NHL Grind Down: Friday, February 12th - Page Two
Colorado Avalanche at Detroit Red Wings – 07:30 PM EST
| Colorado Avalanche | Detroit Red Wings | ||||||||
 | Semyon Varlamov |  | Petr Mrazek | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 27-25-4 | 28-18-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.66 | 2.77 | 19.00% | 79.50% | Team Stats | 2.52 | 2.44 | 18.10% | 80.10% |
The Avalanche finally ended a four-game tail-spin with a much needed 4-3 victory in Ottawa last night. They won’t have much time to enjoy their victory as they’ll head to Detroit to battle a former heated rival. The duo of Nathan Mackinnon and Matt Duchene have combined for 43 goals and 44 assists in 57 games this season and join forces both on Colorado’s top forward line as well as their #1 power-play unit. While they’re the top options on a nightly basis, they’ll likely be shadowed all over the ice by Pavel Datsyuk and Petr Mrazek enters action tonight owning the top GAA and SV% in the entire NHL. While that’s enough of a reason to downgrade them slightly, they’re still strong GPP options. Alternatively, Carl Soderberg has racked up seven goals and 18 assists in 28 road games this season and has quietly picked up four goals and ten assists over his last 16 games. He’s developed a nice rapport with linemate Jarome Iginla on the second line and both figure to see some more favorable matchups in this one as Detroit aims to slow down MacKinnon and Duchene. On defense, Tyson Barrie and Erik Johnson are the top two options. Barrie dished out of a pair of power-play assists in Ottawa last night and has posted 35 points in 53 games this season. Johnson joins him on the point of the #1 power-play unit and lit the lamp against the Red Wings in their only meeting last season.
This matchup doesn’t have the same intensity as it did back when these two former rivals met in the late 1990’s, but this is still a very important game for both sides. Detroit has rattled off three straight wins and find themselves in a dogfight near the top of the Atlantic Division standings. Backed by the tremendous goal-tending of Petr Mrazek, the Wings have managed to withstand some key injuries to both Niklas Kronwall and Mike Green on the blue-line. Up-front, the top line of Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk and Justin Abdelkader will have the full attention of Patrick Roy. Zetterberg and Datsyuk both look to finally be catching fire with Abdelkader doing all the dirty work down low. Alternatively, 19-year old phenom Dylan Larkin actually leads the Wings in points (38) and sits atop the entire NHL with a +26. He teams up with sniper Tomas Tatar (and Brad Richards) to give Coach Blashill two very dangerous scoring lines. All six players mentioned above also see plenty of run with the man advantage and with Colorado not only potentially playing with some tired legs but also being the worst puck possession team in the NHL, Detroit figures to have plenty of chances on the power-play. Mike Green seems unlikely to play again tonight (monitor that news) and the Wings may also be without Danny DeKeyser after he left Wednesday’s game after blocking a shot off his knee. This leaves the Wings rather thin on the blue-line, but does push Brendan Smith into a very heavy workload including plenty of run on the point of the power-play.
Colorado Avalanche
CF%: 43.5, CP60: 110.1, 5×5 Differential: -8
Elite Options: Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene
Secondary Options: Carl Soderberg, Jarome Iginla, Tyson Barrie, Erik Johnson
Detroit Red Wings
CF%: 50.7, CP60: 99.8, 5×5 Differential: 11
Elite Options: Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Dylan Larkin
Secondary Options: Justin Abdelkader, Tomas Tatar, Gustav Nyquist, Brendan Smith
Calgary Flames at Arizona Coyotes – 09:00 PM EST
| Calgary Flames | Arizona Coyotes | ||||||||
 | Karri Ramo |  | Louis Domingue | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 24-25-3 | 24-23-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.65 | 2.90 | 14.50% | 76.60% | Team Stats | 2.62 | 3.08 | 18.20% | 77.20% |
Despite being thoroughly outplayed for large stretches of last night’s game, the Flames held on just long enough to escape San Jose with a 6-5 shootout victory and have now picked up wins in three straight games. Bob Hartley sent a firm message to his team by benching stars Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan for Tuesday’s game, and it’ll be interesting to see how they’ll respond the rest of the season. Tonight’s matchup against an Arizona team that has allowed 3.08 goals against per game is promising, but it’s also important to remember that Calgary owns an ugly 9-14-3 record away from the Saddledome this season. Gaudreau leads the team with 51 points in 52 games and is emerging as one of the NHL’s most talented offensive players. He’s scored a goal and added an assist in the two prior meetings with Arizona this season and is a fine option tonight in all formats. He’s joined by Sean Monahan and Jiri Hudler on the top line and that trio was simply unstoppable at times last season. Monahan has scored goals in back-to-back games and has now tallied three goals and four assists in four games since the All-Star break. Former 4th overall pick Sam Bennett has been often overlooked lately but has tallied two goals and added four assists in the last three games and has lit the lamp ten times in his last 13 games. He’s been a bit inconsistent, but is certainly worth a look in GPP’s. On defense, Mark Giordano snapped a three game point-less streak with a goal last night and has posted seven goals and 15 assists in his last 22 games after a somewhat slow start to the season. With the Coyotes sporting an ugly 77.2% penalty kill, he’s a top-tier defensive option this evening. The Dennis Wideman suspension has also opened up some extra playing time for Kris Russell, Dougie Hamilton and T.J. Brodie and all three are fine options tonight if you’re unable to afford Giordano.
The surprising start to the season for the Arizona Coyotes is officially over as they’ve now dropped five straight games and own just a 2-7-2 record over their last 11 games. While it’s not too easy to trust them in cash games at this point in the season, tonight’s matchup against a defensively inept Calgary team that owns an atrocious 76.6% penalty kill certainly helps their fantasy appeal. Arizona has defeated Calgary in both prior meetings this season, albeit in a 2-1 fashion both times, and Calgary has really struggled away from home all season. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the face of this franchise and easily their top fantasy weapon. He leads the team in points (38) and SOG (170) and has already lit the lamp on two occasions this season against Calgary. Up-front it seems prudent to attack the Calgary penalty kill. With that in mind, Shane Doan emerges as a rare target. He enters action tonight tied with OEL for the team lead with nine power-play goals and has posted 13 goals and nine assists in 24 home games this season. Martin Hanzal, Max Domi, Mikkel Boedker and Anthony Duclair all join Ekman-Larsson on the #1 power-play unit and are also well worth a look.
Calgary Flames
CF%: 47.5, CP60: 111, 5×5 Differential: -12
Elite Options: Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Mark Giordano
Secondary Options: Jiri Hudler, Sam Bennett, Dougie Hamilton, T.J. Brodie, Kris Russell
Arizona Coyotes
CF%: 46.6, CP60: 107.3, 5×5 Differential: -7
Elite Options: Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Secondary Options: Shane Doan, Max Domi, Mikkel Boedker, Tobias Rieder, Martin Hanzal