NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, March 22nd
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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Buffalo Sabres at Carolina Hurricanes – 07:00 PM EDT
| Buffalo Sabres | Carolina Hurricanes | ||||||||
 | Chad Johnson |  | Cam Ward | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 29-34-10 | 31-27-14 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.34 | 2.63 | 19.00% | 81.80% | Team Stats | 2.42 | 2.65 | 17.00% | 83.70% |
Tonight’s slate starts off with two teams that have only scored 13 goals each in their last six games. Jack Eichel looks to return to the Sabres and that is the good news as he had scored five goals to go along with three assists in eight games before he sat out last game with an illness. Either Matt Moulson or Cal O’Reilly will draw out of the top six. Evander Kane will probably stay on the top line with Ryan O’Reilly and should be viewed as a GPP play only tonight with Kane grabbing four assists in his last five games while O’Reilly has two assists in the three games he has played since returning from injury. Over the last ten games Sam Reinhart has been consistent by virtue of scoring two goals to go along with eight points and makes for a decent one-off play tonight. Rasmus Ristolainin is the choice on defense if you are stacking Buffalo in your tournaments tonight.
Carolina has the same problem that Carolina does in terms of scoring as there are not many teams in the league that have scored 175 goals or less this year. The top of line of Joakim Nordstrom, Jordan Staal and Elias Lindholm have combined for only five goals and three assists in the last ten games with Nordstrom being the odd man out by only finding the score sheet twice over that time frame. Jeff Skinner skates on the team’s second line and has been the most consistent scorer of late with four goals and six assists in the last ten games with line mate Phil Di Giuseppe is not far behind as he has three goals and six points over the last seven games. Both make for nice one-off plays tonight. On defense the choices are slim as both Noah Hanifan and Ryan Murphy have just three assists each over the last ten games. Both of these teams are not known for their scoring which make them very tough to roster in cash games tonight.
Elite Plays
BUF: None
CAR: None
Elite Plays
BUF: Jack Eichel, Ryan O’Reilly, Evander Kane, Sam Reinhart, Rasmus Ristolainen
CAR: Jeff Skinner, Phil Di Giuseppe, Jordan Staal, Elias Lindholm, Ryan Murphy
Philadelphia Flyers at Columbus Blue Jackets – 07:00 PM EDT
| Philadelphia Flyers | Columbus Blue Jackets | ||||||||
 | Steve Mason |  | Sergei Bobrovsky | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 34-24-12 | 29-35-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.57 | 2.60 | 18.50% | 80.30% | Team Stats | 2.54 | 3.04 | 17.70% | 81.10% |
The Flyers continue to chase the Detroit Red Wings for the last playoff spot in the Eastern conference and the will simply just not go away. With a win last night in Brooklyn the Flyers have pulled back to within one point with a game in hand as the teams come down the stretch. In the past ten games both Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds each have ten points while Claude Giroux has grabbed just three points in his last six games. This line also doubles as the team’s top power play unit along with defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and Jakub Voracek who returned from injury two games ago. While the top line has the more household names it is the second line tonight that makes for a decent GPP on the road. Sean Couturier has assisted on seven goals in the past ten games while Michael Raffl has turned on the jets and has registered ten points over the last ten games. Look for the Flyers to come out hungry tonight as they play a team that has pulled into a tie with the Ottawa Senators for most goals given up in the league this season.
Columbus has been mired in what can only be called a ‘season slump’ as they have won only two games or more in a row just once this season. We saw something that hasn’t happened virtually all year and that is Columbus actually used one whole line to comprise the team’s top power play unit. Brandon Saad, Boone Jenner and Cam Atkinson are the lucky recipients here and make for a decent GPP play against a tired Philadelphia team that has taken three penalties in each of their last three games. Atkinson is the choice for a cash game one-off has he has tallied six goals to go along with eight points over his last nine games while Jenner has been solid as well by virtue of his seven points in the last eight games. Oliver Bjorkstrand made a splash two games ago by lighting the lamp twice and that effort earned him a spot in the top six but the jury is still out as to where he will permanently fit in. Seth Jones and Ryan Murray are the defensive choices here with Murray getting the edge as he mans the point on the power play with the aforementioned four players. This game has the potential to have some scoring in it as the Flyers can’t be passive and the Blue Jackets are playing for jobs.
Elite Plays
PHL: Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn
CBJ: Cam Atkinson, Boone Jenner
Secondary Plays
PHL: Claude Giroux, Shayne Gostisbehere, Jakub Voracek, Sean Couturier, Michael Raffl
CBJ: Ryan Murray, Brandon Saad, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Brandon Dubinsky
Detroit Red Wings at Tampa Bay Lightning – 07:30 PM EDT
| Detroit Red Wings | Tampa Bay Lightning | ||||||||
 | Jimmy Howard |  | Ben Bishop | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 36-25-11 | 41-26-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.53 | 2.57 | 17.20% | 81.30% | Team Stats | 2.68 | 2.33 | 16.30% | 84.10% |
Detroit finishes their four-game road trip tonight in the ‘Sunshine State’ and need a win badly as the surging Flyers are right on their tail for the final playoff spot in the Eastern conference. The Red Wings have only scored 23 goals over the last nine games but eight of them have come in the last two games making this a possible case of getting hot at the right time. Justin Abdelkader leads the team over the last seven games with seven points while line mates Henrik Zetterberg and Dylan Larkin have just three and four points respectively in the last ten games. This line also gets the first crack on the power play so if scoring is indeed contagious, this could be a big night for this group. The second line features Pavel Datsyuk and Thomas Tatar who have been doing some of the scoring lately by virtue of combining for eight of the goals over the last five games. These two make a decent cash game play as tampa will no doubt be focusing on shutting down the top line. Gustav Nyquist and defenseman Niklas Kronwall round out the top power play unit but with Detroit not scoring much of late, it’s a bit tough to trust them in cash games.
With a win tonight the Tampa Bay Lightning can pull into a tie for first place in the Atlantic division with the Florida Panthers. After chalking up just one win in their last five games the Lightning managed to shut out the Arizona Coyotes by a score of 2-0 on Saturday night. Tampa has only scored 13 goals over the last seven games with Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat leading the team in scoring from different lines. Stamkos has four goals and six points over the last four games while Palat has chipped in six goals and two assists over his last nine games. Nikita Kucherov has done well on the top line with Stamkos as he has two of each, goals and assists over the last four games while Alex Killorn has added three points in the last two games. Although the Lightning are at home, it seems that Palat would make a nice one-off play here as his line mates in Ryan Callahan and Tyler Johnson have just one assist between them in the last nine games. Vladislav Namestnikov and defenseman Anton Stralman get the extra ice time on the power play with Stamkos making the choice here Stralman as he has collected six assists over the last ten games. Look for Tampa to play gritty tonight and possibly come away with the victory.
Elite Plays
DET: None
TB: Steven Stamkos
Secondary Plays
DET: Tomas Tatar, Justin Abdelkader, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg
TB: Nikita Kucherov, Anton Stralman, Ondrej Palat, Vladislav Namestnikov
Washington Capitals at Ottawa Senators – 07:30 PM EDT
| Washington Capitals | Ottawa Senators | ||||||||
 | Braden Holtby |  | Craig Anderson | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 51-15-5 | 34-31-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.14 | 2.35 | 23.00% | 84.10% | Team Stats | 2.81 | 2.97 | 16.30% | 75.40% |
Ever since Barry Trotz moved Jay Beagle up to the first line things haven’t looked good for either Alexander Ovechkin or Nicklas Backstrom. Ovie has looked almost human as he is way off the point per game pace over the last ten contests by registering just five points while Backstrom has just two points over the last six. The second line is the line we want here anyway as not only is Washington on the road, they have been producing as well. Andre Burakovky has lit the lamp three times to go along with two assists over the last five games while Evgeny Kuznetsov has dished out seven assists in the last six games. T.J. Oshie is the newcomer to this line and has responded with three goals and four points over the last four games. Matt Niskanen continues to get the team’s top power play minutes from the point but much like the top line he has gone cold over the last four games. Look for Washington to get back on track against an Ottawa team the loves to give up goals.
Ottawa has won three of their last four games but the problem is the three wins have come against Minnesota,Toronto and Montreal. They could have their hands full tonight against a Washington team that juts got blown out by Pittsburgh over the weekend. Zack Smith and Mark Stone are the plays here as they skate on the team’s top line all the while anchoring the team’s first power play unit. They both have at least nine goals over the last ten games with Smith leading the way with five goals. Mika Zibanejad has been productive from the second line with three goals and five points in the last four games but also gets the benefit of extra ice time skating on the top power play unit. Bobby Ryan and defenseman Erik Karlsson round out the top power play unit so look for Eriksson to keep shooting the puck and piling up the points. Mike Hoffman is heating up with Zibanejad on the second line as he has lit the lamp three times while grabbing five points over the last four games. Use caution here with the Senators as Washington is a tough defensive team but may be able to find a crack here or there tonight.
Elite Plays
WAS: Evgeny Kuznetsov, Alexander Ovechkin
OTT: None
Secondary Plays
WAS: Andre Burakovsky, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Matt Niskanen
OTT: Zack Smith, Mark Stone, Erik Karlsson, Mike Hoffman, Mika Zibanejad
Anaheim Ducks at Montreal Canadiens – 07:30 PM EDT
| Anaheim Ducks | Montreal Canadiens | ||||||||
 | John Gibson |  | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 40-22-9 | |||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.52 | 2.25 | 23.40% | 87.30% | Team Stats | 2.56 | 2.82 | 16.70% | 83.60% |
Anaheim continues their five-game road trip tonight as they play the hapless Montreal Canadiens after beating Winnipeg in overtime by a 3-2 score on Saturday night. David Perron will not suit up for this one so there’s no telling what is going through the mind of head coach Bruce Boudreau in terms of making up the lines for tonight’s game. Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf are the obvious plays as they have been on the same line together over the last few games but even if that doesn’t come to fruition tonight they will still get most of the power play minutes together. Ryan Kesler has been hot of late by virtue of scoring three goals and seven points in the last five games and makes a very nice one-off play tonight. Jamie McGinn is a good play if he sticks on the top line with Perry and Getzlaf as he has scored a goal in each of his last three games. Playing next to talent like that makes good things happen. With the injury to Sami Vatanen it looks like Cam Fowler is the best choice on defense but there is no doubt you can find better than this on the back line tonight. Fowler has only 23 points in the 56 games he has played in and hasn’t found the score sheet in the last seven games.
Montreal seems to be more worried about their golf games as they are about winning hockey games. Although they are not mathematically out of the playoffs it’s close enough as they have 72 points with nine games left and have to jump over four teams just to get to Detroit who holds the final playoff spot with 83 points. Max Pacioretty and Alex Galchnyuk are the plays here but maybe only for tournament play with Galchenyuk making the better play lately as he has grabbed nine goals and 11 points in his last ten games. Line mate Sven Andrighetto is injured so it will be interesting to see who joins the top two players on the team on the top line. There’s no sense at looking at the second line as they have a combined two goals and four assists over the last ten games. With names like Eller and Byron it is not hard to see why. Andrei Markov and Nathan Beaulieu handle the points on the power play but the lack of production makes it tough to trust not only these two but the whole team.
Elite Plays
ANA: Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf
MTL: None
Secondary Plays
ANA: Ryan Kesler, Rickard Rakell, Jamie McGinn, Cam Fowler
MTL: Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk, Andrei Markov, Nathan Beaulieu