NHL Daily Plays: Wednesday, October 15th
After a nine-game slate last night, the NHL delivers another disappointing Wednesday night schedule, with just three games to choose from. However, if you’re reading this, you’ll probably be playing nonetheless.
Goalie
Corey Crawford – Chicago Blackhawks – Crawford has been sharp in both starts this season, and is greeted with a very favorable home matchup against the Calgary Flames this evening. He’s an enormous favorite by Vegas standards and therefore is the safest cash-game play on the board. The Flames aren’t an intimidating offensive team and could be worn out after scraping out a hard-fought OT win last night in Nashville.
Others: Mike Smith, Tuukka Rask
Forwards
Patrick Kane – Chicago Blackhawks – OK, so you’ll want as much exposure to the Blackhawks as possible tonight, but Kaner is my favorite option of the bunch. He’s already racked up three points in Chicago’s first two games and torched this Calgary team for four goals and an assist in their four meetings last season. He’s locked into roughly 20 minutes of ice-time on the Hawks second line and is averaging over five minutes of ice-time per game this season on the wing of their lethal #1 power-play unit.
Gustav Nyquist – Detroit Red Wings – Nyquist has lit the lamp in both games this season, including the game winner against the Bruins in the season opener. The 25-year-old led the team with 28 goals last season despite playing in just 57 games. Coach Babcock tinkered with his lines in their last game and it looks like Nyquist is set to see time on the Wings top line alongside Zetterberg and Franzen. Dealing with Patrice Bergeron won’t be easy, but Nyquist is immensely talented and has racked up over a point-per-game at “The Joe” since the beginning of last season.
Mikkel Boedker – Arizona Coyotes – Boedker is another guy who has scored in both games thus far this season, and he finds himself in a great spot once again tonight, as the Coyotes will welcome a banged up (and tired) Edmonton team to the desert. Edmonton has never been known for their defensive exploits and Boedker thrived against them last season, netting three goals and adding three assists in their five meetings. He’s very talented offensively, so I expect the 24-year-old to best last year’s career-high 51 points this season.
Value: Andrew Shaw, Brandon Saad, Seth Griffith, Reilly Smith, Tomas Tatar, Mark Arcobello
Defense
Keith Yandle – Arizona Coyotes – Yandle racked up three assists against the Kings in Arizona’s last game and is proving to be one of the better offensive defenseman in the NHL. He flourished at Jobing.Com Arena last season, posting 32 points in 41 games, and also terrorized this Edmonton team to the tune of four goals, three assists and a plus six in their five meetings. He’s a near lock to see north of 25 minutes of ice-time and gets plenty of run as the QB of their top power-play unit.
Zdeno Chara – Boston Bruins – Chara has been held off the scoreboard thus far this season, but there isn’t too much reason to be worried about him. The big guy still loves to unleash his 100+ MPH slapshot from the point of the Bruins top power-play unit and logs well over 20 minutes of ice-time per game. Boston often utilizes him down near the crease during the power-play and Detroit simply has nobody down low who can move him.
Value: Brendan Smith, T.J. Brodie, Danny DeKeyser, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Matt Bartkowski