NHL Grind Down: Wednesday, November 16th
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 Washington Capitals
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Washington Capitals | ||||||||
 | Marc-Andre Fleury |  | Philipp Grubauer | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 10-3-2 | 9-4-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.07 | 2.60 | 25.50% | 82.10% | Team Stats | 2.64 | 2.36 | 11.90% | 81.80% |
The Pittsburgh Penguins embark on a short three-game road trip that starts on national television tonight as they take on the Washington Capitals. The Penguins have switched up their lines over the past few games and on a two-game slate you could make a case for playing any of the top three. Sidney Crosby centers Patric Hornqvist and Conor Sheary while the second line seems to be Evgeni Malkin finding Chris Kunitz and Bryan Rust on the wings. The Crosby line has collected nine goals and seven assists while the Malkin line has tallied five goals and five assists over the last five games. Crosby should be extremely popular in both cash and GPP plays tonight so maybe to take down a big tournament it may be a good idea to take the Malkin line here. Now, if you are a bit more daring the third line of Phil Kessel, Carl Hagelin and Nick Bonino will surely be under owned tonight and again, on a two-game slate, anything goes. Kris Letang plays the point on the team’s top power play unit and has recorded five assists over the last five games. When choosing pairs from the Penguins three lines keep in mind that Crosby, Malkin, Hornqvist and Kessel join Letang when the team has the man advantage.
Head coach Barry Trotz mixed up the lines last night and to be honest there were mixed results. The line of Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie and Marcus Johansson had the team’s only goal and had it not been for Oshie being off sides by just a hair, Washington would have won the game in regulation. As it turns out the goal was disallowed and the Capitals lost to Columbus in overtime by a score of 2-1. This is the line to target tonight provided that Trotz keeps the lines together. Alexander Ovechkin was skating with Andre Burakovsky and Jay Beagle was responsible for eight of the 22 shots the Capitals had on net. John Carlson continues to log the top minutes when the team is on the man advantage. With Washington being the home team I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Trotz puts someone better than Jay Beagle and Andre Burakovsky on his line tonight. Brett Connolly practiced in Burakovsky’s place in practice and Trotz flat out scratched him. The safest bet here is to use Ovechkin, Oshie, Backstrom, Johansson and Carlson as they see at least 65% of the ice time when the team has the man advantage.
Elite Plays
PIT: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin
WSH: Alexander Ovechkin
Secondary Plays
PIT: Patric Hornqvist, Kris Letang, Phil Kessel
WSH: Nicklas Backstrom, Marcus Johansson, John Carlson, T.J. Oshie
Arizona Coyotes at Calgary Flames
| Arizona Coyotes | Calgary Flames | ||||||||
 | Louis Domingue |  | Chad Johnson | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 5-9-0 | 6-10-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.64 | 3.50 | 11.90% | 74.40% | Team Stats | 2.38 | 3.63 | 10.20% | 73.80% |
Here is a game between two of the worst teams in the league and that’s just what we need for GPP plays on a two-game slate. The Arizona top line that Max Domi, Martin Hanzal and Radim Vrbata is the cash game play here as Domi and Vrbata have notched five points over the last five games. Since Arizona is on the road we must look to an alternative line for GPP play tonight. Tobias Rieder, Jordan Martinook and Anthony Duclair make up the team’s second line while Jamie McGinn, Shane Doan and Brad Richardson get the third line duties. Regardless of which line you choose, make sure you make your pairs with Hanzal, Duclair and McGinn as they form the team’s top line with the man advantage. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the usual play on the blue line for Arizona but Anthony DeAngelo has burst onto the scene and has added a few points since his promotion next to Ekman-Larsson on the top power play unit. Since Arizona is on the road I would use either the second or third lines for GPP play while using the top line for your cash selections tonight.
Calgary comes home after playing a tough game in Minnesota last night. It would be nice to say that they are tired and there are plenty of other teams to choose from tonight, but there isn’t. The top line that the Flames employed last night was Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Troy Brouwer. They also took the top minutes on the power play and even scored with the man advantage as Gaudreau found the back of the net for his third goal in the last six games. Mark Giordano grabbed the assist but other defenseman can be in play here as well as both Dennis Wideman and T.J. Brodie received ice time with the man advantage. The second line of Matthew Tkachuk, Michael Frolik and Mikael Backlund is the GPP play here with Tkachuk being the strongest play of the three in case you need a one-off to fill your cash game roster.
UPDATE.
Johnny Gaudreau has undergone surgery for his broken finger and will not play in tonight’s game.
Elite Plays
ARZ: None
CGY: Johnny Gaudreau
Secondary Plays
ARZ: Max Domi, Radim Vrbata, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Anthony Duclair, Jamie McGinn, Anthony DeAngelo
CGY: Mark Giordano, Troy Brouwer, Sean Monahan, T.J. Brodie