70 | 15.70% | 81.00% | Team Stats | 2.91 | 2.40 | 22.30% | 83.70% |
The Anaheim Ducks are a shocking 1-6-2 on the season. While Anaheim has played fantastic on the defensive end to start the season (2.67 GA/GP, 89.3 PK%), they have played equally awful on the offensive end (1 G/GP). The Ducks suffered a huge blow in their effort to get back on track earlier this week when Captain Ryan Getzlaf underwent an appendectomy, sidelining him for the foreseeable few games. The Ducks face a very tough match-up on the road tonight in St. Louis. While Corey Perry has shown a big spark in their last two games, targeting the Ducks tonight is unlikely to be a profitable strategy.
Despite a plethora of injuries to core players in the St. Louis lineup, the Blues are 6-2-1 to start the year. St. Louis shut out Tampa Bay on Tuesday and will look to carry that momentum forward tonight against the Ducks. As mentioned above, Anaheim has been very solid defensively despite their poor record. This game projects to be a tightly fought and low-scoring contest. Colton Parayko will continue to fill in for Kevin Shattenkirk as the latter is poised to miss his seventh consecutive game. Vladimir Tarasenko (9 points in 9 games) is always in play as one of the most skilled players in the game. Considering pairing Tarasenko with Alexander Steen in tournaments as their scoring has been highly correlated this year. In light of Anaheim’s inability to score despite their talent level, Jake Allen is a viable option in net.
Elite Plays
ANA: None
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko, Alexander Steen, Colton Parayko
Secondary Plays
ANA: Corey Perry, Sami Vatanen, Cam Fowler
STL: Jake Allen, Jori Lehtera, Alex Pietrangelo