NHL Grind Down: Wednesday, January 6th

by John Britt (jmbwngfn) Last Updated 2016-01-07 18:14:17

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.

New Jersey Devils at Montreal Canadiens – 07:00 PM EST

New Jersey Devils					Montreal Canadiens
			Cory Schneider					Carey Price
			Record					Record
			20-15-5					22-16-3
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.28	2.28	19.70%	83.30%	Team Stats	2.85	2.45	18.80%	84.80%

With Michael Cammalleri out of the lineup once again, the Devils offense was extremely quiet in a 1-0 loss to the Red Wings on Monday night. While they’re hoping to have Cammalleri back in action tonight, they’re faced with a very tough matchup tonight at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Cammalleri is one of the top options if he’s able to lace things up tonight, but it’s been Kyle Palmieri causing most of the damage lately for the Devils. He missed on a few scoring chances against Detroit (he had 5 SOG) but has racked up eight goals and four assists over his last 15 games. Their exact forwards lines are contingent on Cammalleri’s health, but Palmieri will almost certainly be centered by the very capable Travis Zajac who looks like a fine GPP target. The Devils have arguably the least offensive production from their blue-line than any other team in the league, so there’s simply not much to get excited about there tonight.

Montreal was ecstatic to get Brendan Gallagher back in action against the Bruins at the Winter Classic, and his presence seemed to make an immediate change to this team as they steamrolled the Bruins 5-1 on New Years Day. While December was an absolute disaster for this team, they did own a very impressive 16-4-2 record prior to Gallagher’s injury and still figure to be major players for Lord Stanley’s Cup this spring. The top forward line of Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher is one of the best two-way lines in the NHL and all three are fine options in all game formats. However, it is worth noting that New Jersey is the slowest paced team in the NHL this season and their they’re only allowing 2.28 goals against per game this season…. so temper your expectations just a bit. On defense, both P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov are generally top-tier fantasy options on the blue-line. Subban saw his three game scoring streak snapped last night but his 0.9% shooting percentage just simply can’t go anywhere but up.

Elite Options

NJD: Kyle Palmieri, Michael Cammalleri (if healthy)
MON: Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec, Brendan Gallagher, P.K. Subban

Secondary Options

NJD: Travis Zajac, Adam Henrique
MON: Alex Galchenyuk, David Desharnais, Andrei Markov

Pittsburgh Penguins at Chicago Blackhawks – 08:00 PM EST

Pittsburgh Penguins					Chicago Blackhawks
			Marc-Andre Fleury					Corey Crawford
			Record					Record
			19-15-4					23-13-4
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.37	2.37	18.60%	84.10%	Team Stats	2.75	2.43	23.60%	81.40%

After battling each other last night in Pittsburgh, it won’t take long for these two talented teams to renew their rivalry as they head to Chicago for round #2 tonight. The Blackhawks escaped with a 3-2 overtime victory last night, but Pittsburgh did have a 36-30 edge in shots. Coach Queneville chose to lock up his defensive masterminds Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa against the Malkin/Kessel combination as much as possible, and while that duo is still certainly capable of an offensive explosion, that matchup gives an obvious edge to the Crosby/Kunitz/Perron line this evening. The Crosby line picked up both goals in last night’s contest with Crosby himself scoring his 12th goal of the season while also adding an assist. Crosby has scored at least one goal in each of the last four games and owns six goals and six assists over the last eight games. On Defense, Kris Letang is the clear #1 option. He’s racked up eight points over the last three games and is locked into 25+ minutes of ice-time per game and is a staple on the point of the Penguins’ #1 power-play unit. Facing the Blackhawks in the United Center is certainly not ideal, but the Penguins look to be starting to click on offense.

At times this regular season, the Blackhawks have simply looked as if they were going through the motions and not trying to burn themselves out before spring time as they’re well aware their combination of experience and skill level makes them a mortal lock for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Now, as we’ve hit the half-way point of the season, they look to have taken things up a notch. Chicago has won four straight games and should be motivated to send a message tonight to both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Eastern Conference as a whole by sweeping this home-and-home series. Offensively, it’s not a secret that Chicago possesses two very dangerous forwards lines, but for the same reasons that make the Crosby line more appealing for Pittsbugh in this matchup, the same is true for the Kane/Panarin/Anisimov line. With Toews/Hossa/Shaw working on slowing down Malkin and Company, Chicago will fight fire-power with fire-power against Sidney Crosby. Kane enters tonight’s action leading the NHL scoring race with 59 points in 41 games. His rookie linemate Artemi Panarin scored a pair of goals against the Penguins last night (including the game winner) and is likely leading the charge for the Calder Trophy with 36 points in 41 games. On defense, the Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook combo continue to put up very nice offensive numbers from the blue-line and both reside on the point of their very dangerous #1 power-play unit.

Elite Options

PIT: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang
CHI: Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook

Secondary Options

PIT: David Perron, Chris Kunitz, Phil Kessel, Olli Maatta
CHI: Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Teuvo Teravainen

St. Louis Blues at Colorado Avalanche – 10:00 PM EST

St. Louis Blues					Colorado Avalanche
								Semyon Varlamov
			Record					Record
			23-14-5					19-18-3
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.40	2.43	21.70%	85.10%	Team Stats	2.83	2.78	21.70%	80.00%

Just as it seems the Blues are ready to make a run at the Central Division leading Dallas Stars, they just seem to lose momentum. They’ll head to Denber tonight having dropped three straight games and the timing couldn’t be much worse as they open a tough three game road trip. Coach Hitchcock shook up his forward lines prior to Tuesday’s loss to Ottawa and, despite the loss, they 38 shots on goal should be enough to keep them steady for tonight’s game. Vladimir Tarasenko is easily their most dangerous offensive weapon with 23 goals and 18 assists in 40 games and he now finds himself playing alongside former center Jori Lehtera and the promising young rookie Robby Fabbri. While this new arrangement isn’t necessarily the best news for Tarasenko, it’s certainly a massive fantasy boost for both Fabbri and Lehtera. Alex Steen and Paul Stastny remain together with Troy Brouwer jumping up to play alongside them. Kevin Shattenkirk was a former first round pick by the Colorado Avalanche and is one of the top blue-line options on tonight’s slate. He picked up an assist against Colorado the only other time he faced them this season and has tallied 25 points in 32 games. Alex Pietrangelo and Colton Parayko have cooled down a bit offensively lately, but both players still see a very healthy dose of playing time on the point of the second power-play unit and shouldn’t be overlooked either.

Colorado looked very impressive in a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, but will once again have their hands full as a talented St. Louis Blues team invades the Pepsi Center. With Erik Johnson (The St. Louis Blues former #1 draft-pick) hurt in Tuesday’s game and almost certainly out of action tonight, Tyson Barrie is one blue-liner that has climbed my rankings significantly. Barrie put his offensive skills on display against the Kings on Tuesday with a pair of goals as well as two assists and has now racked up 18 points in 16 home games this season. Offensively, Andreas Martinsen now finds himself in the enviable position of playing alongside Nathan Mackinnon and Matt Duchene on the top forward line and took advantage of his new role with an assist on Tuesday. Jarome Iginla finally joined the 600 goal club on Tuesday night and still sees plenty of run alonside Nathan Mackinnon on the #2 power-play unit, making him a fine GPP target. It is worth noting that St. Louis has allowed just 2.40 goals against per game this season and that Colorado is still the worst puck possesion team in the NHL by Corsi standards, so don’t get carried away in your cash games.

Elite Options

STL: Vladimir Tarasenko, Alexander Steen, Kevin Shattenkirk
COL: Matt Duchene, Nathan Mackinnon, Tyson Barrie

Secondary Options

STL: Jori Lehtera, Robby Fabbri, Paul Stastny, Troy Brouwer, David Backes, Colton Parayko, Alex Pietrangelo
COL: Jarome Iginla, Gabriel Landeskog, Francois Beauchemin

Toronto Maple Leafs at Anaheim Ducks – 10:00 PM EST

Toronto Maple Leafs					Anaheim Ducks
			Jonathan Bernier					Frederik Andersen
			Record					Record
			15-15-7					16-15-7
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.57	2.68	19.60%	79.70%	Team Stats	1.89	2.32	20.00%	88.60%

Toronto played one of their better games of the season in their last outing, defeating the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Saturday. They’re definitely starting to catch on to Mike Babcock’s system at we’ve hit the half-way point of the season and own a 7-2-2 record over their last 11 games. While they may be averaging just 2.57 goals per game on the season, only Dallas has averaged more than Toronto’s 3.15 goals per game since the beginning of December, so there’s still some value to exploit from the Maple Leafs. While the Ducks have been very solid defensively this season, both of the Leafs top forward lines at least deserve a look. James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak lead the way on the top line where van Riemsdyk owns a six game scoring streak and has racked up seven goals and five assists over the last ten games. Alternatively, Nazem Kadri centers a very dangerous second line between Michael Grabner and Leo Komarov. On defense, both Dion Phaneuf and Jake Gardiner soak up nearly all of the available playing time on the point of the power-play, but keep your expectations in check as Anaheim owns a league best 88.6% penalty kill.

Anahiem defeated Winnipeg 4-1 on Sunday and have now won four of their last five games. With that said, they own a league worst 1.89 goals per game this season and simply haven’t been able to find any secondary scoring behind Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. On paper, a home matchup against the Maple Leafs looks somewhat tempting, but I’m not completely sold on diffing too deep here in cash games. Obviously both Perry and Getzlaf (and to some degree Rickard Rakell) can be used in all formats, but I’m not ready to trust the secondary options like Carl Hagelin, Ryan Kesler or Jakob Silfverberg right now. On defense, the Cam Fowler injury opens up big minutes for both Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm both at even strength and on the power-play. Vatanen has posted 5 goals and 15 assists in 28 games and is the top option with a fairly reasonable asking price across the industry.

Elite Options

TOR: James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Nazem Kadri
ANA: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry

Secondary Options

TOR: P.A. Parenteau, Leo Komarov, Joffrey Lupul, Dion Phaneuf, Jake Gardiner, Morgan Rielly
ANA: Rickard Rakell, Sami Vatanen, Hampus Lindholm

Carolina Hurricanes at Vancouver Canucks – 10:00 PM EST

Carolina Hurricanes					Vancouver Canucks
			Cam Ward					Ryan Miller
			Record					Record
			16-17-7					15-16-9
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.30	2.75	16.50%	79.30%	Team Stats	2.35	2.78	16.50%	78.50%

The Hurricanes were shutout in Edmonton on Monday night and enter tonight’s game on a two-game losing skid. Despite being a strong team by Corsi standards, they own just a 16-17-7 record on the season and they’re 2.30 goals per game ranks 27th in the NHL. Justin Faulk has been the Hurricanes most dangerous offensive weapon this season and he’s already racked up 15 points on the man advantage, which should bode well for him tonight against the Canucks’ underpreforming 78.5% penalty kill. Up-front, the top line of Kris Versteeg, Eric Staal and Elias Lindholm draws most of the fantasy attention, but it’s been sniper Jeff Skinner producing the most offensively. Skinner has scored ten goals and added four assists over the past 15 games and still sports a very reasonable asking price across the industry. With the Canucks having allowed 3.00 goals against per game since the beginning of September, Carolina needs to at least be on your GPP radar in this one.

The Canucks were very disappointed by losing to Arizona on home ice Tuesday night, but to make matters worse, Daniel Sedin will likely be eating through a straw for the next few weeks after taking a puck to the face early in the first period. However, the damage to his face didn’t seem to bother him too badly as he quickly jumped back over the boards and ultimately potted his 17th goal of the season. The Sedin Brothers are still easily the top two offensive options to target from Vancouver as they’re far and away leading the team in scoring and have combined for points on the same goal already 26 times this season. Both Jannik Hansen and Radim Vrbata are fine secondary options up front with Alex Edler the only compelling option on the blue-line. Don’t get too carried away here however, as no team in the NHL this season is allowing fewer shots on goal against than the Hurricanes (26.1 SA/G).

Elite Options

CAR: Eric Staal, Jeff Skinner, Justin Faulk
VAN: Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin

Secondary Options

CAR: Kris Versteeg, Elias Lindholm, Victor Rask, Noah Hanifin
VAN: Radim Vrbata, Jannik Hansen, Alex Edler