NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, March 8th
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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Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Islanders – 07:00 PM EST
| Pittsburgh Penguins | New York Islanders | ||||||||
 | Marc-Andre Fleury |  | Jaroslav Halak | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 34-23-8 | 36-20-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.72 | 2.49 | 18.40% | 84.20% | Team Stats | 2.86 | 2.46 | 18.90% | 86.40% |
It hasn’t been an easy season for the Penguins, but after a fairly slow start, they look to finally be gaining momentum just in time for the playoff push. They’ve posted a 13-6-1 record over their last 20 games and finally look to have the two-headed monster of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin both healthy and producing at the same time. Pittsburgh exploded for six goals in a win in New Jersey on Sunday and will head to Brooklyn for a very important battle with the Islanders tonight. Pittsburgh rolled to a 5-2 victory the only other time these two teams squared off and look like fine options again tonight despite the less than ideal matchup. Crosby dished out two assists in Sunday’s game to extend his scoring streak to five games. He’s now tallied 19 goals and 19 assists (and a +13) in 28 games since the start of the new year and elevates the games of his linemates, Chris Kunitz and Patric Hornqvist. Hornqvist saw his five-game point streak come to an end against New Jersey, but as posted six goals and four assists in his last eight games and lit the lamp against New York in that first meeting. Malkin headlines the second line alongside fine offensive weapons in Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel. He scored a pair of goals on Sunday evening and dished out three assists against the Islanders in the first meeting. With Frans Nielsen likely be tasked with trying to slow down the Crosby line, the Malkin/Kessel/Hagelin will likely have the better matchup this evening. On defense, Kris Letang continues to put up big numbers. Since a terribly slow start to the season, all he’s done is tally ten goals and 36 assists in his last 44 games. He also picked up three assists in the first meeting with the Islanders and is well worth the investment if you can afford him even considering New York’s impressive 86.6% penalty kill. Alternatively, Justin Schultz picked up an assist in his Penguins debut on Sunday and should also see some playing time with the man advantage. If you’re looking for some value on the blue-line, he looks like a nice option.
A statement win over the cross-town New York Rangers kept the Islanders within striking distance of their big enemy for second place in the Metropolitan Division and they’ll look to send another message tonight as the Penguins invade the Barclay’s Center. New York has won six of their last seven games and have posted a 10-2-1 record over their last 13 games and are now on the heels of the New York Rangers as they try to secure home-ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. John Tavares headlines the top forward line between Brock Nelson and Ryan Strome and not only lit the lamp in his only other meeting against Pittsburgh, but has also posted 11 goals and 19 assists in 29 home games. Kyle Okposo joins him on the #1 power-play unit and actually leads the team with 52 points in 61 games. He’s scored goals in back-to-back games and owns two goals and four assists in his last three games. Frans Nielsen centers Okposo at even strength and joins him from the point of the top power-play unit. He’s picked up a pair of points in each of the last two games and seems to often be overlooked. On defense, Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk are the top two options. Leddy has racked up a goal and 13 assists in 16 games since the All-Star break and Boychuk showed his offensive upside with a pair of goals against the Rangers on Sunday.
Pittsburgh Penguins
CF%: 52, CP60: 108.9, 5×5 Differential: 13
Elite Options: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang
Secondary Options: Carl Hagelin, Patric Hornqvist, Phil Kessel, Justin Schultz, Trevor Daley
New York Islanders
CF%: 50.3, CP60: 111.6, 5×5 Differential: 10
Elite Options: John Tavares, Kyle Okposo
Secondary Options: Frans Nielsen, Ryan Strome, Nick Leddy, Johnny Boychuk
New York Rangers at Buffalo Sabres – 07:00 PM EST
| New York Rangers | Buffalo Sabres | ||||||||
 | Antti Raanta |  | Chad Johnson | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 38-22-6 | 26-31-9 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.80 | 2.56 | 17.90% | 77.20% | Team Stats | 2.35 | 2.61 | 20.00% | 82.20% |
After an inspiring win in Washington on Friday, Alain Vigneault was highly disappointed with his team’s defensive effort as they were lit up early and often by the New York Islanders at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. They’ll kick off a quick two-game road trip tonight in Buffalo looking to improve upon their mediocre 15-15-3 road record this season. The Sabres had absolutely no answer for Derick Brassard in their first meeting this season as the former first-round pick exploded for a pair of goals and added three assists while unloading six shots at Chad Johnson. Brassard is tied with his linemate Mats Zuccarello for the team lead with 48 points and those two are slated to be joined by Kevin Hayes on the team’s top line. Alternatively, Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider are a dangerous tandem on the second line and both players hop onto the #1 power-play unit alongside Zuccarello and Brassard. Eric Staal picked up his first two points in a Rangers uniform against the Islanders on Sunday and centers the second power-play unit; making him a compelling GPP target. Ryan McDonagh and Keith Yandle both continue to log huge minutes on the Rangers blue-line where they’ve both already cracked the 30-point plateau once again.
Tonight does not line up particularly well for the Buffalo Sabres. They were not only forced into overtime last night, but now they’ll have to host an angry New York Rangers team that man-handled them in their first meeting. Buffalo stormed back from an early 2-0 deficit last night to pick up two points in Toronto but haven’t won back-to-back games since Valentines Day. While there is not a ton to love here, the Ranger have had a tough time on the penalty kill lately, posting an ugly 69.6% PK since the All-Star break. With that in mind, there is some merit behind targeting Buffalo’s power-play. Jack Eichel scored for the third straight game last night and last year’s #2 overall pick has now scored 20 goals an added 25 assists over his first 67 games on NHL action. Alternatively, fellow #2 overall pick Sam Reinhart leads the team in scoring since the All-Star break (six goals and six assists) and joins Eichel on the top power-play unit. Alternatively, Evander Kane skates with Eichel on the top forward line and sees plenty of run with the man advantage as well. He’s scored a goal and added an assist last night and has tallied two goals and two assists in his last three games. Rasmus Ristolainen has slowed down a bit lately, but is still in the midst of the best season of his young career with 37 points in 67 games. He’s averaging over 25 minutes of ice-time per game this season and has already racked up 18 points from the point of the #1 power-play unit.
New York Rangers
CF%: 47.6, CP60: 107.5, 5×5 Differential: 35
Elite Options: Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello, Keith Yandle
Secondary Options: Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Eric Staal, Ryan McDonagh
Buffalo Sabres
CF%: 47.6, CP60: 104.6, 5×5 Differential: -29
Elite Options: Jack Eichel
Secondary Options: Sam Reinhart, Evander Kane, Rasmus Ristolainen
Detroit Red Wings at Columbus Blue Jackets – 07:00 PM EST
| Detroit Red Wings | Columbus Blue Jackets | ||||||||
 | Jimmy Howard |  | Joonas Korpisalo | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 32-22-11 | 27-31-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.49 | 2.57 | 17.20% | 80.80% | Team Stats | 2.55 | 3.05 | 17.70% | 81.10% |
After back-to-back beatdowns by the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks, Coach Blashill will be expecting a strong bounce-back performance from his Red Wing’s tonight. They’re narrowly hanging on to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and with just 17 games left to play, they simply can’t afford anything less than two points tonight against the cellar dwelling Columbus Blue Jackets. Detroit picked up a tightly contested 2-1 shootout victory when these two teams met several weeks ago and are definitely in play tonight as the Blue Jackets have allowed an unsightly 3.05 goals against per game this season. Pavel Datsyuk missed Sunday’s game with an illness, but figures to hop back onto the Wings top forward line alongside Henrik Zetterberg and Justin Abdelkader tonight. They’re easily Detroit’s most explosive line, but the Wings do have a balanced scoring attack as Dylan Larkin, Brad Richards and Andreas Athanasiou form one of the fastest lines in the NHL and Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar are dangerous snipers on the second line. Detroit’s power-play has been sputtering lately, but both Mike Green and Niklas Kronwall see plenty of run as the point-men with the man advantage and carry reasonable price-tags across the industry. They haven’t been the most consistent fantasy options lately, but they do at least have some offensive upside.
You wouldn’t know it from watching their debacle of an effort in Saturday’s 6-0 loss to the Flyers, but John Tortorella actually has this team playing some decent hockey lately. They’ve posted a solid 10-4-3 record over their last 17 games and will be pleased to open a five game home-stand tonight versus the visiting Red Wings. Boone Jenner, Brandon Dubinsky and Cam Atkinson join forces on the top line and have proven to be quiet capable offensively, however Coach Blashill chose to shadow that line with Pavel Datsyuk pestering defense in that first meeting, putting a significant dent into their fantasy outlook tonight. That does however open the door for the Nick Foligno, Alexander Wennberg and Scott Hartnell line. Hartnell actually leads the team with 43 points and can provide fantasy points in a variety of different ways (specially if you’re playing on a site that rewards penalty minutes). He’s posted two goals and two assists in his last four games while Nick Foligno has finally started to come alive offensively lately with three goals and three assists in his last five games. Brandon Saad missed Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury and remains questionable to play tonight. On defense, Seth Jones and Ryan Murray continue to log the lions share of the playing time on the point of the power-play. Both young defensemen were former first round picks and are still reasonably priced on most sites.
Detroit Red Wings
CF%: 51.3, CP60: 101.2, 5×5 Differential: 3
Elite Options: Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk
Secondary Options: Justin Abdelkader, Dylan Larkin, Tomas Tatar, Mike Green, Niklas Kronwall
Columbus Blue Jackets
CF%: 47.7, CP60: 108.4, 5×5 Differential: -13
Elite Options: Scott Hartnell
Secondary Options: Cam Atkinson, Nick Foligno, Brandon Dubinsky, Seth Jones, Ryan Murray
Ottawa Senators at Carolina Hurricanes – 07:00 PM EST
| Ottawa Senators | Carolina Hurricanes | ||||||||
 | Craig Anderson |  | Cam Ward | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 31-29-7 | 29-26-11 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.79 | 3.03 | 17.50% | 73.80% | Team Stats | 2.44 | 2.65 | 17.40% | 83.00% |
Ottawa has dropped three of their last four games, but should have your attention tonight against the depleted Carolina Hurricanes. Unlike most other NHL teams, the offense starts from the blue-line for Ottawa as Erik Karlsson leads the team (and all NHL defensemen) with 68 points 67 games and leads the entire NHL in playing time at 29:08 minutes per game. Up-front, Dave Cameron has two very capable scoring lines at his disposal. The top line of Mike Hoffman, Mika Zibanejad and Bobby Ryan has cooled off a bit lately, but they’re still very, very dangerous. While the Kyle Turris injury was a big blow, the trio of Zack Smith, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Mark Stone has given Dave Cameron a consistent secondary scoring option. Much like last season, Mark Stone has turned on his offense in the second half; scoring nine goals and adding ten assists (and a +8) in 17 games since the break.
The Hurricanes dropped on overtime decision in Tampa Bay over the weekend, and will head back to Raleigh for tonight’s tilt against the Ottawa Senators before heading back out on the road to begin a tough looking five game road trip on Thursday. With Kris Versteeg, Eric Staal and John-Michael Liles all shipped off prior to the trade deadline and Justin Faulk still likely sidelined with a leg injury, the offensive options from Carolina are very limited. Jordan Staal finally ended a four-game pointless streak with his 17th goal of the season against Tampa Bay and leads the team with 40 points in 66 games. He’ll skate alongside Elias Lindholm and Joakim Nordstrom on the top forward line and see plenty of run as the center of the top power-play unit. Jeff Skinner can be one of the streakiest players in the NHL and looks to be heating up; scoring two goals and two assists in his last three games. He leads the ‘Canes with 23 goals and is a dangerous weapon on the #2 power-play unit. With Ottawa allowing an NHL worst 33.3 shots against per game and also sporting a putrid 73.8% penalty kill, everyone here sees a significant fantasy boost.
Ottawa Senators
CF%: 47.6, CP60: 111.6, 5×5 Differential: -4
Elite Options: Mark Stone, Erik Karlsson
Secondary Options: Mike Hoffman, Bobby Ryan, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Dion Phaneuf
Carolina Hurricanes
CF%: 52.3, CP60: 106.5, 5×5 Differential: -16
Elite Options: Jordan Staal
Secondary Options: Victor Rask, Elias Lindholm, Jeff Skinner, Noah Hanifin
Dallas Stars at Montreal Canadiens – 07:30 PM EST
| Dallas Stars | Montreal Canadiens | ||||||||
 | Kari Lehtonen |  | Ben Scrivens | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 40-20-7 | |||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.18 | 2.84 | 21.80% | 79.70% | Team Stats | 2.64 | 2.76 | 17.30% | 84.50% |
The Stars put an end to a four-game losing skid with consecutive wins and will head to Montreal looking to regain their lead in the Central Division. While the Canadiens have been a disaster down the stretch, they still own a 17-11-3 record at the Bell Center where they’ve only allowed 2.19 goals against per game this season. With that said, this Dallas team plays at the fastest pace in the entire NHL and the duo of Jamie Benn and Tyler Sequin have terrorized opposing goalies all season and are both in the top four of the entire NHL in scoring. Brett Ritchie has posted some decent offensive numbers with the AHL Stars in the past couple years and now has the luxury of playing alongside them on the top line making him a very appealing “punt” option. Jason Spezza has tallied goals in three straight games and has quietly posted 24 goals and 24 assists in 61 games. He scored a goal and added two assists in the only other meeting against the Canadiens and has plenty of upside playing alongside the talented pair of Mattias Janmark and Valeri Nichushkin. Lindy Ruff hinted that John Klingberg would not make the road-trip, which opens the door for Alex Goligoski to log huge minutes and grab the reigns of the top power-play unit. He’s picked up at least one assist in each of the last four games and looks like a terrific dollar-for-dollar option on the blue-line tonight.
The Canadiens just dropped all four games of their recent west coast road trip and look to have officially thrown in the towel on their hugely disappointing 2015-16 season. While they’ve been far better on home ice this season, they’ll face a Dallas team that smoked them in their first meeting this season and it’s hard to get too excited about them from a fantasy perspective. To make matters worse for Montreal, Brendan Gallagher has been ruled out for tonight’s game and both Alex Galchenyuk and Lars Eller are questionable. With that said, Montreal does benefit from the increased paced Dallas will push and the Stars have allowed an unsightly 3.47 goals against per game since the All-Star break. Max Pacioretty picked up a pair of assists against Winnipeg on Saturday and has posted two goals and four assists in his last six games. He’s had a disappointing season but looks like a fine options along with Tomas Plekanec. On defense, P.K. Subban is likely the safest cash game option of the bunch. He leads the team with 50 points in 66 games and is locked into 25+ minutes of ice-time per night. His defensive partner Andrei Markov has come on strong lately as well; posting a goal and 11 assists over his last 13 games. Both blue-liners run things from the point of Montreal’s top power-play unit and should be eager to get a crack at the Dallas 79.7% penalty kill.
Dallas Stars
CF%: 53.3, CP60: 116.5, 5×5 Differential: 4
Elite Options: Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza
Secondary Options: Valeri Nichushkin, Brett Ritchie, Mattias Janmark, Alex Goligoski
Montreal Canadiens
CF%: 52.3, CP60: 109.5, 5×5 Differential: -5
Elite Options: P.K. Subban
Secondary Options: Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Markov