NHL Grind Down: Wednesday, February 24th
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.
Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals – 07:00 PM EST
| Montreal Canadiens | Washington Capitals | ||||||||
 | Mike Condon |  | Braden Holtby | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 28-27-5 | 44-10-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.63 | 2.72 | 18.30% | 83.40% | Team Stats | 3.29 | 2.28 | 23.20% | 84.80% |
It’s been an unusual season in Montreal to say to least and with each passing loss the Canadiens once seemingly all but guaranteed playoff hopes keep diminishing. This team has posted an ugly 9-23-2 record over their last 34 games and are faced with the toughest matchup in hockey as they’ll head to the Verizon Center to battle the Washington Capitals. Washington has man-handled them in each of their prior two meetings and, even on just a four game slate, I’m certainly not excited about getting much exposure to Montreal tonight. P.K. Subban leads the team with 46 points in 60 games this season and looks to be the safest option of the bunch. He’s logged over 30 minutes of playing time in each of the last two games and has racked up a goal and eight assists in ten games since the All-Star break. Up-front, Tomas Plekanec has lead the charge lately with three goals and seven assists in ten games this month and is joined by Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk on both the top line and #1 power-play unit. It’s been a very disappointing season for Max Pacioretty, but the former first round pick still has some GPP upside as he’s reached the 20 goal plateau for the forth time in his career and can approach value based on shot volume alone.
The Capitals escaped with a tough 3-2 win over Arizona on Monday night and have now a 9-1-0 record in their last ten games. They’ve also been absolutely dominant on home ice this season where they own a 23-4-2 record. With Montreal coming to town on life support, Washington will look to throw the potential knock-out blow this evening. Breaking down the Capitals has to start with Alex Ovechkin. The Russian sniper leads the NHL in both goals and SOG and is a dangerous player to fade on such a short slate. With that said, his new center Evgeny Kuznetsov actually leads the team with 62 points in 58 games and may be the better play on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Kuznetsov scored a goal and added an assist for the second straight game on Monday and has now racked up seven goals and 22 assists (and a +14) in his last 21 games. Justin Williams has the enviable position of joining those two on the top line making him one of the best values on the board. While the move away from Ovechkin is generally bad news for both Niklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie, both players still have some exposure to Ovie on the top power-play unit. John Carlson has been eerily quiet lately, but as the quarterback of the NHL’s #1 power-play, he’s still a fine option in all formats tonight.
Montreal Canadiens
CF%: 52.7, CP60: 108.9, 5×5 Differential: -3
Elite Options: None
Secondary Options: Tomas Plekanec, Brendan Gallagher, Max Pacioretty, P.K. Subban, Andrei Markov
Washington Capitals
CF%: 50.4, CP60: 109.4, 5×5 Differential: 37
Elite Options: Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Justin Williams, John Carlson
Secondary Options: Niklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Andre Burakovsky, Matt Niskanen
Pittsburgh Penguins at Boston Bruins – 08:00 PM EST
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Boston Bruins | ||||||||
 | Marc-Andre Fleury |  | Tuukka Rask | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 30-20-8 | 32-22-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.62 | 2.53 | 18.50% | 83.90% | Team Stats | 3.02 | 2.80 | 22.30% | 82.80% |
In a key battle in the Eastern Conference, the Penguins will make the trip east to Boston as they hang on to the 8th and final playoff seed. The Penguins were badly outplayed by the Bruins in both games of a home-and-home series earlier this season and confirmed that they’ll once again be without the services of Evgeni Malkin tonight. With Malkin sidelined, the Bruins defensive stalwarts of Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand will be able to focus all of their attention on slowing down Sidney Crosby. While this is obviously a dent to Crosby’s fantasy outlook, he’s simply too talented to ignore on a four game slate. Crosby is slated to be joined by Chris Kunitz and Patric Hornqvist on the top line, leaving Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin to skate alongside of Matt Cullen on the second line. If you’re looking for some value, Scott Wilson has taken full advantage of his new role alongside Crosby on the top power-play and has now found the back of the net in each of the last three games. On defense, Kris Letang poured in three more assists against Buffalo on Sunday and has now tallied a ridiculous eight goals and 23 assists over his last 21 games. He won’t come cheap and the matchup is less than ideal, but he’s still well worth consideration, especially in GPPs.
Claude Julien was visibly upset with his team following their disappointing 6-4 loss on home ice against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night. The Bruins haven’t been able to gain much momentum lately, but they have controlled play against the Penguins in their two prior meetings this season and do catch a break with Evgeni Malkin watching from the pressbox. If you haven’t been paying much attention lately, Brad Marchand has been on quite the heater; tallying 15 goals over his last 17 games. He’s joined by Patrice Bergeron and Brett Connolly on the Bruins very dangerous top line, but with Claude Juilien likely expecting them to focus on slowing down the Sidney Crosby line, this may not be the time to spend up for their services. With that in mind, the second line headlined by David Krejci and Loui Eriksson looks intriguing. Not only can that pair be found at a steep discount compared to Bergeron and Marchand, but they’ve also been playing quiet well. David Krejci has racked up three goals and nine assists in 11 games since the All-Star break and lit the lamp on eight occasions over the last nine games. Their linemate David Pastrnak picked up a pair of assists in Monday’s game and has now posted two goals and eight assists in 12 home games. On defense, the duo of Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara soak up nearly all of the available playing time on the point of the Bruins power-play and are the top options.
Pittsburgh Penguins
CF%: 51.7, CP60: 109.7, 5×5 Differential: 4
Elite Options: Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang
Secondary Options: Chris Kunitz, Patric Hornqvist, Phil Kessel, Carl Hagelin, Scott Wilson, Trevor Daley
Boston Bruins
CF%: 48.8, CP60: 110.6, 5×5 Differential: 4
Elite Options: David Krejci, Loui Eriksson
Secondary Options: Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, Torey Krug, Zdeno Chara
San Jose Sharks at Colorado Avalanche – 10:00 PM EST
| San Jose Sharks | Colorado Avalanche | ||||||||
 | Martin Jones |  | Calvin Pickard | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 32-21-5 | 31-27-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.95 | 2.67 | 22.60% | 79.70% | Team Stats | 2.63 | 2.79 | 19.00% | 79.60% |
The Sharks picked up a statement victory in St. Louis on Monday night and will wrap up their five-game road trip tonight in Colorado. They’ve posted a 14-3-3 record over their last 20 games to climb within striking distance of the division leading Los Angeles Kings. San Jose blue the Avalanche out of their water in 6-1 fashion in their last meeting and should have your attention tonight as the Avalanche remain the worst puck possession team in the NHL. Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski find themselves tied atop the team leaderboard in points this season and join forces on the top line alongside Tomas Hertl. Thornton has caught fire with five goals and nine assists in ten games this month and Pavelski already owns a pair of goals this season against the Avalanche. While they draw the most attention on most nights, Peter DeBoer has two other very dangerous lines at his disposal headlined by Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture, respectively. Couture scored a pair of goals and added an assist against St. Louis on Monday night and has now tallied five goals and seven assists in the last eight games. Brent Burns has torched the Avalanche for two goals and three assists in their three prior meetings and is an elite option on the blue-line. He’s posted 50 points in 58 games this season and only Alex Ovechkin has fired more shots on goal at opposing goalies.
Patrick Roy was very disappointed in his team’s play in a rough 5-1 loss in Vancouver on Sunday and should have his team ready to play as they return to the Pepsi Center. Unfortunately they draw a very tough matchup against a surging San Jose Sharks team. Matt Duchene enters tonight’s game sporting a team high 48 points in 62 games and is now joined by the ageless wonder Jarome Iginla on the top line. Iginla has thrived in his new role with points in each of the last four games and four goals and seven assists over his last nine games. While they’ll likely draw plenty of attention from the disrupting defense of Logan Couture, they still look like the top options. Alternatively, Nathan MacKinnon has lit the lamp four times in the three prior meetings with San Jose this season but has gone ice-cold lately with zero points over his last five games. On defense, Tyson Barrie has secured the duties as the point-man on the top power-play unit and has already dished out three assists against the Sharks. He’s locked into 20+ minutes of ice-time per night and is the most consistent option on the Colorado blue-line.
San Jose Sharks
CF%: 50.9, CP60: 106.6, 5×5 Differential: 6
Elite Options: Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, Brent Burns
Secondary Options: Patrick Marleau, Tomas Hertl, Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Colorado Avalanche
CF%: 43.5, CP60: 109.9, 5×5 Differential: -10
Elite Options: Matt Duchene, Jarome Iginla
Secondary Options: Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Carl Soderberg, Tyson Barrie, Francois Beauchemin
Buffalo Sabres at Anaheim Ducks – 10:30 PM EST
| Buffalo Sabres | Anaheim Ducks | ||||||||
 | Robin Lehner |  | Frederik Andersen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 24-29-7 | 31-19-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.38 | 2.68 | 20.30% | 82.80% | Team Stats | 2.48 | 2.38 | 20.70% | 86.40% |
The Sabres have shown plenty of encouraging signs for the future, but they dropped a 4-3 decision against Pittsburgh on Sunday and have now posted just a 5-6-3 record over their last 14 games and will kick off a rough three game tour of California tonight in Anaheim. While they look to be severely outmatched in this game on paper, they did shut out the Ducks in their only previous meeting (back when Anaheim was really struggling) and it’s hard to skip over them completely on a four game slate. With that said, they lost leading scorer Ryan O’Reilly for the next three to four weeks with foot injury which highlights just how thin this team is up-front. Jack Eichel will take O’Reilly’s spot on the top line and is easily the most appealing option. The rookie saw a four game point streak snapped on Sunday but has tallied four goals and ten assists in his last 15 games. Alternatively, Sam Reinhart and Evander Kane team up on the second forward line and also join Eichel on the top power-play unit. Anaheim’s 86.4% penalty kill puts a dent in their fantasy outlook however, so tread very carefully in cash games. Rasmus Ristolainen has been the top option on their blue-line all season and should be locked into a very heavy workload with Mike Weber being shipped off to the Washington Capitals. Again, the matchup makes it hard to trust him in cash games, but he’s picked up points in back-to-back games and will likely go scarcely used in GPP’s.
The Ducks are arguably the hottest team in the NHL right now and will likely be very popular selections tonight as they host Buffalo Sabres. Anaheim has scored 5+ goals in each of their last four games and have now posted a 12-1-1 record in their last 14 games. The Ducks were very much a one-line team early this season, but Bruce Boudreau now has three very threatening forward lines to throw over the boards each night. Ryan Getzlaf leads the team with 47 points in 54 games and has really turned thing on offensively lately with five goals and 11 assists in 11 games since the break. He’s thriving with his new line mate David Perron on the top line and still sees plenty of run with his old partner-in-crime Corey Perry on the #1 power-play unit. Ryan Kesler has come alive after a very brutal start to the season and, with a pair of goals and an assists against Calgary on Sunday, has now extended his point streak to five games. Sami Vatanen and Cam Fowler share the duties as the point-men on the top power-play unit and have both been rolling lately, making them rock solid cash game options.
Buffalo Sabres
CF%: 47.9, CP60: 104.4, 5×5 Differential: -28
Elite Options: None
Secondary Options: Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Evander Kane, Rasmus Ristolainen
Anaheim Ducks
CF%: 53.2, CP60: 107.9, 5×5 Differential: -7
Elite Options: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Cam Fowler, Sami Vatanen
Secondary Options: David Perron, Rickard Rakell, Ryan Kesler, Hampus Lindholm