NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, October 20th

by John Britt (jmbwngfn) Last Updated 2015-10-22 14:39:24

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.

Note: As always, if you want to try a new DFS site, be sure to click through a RotoGrinders link and use our DraftKings promo code and FanDuel promo code to receive the best perks in the industry.

Please note that the win/loss numbers listed below represent each team’s 2014-15 team record and do not currently account for overtime losses.

Florida Panthers at Pittsburgh Penguins – 07:00 PM EDT

Florida Panthers					Pittsburgh Penguins
			Roberto Luongo					Marc-Andre Fleury
			Record					Record
			38-29					43-27
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.41	2.60	16.30%	80.00%	Team Stats	2.65	2.49	19.30%	84.80%

The Panthers had a fairly easy schedule to start the season, and while their 3-2-0 start is encouraging, they’re about to be really tested as they hit the road starting tonight in Pittsburgh. The Penguins took two of the three meetings between these two teams last season and look to have turned things around after their 0-3 start to the season. While the Panthers are clearly out-gunned in this matchup, the Penguins have garnered a reputation for defensive lapses and this Panthers squad definitely has enough fire-power upfront to make them pay in a hurry. The ageless wonder Jaromir jagr has already racked up four goals and three assists in the first five games and teams up with the talented Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov to give the Panthers a very dangerous top scoring line. While that line deserves most of your attention, the Bjugstad/Pirri/Smith line has developed a nice rapport and look more than capable of providing Florida with a consistent secondary scoring option. Aaron Ekblad looks poised to be a Norris Trophy contender for years to come, and sees plenty of run on the point of the top power-play unit, making him a fine option on the blue-line.

Breaking down this Penguins team from a fantasy perspective is fairly easy. They have two elite scoring lines with Kris Letang a top tier defensive option. Patric Hornqvist and Evgeni Malkin team up on the second line and each tallied three goals and an assist against the Panthers in their three meetings last season. They’re joined by the highly skilled and finally healthy David Perron to form a very dangerous offensive line. Sidney Crosby picked up a goal and three assists against the Panthers last season, and should once again put up monster numbers on the top forward line wit Phil Kessel and Chris Kunitz surrounding him on his wings. The Panthers struggled on the penalty kill last season (80% PK) so be sure to throw Kris Letang into the mix if you want some reasonably priced exposure to their lethal power-play. There’s no chance this offense stays quiet for long, so fire them up tonight as you see fit.

Elite Plays

FLA: Jaromir Jagr, Aaron Ekblad
PIT: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang

Secondary Plays

FLA: Brandon Pirri, Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov, Nick Bjugstad, Brian Campbell
PIT: David Perron, Chris Kunitz, Patric Hornqvist

Arizona Coyotes at New Jersey Devils – 07:00 PM EDT

Arizona Coyotes					New Jersey Devils
			Mike Smith					Cory Schneider
			Record					Record
			24-50					32-36
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.01	3.26	20.00%	76.70%	Team Stats	2.15	2.55	19.30%	80.60%

The Coyotes jumped out to a very surprising 3-0-0 start to the season, but after dropping their last two game and being torched for nine goals in the process, they honeymoon appears to be over. Arizona finished as the doormat in the Western Conference last year and did nothing to improve their hockey club during the offseason, so more losing looks to be on the horizon for the Coyotes. Even in a soft matchup like the one tonight in New Jersey, this is just not a team with a ton to love from a fantasy perspective. The Devils dominated the Coyotes in their two meetings last season, winning both games and outscoring them 7-1 in the process. Despite a true goal scorer on the roster, the Coyotes have seem fine offensive production from each of their top two scoring lines; with Martin Hanzal (7 assists), Anthony Duclair (4 goals and 2 assists) and Max Domi (3 goals and 3 assists) leading the way. However, Oliver Ekman-Larsson led this team in points last season and is one of the games brightest young stars on the blue-line. He’s a top-tier defensive option as the Devils owned just a an 80.6% penalty kill last season and ranked 29th in the league by Corsi standards.

The Devils shocked their cross-town Rivals, the New York Rangers, on Sunday to pick up their first win of the season. The home matchup tonight against the Coyotes is a nice one for sure, but this Devils team is somewhat a wasteland for fantasy value. Mike Cammalleri is their most dangerous offensive weapon, and with a goal and two assists through the first four games, he’s a fine option here. Only the Buffalo Sabres posted a worse penalty kill than the Coyotes last season, so there does look to be some value in targeting this Devils power-play unit. For that reason, Cammalleri remains the top play, but Adam Henrique and Kyle Palmieri also see a nice fantasy boost. On the blue-line, Damon Severson has picked up assists in back-to-back games and showed flashes off offensive upside when healthy during his rookie season. He’s logged a nice workload on the point of the #1 power-play and is a nice value option at one of your “D” spots.

Elite Plays

ARZ: Oliver Ekman-Larsson
NJD: Mike Cammalleri

Secondary Plays

ARZ: Martin Hanzal, Anthony Duclair, Mikkel Boedker, Max Domi
NJD: Kyle Palmieri, Adam Henrique, Damon Severson

Dallas Stars at Philadelphia Flyers – 07:00 PM EDT

Dallas Stars					Philadelphia Flyers
			Kari Lehtonen					Steve Mason
			Record					Record
			41-31					33-31
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	3.13	3.13	19.00%	80.70%	Team Stats	2.59	2.72	23.40%	77.10%

The Stars enter tonight’s game on the heels of a three game winning streak, and this team is looking to prove that they’re contenders in the Western Conference. They’re averaging nearly four goals per game thus far in the 2015-16 season and were the most aggressive team in the NHL last season with a 61.6 CF60. They split the season series against the Flyers last year and their dangerous power-play should be able to take advantage of Philly’s ugly 77.1% penalty kill from last season. While the Flyers have oddly posted back-to-back shutouts, i’m still expecting some offensive fireworks in this one. The Stars are blessed with two very quality scoring lines, but with Patrick Sharp joining the dynamic duo of Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn on the top line, that’s where you’ll want to focus most of your attention. Jason Spezza has been red-hot to start the season and joins all three of the aforementioned forwards on the #1 power-play unit, so he’s also very much in play tonight. Defensively, John Klingberg has securely grabbed hold of the reigns as the point-man of the #1 power-play unit and has been an offensive force since bursting onto the scene last year. Alex Goligoski is a less exciting option on the blue-line, but he still offers nice value in this matchup.

The Flyers have been wildly inconsistent to start the season; they allowed 10 goals while dropping each of their first two games, but have posted back-to-back shutouts since. While expecting a third straight shutout is somewhat far fetched tonight, the Dallas Stars are likely going to be content on simply trying to outscore this Flyers team tonight, which subsequently means plenty of offensive chances for Philadelphia. Claude Giroux and Jacob Voracek lead the charge for the Flyers as that duo combined for 47 goals and 107 assists while unloading 500 SOG last season. Michael Raffl finds himself as fantasy relevant simply by being the that duo’s third wheel and Wayne Simmonds is well worth consideration as he joins them on the team’s #1 power-play unit. Mark Streit racked up 52 points last season from the blue-line and is an excellent option on the blue-line, specially as an under-utilized complement to either Voracek or Giroux.

Elite Plays

DAL: Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, John Klingberg
PHI: Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Mark Streit

Secondary Plays

DAL: Patrick Sharp, Jason Spezza, Valeri Nichushkin, Alex Goligoski
PHI: Wayne Simmonds, Michael Raffl, Brayden Schenn, Michael Del Zotto

New York Islanders at Columbus Blue Jackets – 07:00 PM EDT

New York Islanders					Columbus Blue Jackets
			Jaroslav Halak					Sergei Bobrovsky
			Record					Record
			47-28					42-35
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.99	2.73	18.70%	78.00%	Team Stats	2.77	3.02	21.70%	80.20%

The Islanders lost both halves of a home-and-home series against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks to open the season, but they’ve bounced back nicely since and won each of their last three games. These two teams split their four meetings last season, and with both teams struggling on the penalty kill, this game could easily be decided on special teams. Offensively, the Islanders are led by John Tavares and his linemates Anders Lee and Ryan Strome, but they also have found nice production from their second line of Josh Bailey, Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo. With the Blue Jackets already having surrendered easily the most goals in the NHL this season (30) all six of these guys should be on your fantasy radar tonight. On the blue-line, both Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk have proven to be quality puck moving defenseman and also see plenty of run with the man advantage, making them both strong plays. Power-play specialist Marek Zidlicky is quite cheap across the industry and emerges as a value option in this kind of a matchup.

It’s almost panic time in Columbus, and with the emerging New York Islanders coming to Ohio, picking up two points tonight won’t be easy. While I’m not 100% convinced the Blue Jackets are quite playoff bound in the tough Western Conference, they’re definitely not a pushover either. Both their defense and goaltending has been atrocious to start the season, but Sergei Bobrovsky is a quality netminder and the Blue Jackets showed true potential down the stretch last season and nearly grabbed the final playoff spot. Offensively, this team is a bit of a one-trick pony as such a large proportion of their offense comes from the dangerous Saad/Johansen/Foligno line. That line has combined for five goals and nine assists already this season and all three guys are excellent options as members of the top power-play unit against the Islanders and their ugly 78% penalty kill.

Elite Plays

NYI: John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, Ryan Strome, Johnny Boychuk
CBJ: Ryan Johansen. Brandon Saad, Nick Foligno

Secondary Plays

NYI: Anders Lee, Frans Nielsen, Nick Leddy, Marek Zidlicky
CBJ: Scott Hartnell, Brandon Dubinsky, Jack Johnson, Ryan Murray

St. Louis Blues at Montreal Canadiens – 07:30 PM EDT

St. Louis Blues					Montreal Canadiens
								Carey Price
			Record					Record
			51-24					50-22
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.91	2.40	22.30%	83.70%	Team Stats	2.61	2.24	16.50%	83.70%

With both of these teams off to solid starts and among the game’s elite teams, this is a potential Stanley Cup Finals preview. The Blues have scored four goals in each of their last four games (all victories) and while the Paul Stastny injury hurts their forward depth slightly, there’s simply no denying the chemistry between Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Steen. Jori Lehtera was the beneficiary of the Stastny injury and hopped on to play center alongside that dynamic combo and which offers a substantial boost to his fantasy value. With the matchup very tough, and key defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk out of the lineup once again, this just doesn’t seem like the time or place to invest too heavily in the Blues (GPPs aside).

Montreal has scored at least three goals in all six games this season and will hit the ice with an unblemished 6-0-0 record. The St. Louis Blues will be a stiff test for this team, but considering their 28-9-4 record at the Bell Centre last season, they’re still -140 favorites by our friends in Las Vegas. This should be a tightly contested game and likely not full of offensive fireworks, but ignoring this Montreal Canadiens team on any night can be a mistake. Their top line of Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher are the top options, and with Mr. Pacioretty posting 21 goals, 24 assists and a +24 in 40 home games last season (and also scoring a pair of goals in two games against St. Louis last season) he’s hard to ignore. While that line will likely see a heavy dose of the tough defense of David Backes, they’re still well worth consideration. If you’re looking to take a trip down narrative strip than former first round pick of these St. Louis Blues, Lars Eller, is worth a look as a GPP flier against his old squad. On defense, both P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov soak up all of the power-play time for Montreal and need to be given a look even though the Blues were very solid on the penalty kill last season.

Elite Plays

STL: Vladimir Tarasenko, Alexander Steen
MTL: Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec, P.K. Subban

Secondary Plays

STL: Jori Lehtera, Troy Brouwer, Alex Pietrangelo
MTL: Brendan Gallagher, Alexander Semin, Lars Eller, Andrei Markov, Carey Price

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