NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, February 28th
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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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Washington Capitals at New York Rangers
| Washington Capitals | New York Rangers | ||||||||
 | Braden Holtby |  | Henrik Lundqvist | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 41-13-7 | 40-20-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.31 | 2.10 | 21.80% | 83.80% | Team Stats | 3.27 | 2.61 | 18.90% | 81.20% |
It looks like the Rangers could be down to five defensemen for tonight’s game as both Kevin Klein and Dan Girardi may not be able to play because of injuries. This has prompted the Rangers to call up Steve Kampfer from the minors to fill the void. New York gets the biggest test of the season as they take on the Washington Capitals in front of the home crowd. Mats Zuccarello, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad will skate as the team’s top line while Derek Stepan will center Rick Nash and Jimmy Vesey on the second line. Nash and Vesey have picked up the pace a little bit over the last two weeks that has saw Nash grab four of his 31 points in the last six games while Vesey has notched three points over that same time frame. New York has only scored 13 goals in those six games so getting back on track tonight looks to be the first thing they will look to work on. Michael Grabner and J.T. Miller skate on the team’s third line but have been the most productive over the course of the season. Grabner leads the team with 26 goals while Miller’s 47 points is tops on the team. As you can see the Rangers scoring comes from three different lines so the trick is picking the right one on any given night. Defenseman Ryan McDonagh would seem to be in for a bigger workload than usual with the possible injuries keeping a few defensmen out of tonight’s contest. McDonagh has collected 12 of his 31 points while quarterbacking the team’s top power play unit. The Rangers have a tough task ahead of them as they try to beat a team they had beat by a score of 2-1 in this same building nine nights ago.
The big question that has been asked over the last 12 hours is will Kevin Shattenkirk be the answer to the Capitals playoff woes? Only time will tell on this but in the meantime grinders are licking their lips at the prospect of Shattenkirk playing the point on one of the best power play units in the league. It looks like John Carlson will take a back seat here which I’m sure he won’t mind if the Capitals do indeed make a long Cup run. Tom Wilson has moved up to the top line to skate along with Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. This move is necessary because although T.J. Oshie practiced yesterday, it looks like he will sit another game before jumping back into the lineup. This is the line to target here as Backstrom leads the team with 63 points while Ovechkin’s 27 goals is tops on the team. Evgeny Kuznetsov centers Justin Williams and Marcus Johansson on the team’s second line that sees Johansson get the call to go up and skate with Ovechkin and Backstrom when the Capitals draw a penalty. Look for the Caps to score early and often against a depleted Rangers defense.
Elite Plays
NYR: J.T. Miller
WSH: Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Ovechkin
Secondary Plays
NYR: Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonagh
WSH: Kevin Shattenkirk, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Marcus Johansson
Arizona Coyotes at Boston Bruins
| Arizona Coyotes | Boston Bruins | ||||||||
 | Louis Domingue |  | Tuukka Rask | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 22-32-7 | 32-24-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.34 | 3.20 | 14.70% | 77.60% | Team Stats | 2.74 | 2.63 | 20.20% | 85.90% |
With Martin Hanzal being dealt to the Minnesota Wild the Coyotes have become even less of a team to look at when trying to make our rosters tonight. The team’s 51 points should keep them as the second worst team in the league for the remainder of the season which will be a good thing come draft time. Radim Vrbata and Max Domi will be split up for tonight’s game as Vrbata will have Tobias Rieder and Alex Burmistrov as his new line mates. Domi drops to the second line to skate with Christian Dvorak and Peter Holland Vrbata has notched 11 of his 46 points in the last 10 games while Domi has notched 10 of his 26 points over the same time frame. Shane Doan will take his tears and skate on the third line. I guess Doan was unhappy that the Coyotes made some moves that didn’t involve him as he now realizes that his shot at a Cup is nothing but a distant dream. Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the choice on the back line as he has tallied 17 of his 33 points manning the point with the man advantage. With 11 other games on the slate none of the Arizona players look appealing for cash games and I would certainly keep it down to a dull roar when hitting the ‘select player’ button when it comes to tournament play.
The Bruins have won six of their last seven games which has kept the team in contention for the top spot in the Atlantic Conference. Their 32-24-6 record has yielded 70 points which was just four points from the division leading Canadiens going into last night’s action. The top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Backes should do most of the damage here but the second line could get in on the scoring as well. Marchand leads the team with 27 goals and 37 assists while Bergeron joins him on the team’s top power play unit. Both players have combined for 11 goals and 18 assists in the last 10 games which should pump their ownership up tonight in cash game play. Peter Cehlarik, David Pastrnak and David Krejci skate on the second line but sticking with Pastrnak and Krejci are the ones to stick with here. Pastrnak gets the extra minutes on the top power play line and makes for a great one-off here as he has tallied 55 points in the 51 games he has played in. Torey Krug is the play from the back line as he not only soaks up a lot of ice time when the Bruins have the man advantage, his 10 points in the last 10 games now has given him a season total of 41 points. The Bruins should have no trouble here on home ice tonight.
Elite Plays
ARZ: None
BOS: Brad Marchand
Secondary Plays
ARZ: Radim Vrbata, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Max Domi
BOS: David Pastrnak, Torey Krug, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, David Backes
Colorado Avalanche at Philadelphia Flyers
| Colorado Avalanche | Philadelphia Flyers | ||||||||
 | Calvin Pickard |  | Michal Neuvirth | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 17-40-3 | 28-26-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 1.97 | 3.31 | 13.90% | 78.50% | Team Stats | 2.49 | 3.00 | 21.10% | 81.00% |
Despite being the worst team in the league the Colorado Avalanche put up more than four goals for the third time this season in their 5-3 on Saturday night. Tonight they face a Flyers team that has won just two games in their last nine and haven’t scored more than three goals in their last 17 games. Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Nieto will skate on the top line with the former two being the players to look at tonight. MacKinnon leads the team with 41 points while Landeskog has grabbed nine of his 26 points since the beginning of the month. Matt Duchene, Blake Comeau and Mikko Rantanen may just be the line to win a GPP tonight as this line hasn’t been terrible over the last seven games as they have combined for five goals and seven assists over that time frame. Rantanen is the cheap one-off here as he has collected a team high five points over the last seven games which has propelled him to third on the team in scoring with 30 points. Duchene is second on the team with 36 points so far this season. Outside of MacKinnon, Landeskog, Duchene and Rantanen there isn’t much else to look at as far as the Colorado offense goes. Defensemen Tyson Barrie and Mark Barberio man the points on the team’s top power play unit that hasn’t scored a goal in the last six games. A lot of the problem has been their inability to draw penalties as it seems that they are just finishing the season out instead of playing hard-nosed hockey.
There was a point in time this season where a few NHL experts were saying that the Flyers would be vying for the Stanley Cup this season. If only reporters could be held accountable like the rest of the working stiffs in the world. Anyway as you know, the Flyers have dropped out of playoff contention as they are six points out of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They are just one point up on the Buffalo Sabres which should say a lot about how this season has made a complete turnaround in the wrong direction. The top line of Claude Giroux, Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds should be the line to target tonight. Schenn’s five points in the last five games leads the team as the Flyers have scored just 13 goals in their last nine games. Simmonds looks to be on track for his second 30 goal season in as many years as he leads the team with 25 goals so far this season. Jakub Voracek makes a decent one-off play here as he skates on the second line and leads the team with 50 points. The Flyers are so messed up that they don’t even have him on their top power play unit. They have decided to go with two defensemen instead as Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov are the lucky ones to get the extra ice time when the Flyers draw a penalty. Both make good plays here against a weak Colorado team that should give up a few goals here tonight.
Elite Plays
COL: None
PHL: Jakub Voracek
Secondary Plays
COL: Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Matt Duchene, Tyson Barrie, Gabriel Landeskog
PHL: Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, Shayne Gostisbehere
Nashville Predators at Buffalo Sabres
| Nashville Predators | Buffalo Sabres | ||||||||
 | Pekka Rinne |  | Robin Lehner | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 31-22-9 | 26-26-10 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.92 | 2.74 | 20.50% | 81.60% | Team Stats | 2.43 | 2.72 | 22.40% | 75.80% |
Thanks to a 6-3-1 record in their last 10 games the Predators have been able to stay in third place in the Central Division with 71 points. Tonight they look to improve on their record away from the home crowd which stands at 12-15-2 going into tonight’s game. Filip Forsberg was named the first star of the week as he has grabbed nine goals and four assists in the last 13 games while line mates Viktor Arvidsson and Ryan Johansen have combined for 22 points over that same time period. They should be safe enough to play on the road here as Buffalo has given up 16 goals in their last five home games. James Neal was shifted to the fourth line and responded with three assists in Sunday night’s 5-4 win against Edmonton. He will probably be moved back up to at least the third line tonight which would still make him a nice one-off play tonight. Mike Fisher centers the team’s second line along with Kevin Fiala and Craig Smith but using them here in anything but a GPP may prove fatal. Fisher’s 35 points isn’t bad but his line mates are as they have combined for just 27 points so far this season. Move along, nothing to see here. Defensemen Roman Josi and P.K. Subban have been a big reason as to why the Predators have gone 6-3-1 in their last ten games. Josi leads the team with 14 points while Subban has notched one goal and 11 assists over the last three weeks. Since both are playing extremely well I wouldn’t hesitate to roster either one in your cash games tonight.
With the Sabres dropping their last three games it looks like their playoff hopes have been washed away. Had they won those three games they would be just one point away from the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. As it is now they are seven points away and would need to jump over an additional four teams to get there. The top line of Kyle Okposo, Ryan O’Reilly and Justin Bailey should be the line to target tonight as they should be able to match up against the weaker Nashville lines. Okposo leads the team with 39 points while O’Reilly and Sam Reinhart are right behind him with 38 points apiece. Speaking of Reinhart, he skates on the second line with Evander Kane and Jack Eichel. Kane leads the team with 21 goals while Eichel looks to be the one-off here as he has notched 36 points in the 41 games he has played in. It should take only a few more games before Eichel has the team lead in points. Rasmus Ristolainen is the choice on the back line as he keeps on scoring consistently on the team’s top power play unit. His 21 power play points has him tied for seventh in the whole league which should bode well for him tonight against a Nashville team that has given up eight power play goals in the last eight games.
Elite Plays
NSH: Roman Josi, Filip Forsberg
BUF: Jack Eichel
Secondary Plays
NSH: Viktor Arvidsson, Ryan Johansen, James Neal, P.K. Subban
BUF: Kyle Okposo, Rasmus Ristolainen, Ryan O’Reilly, Evander Kane
Columbus Blue Jackets at Montréal Canadiens
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Montréal Canadiens | ||||||||
 | Sergei Bobrovsky |  | Al Montoya | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 39-16-5 | 34-21-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.28 | 2.40 | 22.30% | 82.40% | Team Stats | 2.74 | 2.55 | 21.40% | 80.20% |
Over the last five games Columbus has looked like the team that didn’t lose a game in December as they have scored 22 goals in their last five games. When a team gets scoring like this usually everyone and their grandmother gets in on the act and this case is no different. Alexander Wennberg has come up with eight points in the last six games to lead the team while Nick Foligno and Oliver Bjorkstrand join him on the team’s top line. Foligno joins Wennberg on the team’s top power play unit and has seen 19 of hs 44 points come with the man advantage. Cam Atkinson leads the team with 29 goals and 53 points while playing on the second line with Brandon Dubinsky and Boone Jenner. While this line could be used as a nice tournament play it is Atkinson who makes for a good one-off cash game play as he gets the extra minutes when the Blue Jackets have the extra attacker on the ice. Zachary Werenski and Seth Jones are your options from the blue line and either seems safe to play tonight. Each player has collected six points in the last six games while Werenski has the edge in total points by a slim 37-34 margin. Montreal played last night so it will be interesting to see how these two teams match up tonight.
Montreal pulled out a thriller in Newark last year as Max Pacioretty and Alexander Radulov led the team to an exciting 4-3 win over the Devils. They are joined by Phillip Danault on the team’s top line as should be under heavy consideration for your cash and tournament plays tonight. Pacioretty has notched 11 of his team leading 55 points over the last eight games while Radulov leads the team with 31 assists, Alex Galchenyuk is the one-off play here as he sees some decent power play minutes while skating on the second line with Brendan Gallagher and Artturi Lehkonen. Galchenyuk has picked up the pace over the last by grabbing four points in the last five games. Meanwhile Gallagher looks like he isn’t fully over the injury that made him sit out 18 games so far this season. Defensemen Shea Weber and Andrei Markov man the points on the team’s top power play unit that has scored a goal in three of the last four games. Weber leads the team with 11 power play goals while Markov has grabbed three points over the last five games. This should be a good test for both team’s tonight as we head into the last quarter of the season.
Elite Plays
CBJ: Cam Atkinson
MTL: Max Pacioretty
Secondary Plays
CBJ: Alexander Wennberg, Nick Foligno, Zachary Werenski, Brandon Dubinsky
MTL: Alexander Radulov, Phillip Danault, Shea Weber, Alex Galchenyuk