NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, January 19th
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 Columbus Blue Jackets – 07:00 PM EST
| Washington Capitals | Columbus Blue Jackets | ||||||||
 | Braden Holtby |  | Sergei Bobrovsky | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 34-8-3 | 17-25-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.27 | 2.13 | 26.10% | 85.30% | Team Stats | 2.48 | 3.15 | 17.50% | 81.50% |
The Washington Capitals lead the entire NHL with 71 points through 45 games and look like the clear front runners for the President’s Trophy this season. They’ll head out on a one game road trip to take on a Columbus team that finds themselves sitting in the basement of the entire NHL with just 38 points. Clearly, Washington is going to be a very popular source for fantasy users tonight (particularly in cash games). Alex Ovechkin is the premier play of the evening as he’s tallied six goals over the last six games and his 222 SOG is far and away leading the entire NHL. His linemates T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom continue to thrive alongside him on the top line, but somewhat surprisingly Evgeny Kuznetsov actually leads the team with 44 points in 45 games. He dished out three assists against the Rangers on Sunday and has now racked up four goals and seven assists in eight games this month. Justin Williams picked up a hat trick against New York and has tallied five goals and a pair of assists over the last five games himself. Columbus enters play tonight as the most penalized team in the league, and with Washington owning the league’s second best power-play, failing to get any exposure here could be dangerous. On defense, John Carlson looks on the verge of a return, but his status is still uncertain for tonight’s game. If he plays, he’s a top tier option on the blue-line. If he’s still not ready, both Matt Niskanen and Dmitri Orlov will continue to see the lions share of the work on the point of the power-play.
With 15 other teams on the schedule tonight, it seems silly to spend much time analyzing the Blue Jackets in this matchup against visiting Washington Capitals. With Ryan Johansen traded and Nick Foligno on Injured Reserve, the Blue Jackets are suddenly rather thin up-front. To make matters worse, no team in the NHL has allowed fewer than Washington’s 2.13 goals against per game this season. Jack Johnson has come alive offensively lately and posted two goals and an assist against Washington in their two previous meeting this season, but this is a GPP only situation for me tonight.
Elite Options
WAS: Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov, John Carlson (if healthy)
CBJ: None
Secondary Options
WAS: Marcus Johansson, Justin Williams, Matt Niskanen, Dmitri Orlov
CBJ: Scott Hartnell, Brandon Dubinsky, Brandon Saad, Jack Johnson, Seth Jones
Calgary Flames at New Jersey Devils – 07:00 PM EST
| Calgary Flames | New Jersey Devils | ||||||||
 | Jonas Hiller |  | Cory Schneider | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 20-20-3 | 22-19-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.67 | 3.00 | 13.90% | 74.30% | Team Stats | 2.15 | 2.30 | 17.70% | 82.90% |
The Flames surrendered a late lead on Saturday an ultimately fell 2-1 in a shootout against Edmonton and have now sputtered a bit after opening the month of December with seven straight wins. While they own just a 20-20-3 record on the season, they’re still very much alive in the putrid Pacific Division but they’ll definitely need to improve upon their 6-11-3 road record if they plan on making another push into the Stanley Cup playoffs this season. They’ll head to New Jersey tonight for the second game of a tough five game road trip and simply can’t afford to come up empty in these winnable games any longer. While I’m not looking to fade the Flames tonight, their road woes are a concern and New Jersey does happen to be the slowest paced team in the NHL this season (90.0 CP60). With that said, New Jersey is also rated as the second worst puck possession team in the league this season (46.7 CF%) and the Flames did defeat them in their only previous meeting this season. With Jiri Hudler status remains in doubt for tonight’s game, it’s still the top line of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Micheal Ferland that has requires your attention. Alternatively, former first round pick Sam Bennett has been wielding a red-hot stick lately as he’s lit the lamp six times over the last four games and makes for a fine GPP target. The Flames are stacked on the blue-line, but Mark Giordano has been rolling lately and looks to be the top option. He’s locked into roughly 25 minutes of ice-time per game and has amassed four goals and ten assists over his last 12 games. Fellow blue-liners Dougie Hamilton, Dennis Wideman and T.J Brodie all also see plenty of run on the point of the power-play and are all in play tonight as well.
As mentioned above, the New Jersey Devils are the slowest paced team in the league and consequently only the Anaheim Ducks have averaged fewer goals per game than New Jersey this season (2.15 goals/game). This is clearly not the most exciting team to target in daily fantasy hockey, but the matchup tonight doesn’t get much better. Not only have the Flames allowed 3.00 goals against per game this season, but they also sport the NHL’s worst penalty kill at just 74.3%. New Jersey’s leading scorer Michael Cammalleri has been out of action for the last three weeks, but is hoping to make his return to the lineup tonight (GTD). He would obviously give this offense a spark, but either way it still makes some sense to target the Flames abysmal penalty kill. If healthy, Cammalleri is slated to join Adam Henrique and Kyle Palmieri up front on the top power-play with Damon Severson and David Schlemko running things from the point. These five look like fine options, but New Jersey has only managed to score 10 goals in eight games since the Calendar flipped to 2016 so I’m not looking to dig too much deeper here.
Elite Options
CGY: Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Mark Giordano
NYD: Mike Cammalleri (if healthy), Adam Henrique
Secondary Options
CGY: Sam Bennett, Micheal Ferland, Dennis Wideman, T.J. Brodie, Dougie Hamilton
NYD: Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac, Damon Severson
Toronto Maple Leafs at Philadelphia Flyers – 07:00 PM EST
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Philadelphia Flyers | ||||||||
 | Jonathan Bernier |  | Steve Mason | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 16-20-7 | 20-15-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.42 | 2.74 | 16.90% | 80.00% | Team Stats | 2.23 | 2.56 | 15.30% | 78.80% |
The Maple Leafs have been fairly tough to figure out in their first season under Mike Babcock. Just as I was starting to believe they were on the brink of potentially competing for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, they’ve hit a complete tailspin and now not only dropped five straight games, but also find themselves in the cellar of the Atlantic Division. While they’ve only scored five total goals during their current five games skid, there is at least some room for optimism tonight as Toronto happens to be the second fastest paced team in the NHL this season (114.5 CP60) and they’ll face a Philadelphia team that is allowing the second most shots on goal against per game in the NHL this season (32.0 SA/G). With that said, the Leafs have really spread out their scoring recently across each of their top three scoring lines which further complicates things from a fantasy perspective. Nazem Kadri 156 SOG ranks him 9th in the NHL this season and, with his shooting percentage (5.1%) still less than half of his career average of 10.8%, it seems likely that the former first round pick will start finding the back of the net with more consistency sooner rather than later. On defense, the Leafs are still likely shopping Dion Phaneuf to potential trade partners and the workhorse defenseman is in the midst of a strong offensive season with 21 points in 43 games. With Phaneuf’s days potentially numbered in Toronto, Mike Babcock has loosed the leash on his two young and talented defenders in Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner a bit. Both have plenty of raw offensive talent and are now seeing consistent minutes with the man advantage, which gives them a solid fantasy boost tonight against the Flyers subpar 78.8% penalty kill.
The Flyers were a bit of a train wreck to start the season, but Dave Hakstol has turned things around and Philadelphia has stormed to a 13-5-3 record over their last 21 games. They picked up a tough overtime win in Detroit on Sunday evening and have now won five of their last six games. They’ll welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Wells Fargo Center tonight looking to push the Leafs losing streak to six games. Breaking down the Flyers from a fantasy perspective has to start with the dynamic top line of Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds. Giroux leads the way with 23 goals and 22 assists in 43 games and has picked up points in each of the last three games. Voracek has also picked up points in three straight games and has overcome an awful start to the season and tallied 5 goals and 21 assists over the last 27 games. Alternatively, both Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn have turned things on lately and look like nice GPP targets as they’ll likely be widely overlooked. On defense, both Mark Streit and rookie Shayne Gostisbehere will look to take advantage of Toronto’s mediocre penalty kill as both have shown plenty of offensive upside and log a healthy dose of playing time with the man advantage.
Elite Options
TOR: Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov
PHI: Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, Mark Streit, Shayne Gostisbehere
Secondary Options
TOR: Tyler Bozak, P.A. Parenteau, Dion Phaneuf, Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner
PHI: Sean Couturier, Brayden Schenn, “(player-popup)Michael Del Zotto
Vancouver Canucks at New York Rangers – 07:00 PM EST
| Vancouver Canucks | New York Rangers | ||||||||
 | Ryan Miller |  | Henrik Lundqvist | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 19-17-10 | 24-16-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.33 | 2.72 | 17.20% | 80.00% | Team Stats | 2.82 | 2.62 | 18.00% | 78.80% |
After picking up two points in Brooklyn on Sunday, the suddenly revitalized Canucks will make the short drive to Manhattan tonight to battle the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Canucks enter tonight’s action having won two straight games and have posted a respectable 7-3-1 record over their last 11 games. The Canucks picked up a 2-1 victory over New York when these teams faced off earlier this season thanks to a goal and an assist from Daniel Sedin and a pair of assists from his brother Daniel. While the Sedin brothers easily lead the team in scoring and are the most consistent scoring options, it’s been Bo Horvat leading the charge lately. Horvat has racked up six goals and three assists in the last seven games and, along with Radim Vrbata and Sven Baertschi, finally provides Willie Desjardins with some secondary scoring. On defense, Alex Edler has been quiet lately but still runs the point of the Canucks top power-play unit and also scored a goal and added an assist against New York in that first meeting. Update: Henrik Sedin will be out of action for the next few weeks. Jared McCann looks slated to hop onto the top line and the former first round pick has been quiet at the NHL level thus far but put up gaudy numbers at the OHL level. He becomes a fine punt play.
The Rangers may have taken home the President’s Trophy last season, but things have not gone as smoothly this time around. The were badly outplayed in Washington on Sunday and have now posted a subpar 8-13-3 record since their terrific 16-3-2 start to the season and haven’t posted back-to-back wins once in that time frame. With that said, the Rangers own an impressive 16-5-2 home record this season and tonight’s matchup against the Vancouver Canucks is not an overly intimidating one. While RIck Nash is the headliner, it’s been the duo of Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello (now with J.T. Miller on the wing) doing the most damage this season, particularly on home ice. Brassard and Zuccarello have combined for 22 goal sand 25 assists in 23 home games this season and are both fine plays tonight despite their recent mini-slumps. Nash has still yet to tally his first goal of 2016, but he’s picked up assists in each of the last two games and remains a very dangerous weapon alongside Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan. On the blue-line, Ryan McDonagh has racked up five assists over the last five games and is locked into big minutes both at even strength and on the point of the #1 power-play. Alternatively, Keith Yandle is one of the best puck moving defensemen in the NHL and, although he’s been fairly quiet lately, he still has plenty of GPP upside.
Elite Options
VAN: Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin
NYR: Mats Zuccarello, Derick Brassard, Rick Nash
Secondary Options
VAN: Bo Horvat, Radim Vrbata, Jannik Hansen, Alex Edler
NYR: Derek Stepan, J.T. Miller, Chris Kreider, Ryan McDonagh, Keith Yandle
Boston Bruins at Montreal Canadiens – 07:30 PM EST
| Boston Bruins | Montreal Canadiens | ||||||||
 | Tuukka Rask |  | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 23-16-5 | |||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.98 | 2.61 | 27.70% | 84.00% | Team Stats | 2.74 | 2.54 | 18.20% | 84.60% |
Tonight will make the fifth and final meeting between these two heated rivals this season with Montreal looking to break out of their slump and improve to 4-1-0 against the Bruins this season. Boston has been dealing with their own struggles lately, but they’ve won each of their last two games and still find themselves in the thick of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins own an impressive 13-5-3 road record this season and will lean heavily on their league best power-play to escape the Bell Centre with two points tonight as games between these two teams usually have a “playoff” feel to them. Patrice Bergeron leads the team with 40 points in 44 games and his 19 power-play points Patrick Kane and Evgeni Malkin in the NHL this season. Bergeron will center the #1 power-play unit alongside the red-hot Ryan Spooner and Loui Eriksson up front and the dangerous duo of Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara on the blue-line. While the Canadiens solid 84.6% penalty kill is a slight concern, they’ve shockingly been the absolute worst team in the NHL over the last month and have done little to prove a turn-around is imminent
The Canadiens looked like the crème of the crop to start the 2015-16 season, but that thought has flown out the window as this team has been in a complete free fall for six weeks now. Montreal has posted an atrocious 4-15-1 record over their last 20 games and are averaging just 1.85 goals per game during that stretch. This team is clearly in desperate need of a spark and their hopeful that could come in the form of a hated Boston team who’s number they’ve had in recent years. The Canadiens’ top line of Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher is easily their most dangerous offensively and that trio has combined for five goals and nine assists in the four previous meetings against Boston this season. While their almost certain to be shadowed by the pestering defense of both Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, they’re still the Montreal forwards on my cash game radar. Pacioretty has come alive lately with goals in back-to-back games and five goals and four assists in his last nine games. On defense, both P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov have proven to be very dangerous on the point of the ‘Habs #1 power-play unit, but their fantasy outlook is suppressed slightly by Boston’s solid 84.0% penalty kill.
Elite Options
BOS: Patrice Bergeron, Torey Krug
MTL: Max Pacioretty
Secondary Options
BOS: Brad Marchand, Ryan Spooner, Loui Eriksson, Zdeno Chara
MTL: Tomas Plekanec, Brendan Gallagher, P.K. Subban, Andrei Markov