NHL Grind Down: Wednesday, December 28th
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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Carolina Hurricanes at Pittsburgh Penguins
| Carolina Hurricanes | Pittsburgh Penguins | ||||||||
 | Cam Ward |  | Matt Murray | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 15-11-7 | 23-8-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.61 | 2.61 | 20.40% | 90.60% | Team Stats | 3.44 | 2.81 | 22.50% | 79.70% |
Defensman Justin Faulk is listed week-to-week and will probably not suit up for tonight’s game. Faulk has led the team with seven points over the last five games so there’s no doubt he will be missed. When an injury occurs to a player like Faulk usually there is someone in line to benefit from that injury. Brett Pesce is that benefactor as he will play the point on the top power play unit with Noah Hanifin when Carolina has the man advantage. Pesce is fairly cheap across the industry so his three points in the last five games may look a bit attractive especially since he only has nine points on the year. Jeff Skinner and Victor Rask make for a nice GPP tandem here as they lead the team with 27 and 26 points respectively and should be low owned tonight. The second line of Teuvo Teravainen, Sebastian Aho and Lee Stempniak can also be a full line GPP stack as Pittsburgh will surely try to shut down the Rask line which would leave them a little more room on the ice tonight. Aho makes the decent one-off play however as his two goals and two assist before the break has given him 17 points on the season. Carolina could struggle here on the road so I wouldn’t set my expectations too high.
After playing in Newark last night the Pittsburgh Penguins will try to improve on the 15-2-2 record on home ice. I don’t have to tell you to try to fit Sidney Crosby into your cash game line ups on such a short slate but it seems that he is still skating with Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary, who could help alleviate some salary cap space. Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist skate on the second line and join Crosby on a power play unit that sees over 60% of ice time on a nightly basis when the Penguins have the man advantage. Although Malkin leads the team in points with 39 Crosby is right on his heels with 24 goals and 14 assists in the 29 games he had played going into last night. Chris Kunitz completes the second line while Phil Kessel, Nick Bonino and Carl Hagelin fill out the third line. Kessel is the one-off here as 14 of his 34 points have come from skating on the top power play unit. Justin Schultz is holding down the fort in the absence of Kris Letang on the back line and for the most part has been doing a pretty good job. He has four points in the last five games before the break and is now fifth on the penguins scoring list with 21 points. Yes, I know Pittsburgh played last night but they should be more than ready for the hurricanes on home ice tonight.
Elite Plays
CAR: Jeff Skinner
PIT: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin
Secondary Plays
CAR: Victor Rask, Sebastian Aho, Noah Hanifin, Teuvo Teravainen
PIT: Justin Schultz, Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist
Toronto Maple Leafs at Florida Panthers
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Florida Panthers | ||||||||
 | Frederik Andersen |  | Roberto Luongo | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 14-12-7 | 15-14-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.94 | 2.73 | 19.60% | 83.60% | Team Stats | 2.34 | 2.66 | 14.90% | 85.60% |
The Maple Leafs went into the break winning three of their last four games including a 2-1 win in overtime against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tyler Bozak will return tonight to center James van Riemsdyk and Mitchell Marner. This is probably their best scoring line as Marner leads the team in points with 26 while van Riemsdyk has chipped in 13 goals and 11 assists. Auston Matthews is your one-off play here as he gets the extra time with the top line when Toronto goes on the power play. Matthews leads the team in goals with 16 while centering Zach Hyman and Connor Brown. Toronto also has a third line that can score as Kazem Kadri, Leo Komarov and William Nylander get the first crack with Matthews on the top power play unit. Nylander looks to be a stand-alone play here as 12 of his 22 points have come with the man advantage. Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly are the options from the blue line with Gardiner getting a slight nod here as he had registered six of his 17 points over the last six games before the break. Toronto sits in sixth place in the Atlantic Division and could gain some ground if they can put away the Panthers tonight who are just one point above them in the standings.
Florida is not the team that everyone was expecting them to be this season, at least not yet. The Panthers have only won three of their last 11 games as they look to start off on the right foot tonight after their three day break. Jaromir Jagr and Aleksander Barkov are the cash plays here as they skate on the top line with Seth Griffith. This line also serves as the top power play unit that has scored five times over the last five games. Barkov has registered seven of his team leading 27 points over the last six games while Jagr has racked up six of his 21 points over the same time frame. Nick Bjugstad could be used as a one-off here as he comes up from the second line to skate with Barkov and company when the Panthers draw a penalty. Despite missing seven games Bjugstad’s line mate in Jonathan Marchessault still leads the team with ten goals while Vincent Trocheck has managed just 16 points in 35 games. Defenseman Keith Yandle quarterbacks the team’s top power play unit and has recorded seven of his 15 points with the man advantage. You could also use Aaron Ekblad as an alternative here but it’s the same old story. Ekblad leads the team with 166 shots but has just ten points to show for it, seven of them goals. The Panthers are 9-6-1 on home ice and look to steal one here against the visiting Maple Leafs.
Elite Plays
TOR: Auston Matthews
FLA: Aleksander Barkov
Secondary Plays
TOR: Mitchell Marner, James van Riemsdyk, Jake Gardiner, Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak
FLA: Jaromir Jagr, Jonathan Marchessault, Keith Yandle, Aaron Ekblad
Montréal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning
| Montréal Canadiens | Tampa Bay Lightning | ||||||||
 | Carey Price |  | Andrei Vasilevskiy | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 21-9-4 | 17-15-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.03 | 2.21 | 19.10% | 81.60% | Team Stats | 2.80 | 2.74 | 23.20% | 79.70% |
With the injuries to Alex Galchenyuk and Andrei Markov the Canadiens have decided to switch up their lines a bit and for once, I agree with them. Max Pacioretty and Phillip Danault will now have Brendan Gallagher to their right while Alexander Radulov has dropped down to the second line to skate with Paul Byron and Torrey Mitchell. This will force the Lightning to either stop Pacioretty, who leads the team in points with 27, or Radulov, who has garnered 23 points in 32 games. I would probably try the Radulov line here for your tournament plays as Pacioretty and Gallagher would seem to have more than Radulov and either Byron or Mitchell. Jeff Petry and Shea Weber will get the call to man the points when the Canadiens draw a penalty. Both make decent plays here as Petry has registered six points in the last five games before the break while Weber has 19 points while logging over 25 minutes of ice time on a nightly basis. Look for Montreal to score a few here and both lines could very well get in on the action.
Tampa gets some good news after the break and that is that Nikita Kucherov will be back in the lineup tonight as he will play alongside of Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat. This would normally be great news but the lightning host one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference in the form of the Montreal Canadiens so goals could be at a premium. Nonetheless if you like Tampa tonight, this is the line to target as Kucherov leads the team in goals and points despite missing seven games. Jonathan Drouin makes for decent one-off play here from the second line as he had racked up four goals and seven points in the last six games before the break. Brian Boyle and Valtteri Filppula skate alongside of Drouin and make for a decent GPP play on any night but tonight. Victor Hedman is the defenseman you want here as he has seen five of his last ten points come with the man advantage over the last six games. Hedman is also second on the team in scoring with six goals and 23 assists. Look for Tampa to try to play a fast paced game as that is probably the only way they have a chance in this one.
Elite Plays
MTL: Max Pacioretty, Alexander Radulov
TB: Nikita Kucherov
Secondary Plays
MTL: Brendan Gallagher, Shea Weber, Jeff Petry
TB: Victor Hedman, Jonathan Drouin, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Valtteri Filppula
Philadelphia Flyers at St. Louis Blues
| Philadelphia Flyers | St. Louis Blues | ||||||||
 | Steve Mason |  | Carter Hutton | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 20-12-4 | 18-12-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.94 | 2.92 | 22.00% | 82.10% | Team Stats | 2.77 | 2.91 | 21.30% | 87.40% |
The Flyers head to St Louis to pay a visit to their old buddy Ken Hitchcock who is the Blues head coach. Hitchcock was the coach when the Flyers lost in the conference finals back in 2003 so most of the players in tonight’s game may only remember him from seeing him on the television. Anyway, the Flyers are one of the surprise teams of the year as they have themselves in fifth place in the Metropolitan Division with 44 points. They are just six points away from the first place Blue Jackets and would be in the playoffs had they started today. The Blue will try to shut down the top line of Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and Michael Raffl which should leave the second line with plenty of room on the ice tonight. Voracek leads the team with 35 points while Giroux is a close second with ten goals and 21 assists. I don’t mind using them in a GPP tonight as they both get plenty of minutes when the Flyers have the man advantage. Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn skate on the team’s second line and look to be one of the stronger plays of the night. They both play on the top power play unit while Simmonds leads the team with 16 goals so far this season. Schenn on the other hand has recorded 13 of his 21 points after the Flyers draw a penalty. There are plenty of defensemen to choose from here as you could make a case for either Shayne Gostisbehere or Ivan Provorov in the absence of Mark Streit. The only thing I would be cautious of here is the fact that the Flyers had scored just nine goals in the six games they played before the break.
UPDATE
Michael Raffl is injured and will be replaced by Taylor Leier on the top line.
In an effort to come up with three strong scoring lines the St Louis Blues have switched it up a bit. Jori Lehtera will now center Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko which looks to be the line you want to target in cash games tonight. The only problem with this is Lehtera as he has just ten points on 33 shots so far this season so maybe it’s best to use Tarasenko and Steen as a duo instead of using the whole line. Tarasenko could also be used as a one-off as he leads the team in goals with 16 and in assists with 22. Paul Stastny will center Jaden Schwartz and David Perron while Robby Fabbri has been dropped to the third line. Both Schwartz and Fabbri are one-offs here as they get exposure to Tarasenko by playing on the top power play unit alongside of him. Schwartz has 21 points in 31 games while Fabbri has tallied eight goals and 12 assists so far this season. Kevin Shattenkirk makes for a decent play on the back line as 13 of his 23 points have come right after the Blues draw a penalty. Alex Pietrangelo has also seen some time with the top power play unit and could be used here at a cheaper price. The Blues are 13-2-4 in front of the home crowd so if the Flyers bring their ‘A’ game, this could be a doozy.
Elite Plays
PHL: Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko
Secondary Plays
PHL: Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, Shayne Gostisbehere
STL: Alexander Steen, Jaden Schwartz, Kevin Shattenkirk, Robby Fabbri, Alex Pietrangelo
Los Angeles Kings at Vancouver Canucks
| Los Angeles Kings | Vancouver Canucks | ||||||||
 | Peter Budaj |  | Ryan Miller | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 17-13-4 | 14-18-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.53 | 2.38 | 16.00% | 84.70% | Team Stats | 2.37 | 3.09 | 13.50% | 79.80% |
The Los Angeles Kings aren’t even going to look at injured Tyler Toffoli until after the New Year as they continue their brutal nine-game road trip. So far they have won three of the first seven games and have found a way to come away with a point in two others. The currently sit in fourth place in the Pacific Division with 38 points which is just two points away from third place Anaheim going into last night. Devin Setoguchi will jump up and play with Jeff Carter and Tanner Pearson at even strength while Anze Kopitar will center Marian Gaborik and Dustin Brown. Hopefully the break will give Gaborik a little more focus as he has tallied just four points since his return 12 games ago while Brown had tallied three assist in the five games before the break. Kopitar is an easy one-off here as the defensive line of Vancouver will probably match up against the Carter line. Speaking of Carter, he leads the team with 19 goals and 29 points through the first 34 games. Drew Doughty and Alec Martinez are the choices from the point with Doughty being the better choice by an eyelash as he sees upwards of 27 minutes of ice time per game. The Kings have had trouble scoring of late and that’s to be expected on a long road trip but because of the three day break, I wouldn’t be surprised if they score a few goals here tonight.
When we last left the Vancouver Canucks they were in the midst of shuffling up their line to try and generate more offense. It didn’t work however as they dropped their last game before the break to the Calgary Flames by a score of 4-1. Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin were reunited with Loui Eriksson and should make for a decent play here as the Sedin brothers lead the team with 22 points. The Canucks are a surprising 10-6-2 in front of the home crowd and should be able to score a few goals tonight. Sven Baertschi, Bo Horvat and Alexandre Burrows seem to have taken over as the team’s second line as they had a combined 15 points in the last six games Vancouver has played. On such a short slate this line is looking better than most for your tournament play tonight. Brandon Sutter was shipped to the third line to center Markus Granlund and at least three other wingers in the Calgary game. It seems there was a lot of Shuffling going on in that game so it’s probably best to stick with the top line for your cash game plays. Troy Stecher is the defenseman to target here if you want a Canuck but with only nine points so far this season, I think I’d look elsewhere.
Elite Plays
LAK: Jeff Carter
VAN: None
Secondary Plays
LAK: Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Alec Martinez, Tanner Pearson, Marian Gaborik
VAN: Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi