Daily Fantasy Hockey: Power-Play Report (02/05/20)
When building a Daily Fantasy Hockey lineup, it’s important to consider the special teams matchups. When a team or line goes off offensively, more often than not it’s because of the power-play. Below I’ve gone over the special teams matchups for tonight’s two-game slate to help you identify the best power-plays to target. All totals are per 60 minutes of 5v4 ice-time. Each team’s league-wide rank in a given category is noted in brackets. Good luck!
Toronto Maple Leafs @ New York Rangers [7:30 PM EST]
| Maple Leafs PP | Rangers PK | |
| PP%/PK% | 24.8% (5th) | 78.1% (t-22nd) |
| PP/PK per Gm | 2.74 (27th) | 3.49 (29th) |
| SH%/SV% | 16.67% (4th) | .873 SV% (13th) |
| Shots For/Against | 53.85 (14th) | 61.72 (30th) |
| Scoring Chances For/Against | 54.84 (6th) | 55.30 (28th) |
| xGoals For/Against | 6.94 (9th) | 7.75 (30th) |
| Rangers PP | Maple Leafs PK | |
| PP%/PK% | 23.5% (7th) | 77.0% (25th) |
| PP/PK per Gm | 3.33 (5th) | 2.79 (7th) |
| SH%/SV% | 15.21% (9th) | .851 SV% (22nd) |
| Shots For/Against | 56.10 (7th) | 53.40 (19th) |
| Scoring Chances For/Against | 53.76 (8th) | 48.59 (18th) |
| xGoals For/Against | 7.51 (2nd) | 6.06 (8th) |
Analysis:
Toronto’s power-play draws what looks to be the best special teams matchup on the slate. Their success with the man advantage is no fluke, as evident by their ability to generate shots and scoring chances at an above-average rate. Their 4th-ranked SH% is more than sustainable at 16.67%, especially when you consider the elite shooting talent they possess. The only downside to the Leafs power-play is that they don’t tend to draw a lot of opportunities, but that could change tonight given New York’s struggles to stay out of the box.
The Rangers PK% is more than a little misleading when you look at the underlying numbers. Their penalty-kill ranks in the bottom-four in shots, scoring chances, and expected goals against, but they’ve been bailed out by an .873 SV%. That kind of penalty-killing puts a lot of pressure on your goaltender, especially against a sharp-shooting team like the Maple Leafs. You can expect the likes of @Auston Matthews and @John Tavares to take advantage of the excess shots and scoring chances they’ll see on the man advantage tonight.
Boston Bruins @ Chicago Blackhawks [8:00 PM EST]
| Bruins PP | Blackhawks PK | |
| PP%/PK% | 26.8% (2nd) | 82.7% (7th) |
| PP/PK per Gm | 3.31 (2nd) | 2.94 (12th) |
| SH%/SV% | 17.58% (3rd) | .890 SV% (4th) |
| Shots For/Against | 55.79 (8th) | 56.88 (25th) |
| Scoring Chances For/Against | 53.55 (9th) | 52.93 (27th) |
| xGoals For/Against | 7.11 (8th) | 6.33 (15th) |
| Blackhawks PP | Bruins PK | |
| PP%/PK% | 15.0% (29th) | 84.5% (3rd) |
| PP/PK per Gm | 3.02 (16th) | 2.98 (14th) |
| SH%/SV% | 10.39% (28th) | .893 SV% (3rd) |
| Shots For/Against | 50.68 (21st) | 51.14 (t-11th) |
| Scoring Chances For/Against | 50.24 (14th) | 45.46 (9th) |
| xGoals For/Against | 6.45 (18th) | 6.02 (5th) |
Analysis:
Not unlike the Rangers, Chicago’s issues on the penalty-kill have been masked by some elite goaltending. @Robin Lehner is almost single-handedly keeping his team in the top-10 in PK%. He’s personally managed to muster an otherworldly .924 SV% while short-handed despite some dismal penalty-killing in front of him. Chicago is yet to suffer the consequences of surrendering so many shots and scoring chances, but don’t be surprised if that changes sooner than later. You simply can’t give a power-play of Boston’s caliber that many chances. Surrendering nearly one scoring chance every minute is a recipe for disaster against @David Pastrnak. A Boston power-play stack never comes cheap, but it might be worth paying for tonight.
There isn’t a whole lot to like on the flip side of this matchup. Chicago’s power-play has been underwhelming, to put it lightly, and they’re facing one of the best penalty-killing teams in the NHL. Boston doesn’t surrender a lot of quality chances on the penalty-kill, and they’ve got elite goaltending to fall back on when those rare lapses do occur. I’d be shocked if Chicago’s power-play is able to break through for a goal tonight. They are the last team I’m looking to stack tonight.