NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, December 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 Jersey Devils – 07:00 PM EST
| Carolina Hurricanes | New Jersey Devils | ||||||||
 | Cam Ward |  | Cory Schneider | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 15-16-5 | 17-14-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.36 | 2.83 | 17.70% | 77.40% | Team Stats | 2.28 | 2.39 | 20.00% | 82.00% |
The Hurricanes rolled to a 3-1 victory over the Devils on Saturday in Raleigh, and will be looking for a repeat performance tonight as the scene shifts to New Jersey. Carolina picked up an impressive 2-1 victory against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday and own a solid 7-3-1 record over their last 11 games. Justin Faulk leads the team with 14 goals and 16 assists and has developed into a major weapon on the point of the ‘Canes #1 power-play. We’ve seen his price shoot up across the industry, but he’s still the most appealing fantasy option from the Hurricanes in what should be a slow and choppy hockey game. Up front, Eric Staal remains a dangerous offensive weapon on the top line and he’s joined by Kris Versteeg and Elias Lindholm on the top line that will draw the majority of John Hynes’ attention. Jeff Skinner has found his scoring touch with nine goals and three assists in 12 games this month and combines forces with Victor Rask to give the Hurricanes a very capable secondary scoring line.
The Devils are the slowest paced team in the NHL this season (88.1 CP60) and managed just 20 shots on goal when these two teams met on Saturday. They have now dropped four of their last five games and are averaging just 1.43 goals per game over their last seven games. Michael Cammalleri continues to be the most dangerous offensive weapon for the Devils and he’ll enter tonight’s game with 33 points in 36 games this season. While this game doesn’t look to be overly appealing from a fantasy perspective, Cammalleri and his linemates Lee Stempniak and Adam Henrique all look like fine plays (espectially in GPPs). Alternatively, Kyle Palmieri finally looks to be producing how the Devil’s front office had hoped when they signed him this off-season as he’s scored eight goals and added four assists over the last 14 games. However, the combination of New Jersey’s slow pace and the fact that Carolina has allowed an NHL low 26.1 shots on goal against per game makes New Jersey a team I’ll likely be avoiding.
Elite Options
CAR: Eric Staal, Justin Faulk
NJD: None
Secondary Options
CAR: Kris Versteeg, Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask
NJD: Michael Cammalleri, Adam Henrique, Kyle Palmieri, Lee Stempniak
Ottawa Senators at Boston Bruins – 07:00 PM EST
| Ottawa Senators | Boston Bruins | ||||||||
 | Craig Anderson |  | Tuukka Rask | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 18-12-6 | 19-12-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.92 | 2.81 | 19.80% | 78.30% | Team Stats | 3.03 | 2.66 | 27.40% | 81.30% |
Despite being badly outshot 39-22, the Senators held on to defeat the Boston Bruins in the first half of their home-and-home series. The two teams will make the trip to Boston tonight to renew their budding rivalry. Ottawa has struggled to gain much traction lately as they’ve posted a underwhelming 6-7-1 record over their last 14 games. The Senators feature two very strong forward lines, with Bobby Ryan, Mika Zibanejad and Mike Hoffman on the top line and Kyle Turris centering Mark Stone and Zack Smith on the second line. While squaring off against the combination of Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand is a daunting one, Claude Julien didn’t see overly concerned with matching his defense stalwarts against either line in particular on Sunday. On defense, Erik Karlsson remains matchup proof as he picked up two more assists on Sunday to extend his point streak to six games and now leads all NHL defenseman with 40 points on the young season.
With these two teams now sitting tied in the Atlantic Division with 42 points, the Bruins will be out for retribution tonight at the T.D. Garden. Despite losing the Ottawa on Sunday, the Bruins carried play throughout most of the game and no team in the NHL is allowing more shots on goal per game than the Senators this season (34.0 SA/G). David Krejci was injured in Sunday’s game and will be out of the linup for tonight’s rematch. While Bergeron and Marchand team up with Brett Connolly on the top line, Krejci’s abscence pushes Ryan Spooner up to play between Matt Beleskey and Loui Eriksson on the second line. On the blue-line, Torey Krug was scratched from Sunday’s game with a head injury and he’s also very questionable to play tonight. Zdeno Chara would be the biggest beneficiary if he were to miss tonight’s game as the big defenseman would step onto the point of the #1 power-play. Regardless, Chara has proven to be a very viable option for both GPPs and cash games as he’s posted 5 goals and 15 assists (and a +10) in 33 games.
Elite Options
OTT: Mike Hoffman, Bobby Ryan, Erik Karlsson
BOS: Patrice Bergeron, Loui Eriksson, Zdeno Chara
Secondary Options
OTT: Mark Stone, Kyle Turris, Mika Zibanejad
BOS: Ryan Spooner, Brad Marchand, Matt Beleskey, Colin Miller
New York Islanders at Toronto Maple Leafs – 07:00 PM EST
| New York Islanders | Toronto Maple Leafs | ||||||||
 | Jaroslav Halak |  | Jonathan Bernier | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 19-12-5 | 13-14-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.61 | 2.31 | 18.20% | 87.30% | Team Stats | 2.53 | 2.65 | 20.80% | 79.60% |
The Islanders were out-worked and out-scored against this Maple Leafs team on Sunday and will look to get things turned around tonight in Toronto after dropping four of their last five games. John Tavares headlines the Islanders top scoring line, but he’s been earily quiet lately with just two goals and two assists over his last 12 games. With Tavares appearing to be gribbing his stick too tightly, it’s hard to trust him right now in cash games due to his big-ticket asking price. Kyle Okposo leads the team in scoring with 26 points in 34 games and is slated to play alongside Frans Nielsen and Nikolay Kulemin on the Islanders second line and that’s the grouping I’m expecting to cause the Maple Leafs the most trouble. With Toronto owning a very mediocre 79.6% penalty kill, Nick Leddy, Marek Zidlicky and Johnny Boychuck all deserve your attention on the blue-line. All three players offer a similiar upside and find themselves quiet reasonably priced across the industry.
The Maple Leafs appear to be growing accustomed to the system Mike Babcock is looking to create in Toronto, and after an abysmal start to the season, they’ve posted a very respectable 11-6-3 record over their last twenty games. While this team misses the playmaking abilities of a guy like Phil Kessel, they finally look healthy and have utilized a balance scoring attack to play their way out of the cellar in the Eastern Conference. Toronto outshot New York 38-26 in their 3-1 victory in Brooklyn on Sunday night and will look to pick up two more points in the back-end of this home-and-home series. Each of Torono’s top two forward lines has really picked up their scoring pace, with both Tyler Bozak and Leo Komarov leading the way with 10 points a piece in ten games this month. Nazem Kadri and James van Riemsdyk trail just behind with nine points in those ten games. Dion Phaneuf has been the top option for most of the season on the blue-line with both Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner playing big minutes as well. However, with New York owning the league’s second best 87.3% penalty kill, the fantasy outlook for all three takes a small hit.
Elite Options
NYI: Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, Nick Leddy
TOR: Tyler Bozak, Nazem Kadri, James van Riemsdyk
Secondary Options
NYI: John Tavares, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Josh Bailey, Marek Zidlicky, Johnny Boychuk
TOR: Leo Komarov, P.A. Parenteau, Joffrey Lupul, Dion Phaneuf, Morgan Rielly
Dallas Stars at Columbus Blue Jackets – 07:00 PM EST
| Dallas Stars | Columbus Blue Jackets | ||||||||
 | Kari Lehtonen |  | Sergei Bobrovsky | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 27-7-3 | 13-22-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.46 | 2.41 | 24.20% | 80.40% | Team Stats | 2.39 | 3.13 | 17.60% | 80.70% |
Dallas made a statement to the Western Conference with a 3-0 shutout victory over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday and will not head to Columbus looking for a repeat performance of the 5-1 beatdown the put on the Blue Jackets in their only previous meeting this season. The Stars enter play this evening as not only the fastest paced team in the NHL (116.9 CP60) but also as the highest scoring (3.46 goals/game). With the Blue Jackets proving to me defensively inept this season (3.13 GA/G), they’re likely going to be rather popular selections in all game types. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin have combined for 43 goals and 53 assists in 37 games this season and are obviously elite plays at their respective positions. Patrick Sharp is slated to join them both on the top forward line as well as #1 power-play and he’s quietly putting together a very solid season with 13 goals and 17 assists in 37 games. Jason Spezza leads the charge on the second line alongside the talented Valeri Nichushkin and Ales Hemsky and considering that they’ll likely go a bit overlooked, they look like terrific GPP targets in this very nice matchup. John Klingberg has cooled off a bit offensively, but he still holds the reigns as the point-man on Dallas’ lethal #1 power-play and picked up an assist against the Blue Jackets in their previous meeting. With the Blue Jackets being the most penalized team in the league, he’s solidified as a top tier defensive option tonight.
We’re not even to the halfway point of the season yet, but this Blue Jackets are likely already preparing to be sellers as the trade deadline approaches in a couple months. They own just a 3-8-3 record over their last 14 games and their 29 points is easily the lowest in the NHL. They should benefit from the acceleratted pace Dallas will push at them, but Nick Foligno is questionable to play and we’ve recenty seen Ryan Johansen as a healthy scratch, so things clearly aren’t going John Tortorella’s way right now. Guys like Scott Hartnell, Ryan Johansen, Alexander Wennberg, Brandon Saad and Boone Jenner deserve at least some GPP consideration, but this is a situation I’ll be avoiding for the most part.
Elite Options
DAL: Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Patrick Sharp, John Klingberg
CBJ: Scott Hartnell (where PIMS count)
Secondary Options
DAL: Jason Spezza, Valeri Nichushkin, Ales Hemsky, Cody Eakin, Alex Goligoski
CBJ: Alexander Wennberg, Ryan Johansen, Boone Jenner, Brandon Saad, Ryan Murray
Montreal Canadiens at Florida Panthers – 07:30 PM EST
| Montreal Canadiens | Florida Panthers | ||||||||
 | Carey Price |  | Roberto Luongo | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 20-12-4 | |||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.84 | 2.46 | 19.20% | 85.10% | Team Stats | 2.58 | 2.28 | 17.70% | 80.30% |
The Canadiens snapped a six game losing streak with an shootout victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning last night, but they’ve still lost 10 of their last 12 games and uncharacteristically allowed 39 shots on goal last night. The team is clearly missing Brendan Gallagher up front, and while his return appears to be very close, he’s unlikely to suit things up tonight in Miami. Montreal is averaging just 1.62 goals per game in 13 games during the month of December and they’ll face a Florida team that owns the 3rd lowest GAA in the league this season at just 2.28 GA/G. Max Pacioretty remains the most dangerous offensive weapon up front for the Canadiens, but the combination of his recent struggles and his lofty price-tag make him difficult to pull the trigger on in cash games. On defense, both Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban are generally solid targets, but neither player has scored a goal this month and they aren’t exactly cheap either. The fact that Montreal may be very much overlooked tonight makes them an intriguing GPP option, but I’ll likely be looking elsewhere in my cash games.
The Panthers enter action tonight as one of the hottest teams in the league as they’ve won each of their last six games and have posted a 12-3-0 record over their last 15 games. Their top line of Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov and Jaromir Jagr has been flourishing lately as the trio has combined for eight goals, 19 assists and a +22 in 13 games this month. With that said, Florida opperates at the second slowest pace in the league (97.0 CP60) and will likely be very content in trying to slow tonight’s game down as much as possible and simply grind their way to two points. On the blue-line, Aaron Ekblad continues to put up solid offensive numbers and last year’s Calder Trophy winner is locked into big minutes both at even strength and on point of Florida’s #1 power-play unit.
Elite Options
MTL: Max Pacioretty
FLA: Jaromir Jagr, Jonathan Huberdeau, Aaron Ekblad
Secondary Options
MTL: Alex Galchenyuk, Tomas Plekanec, David Desharnais, P.K. Subban, Andrei Markov
FLA: Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, Jussi Jokinen, Brian Campbell