NHL Grind Down: Friday, October 16th - Page 2
St. Louis Blues at Vancouver Canucks – 10:00 PM EDT
| St. Louis Blues | Vancouver Canucks | ||||||||
 |  | Ryan Miller | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 51-24 | 48-29 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.91 | 2.40 | 22.30% | 83.70% | Team Stats | 2.88 | 2.68 | 19.30% | 85.70% |
The Blues continue their tour of Western Canada tonight as they head to Vancouver to battle the Canucks. St. Louis was tested last night against the Oilers, but walked away with a their third win of the season. The matchup tonight, on the second half of a back-to-back, is a bit more imposing, however. With that said, the Blues are about as deep as any team in the NHL and their top scoring line of Steen/Stastny/Tarasenko has seemingly created a scoring chance (or two) nearly every time they’ve hit the ice this season. The second and third forward lines are very capable offensively, but given the somewhat tough matchup, they seem better served for GPP use. On the blue-line, it looks like Kevin Shattenkirk will need some more time off, meaning Alex Pietrangelo will once again see some extended run (especially on the power-play). The young Colton Parayko fine play early this season has earned him some extra playing time, and with a booming slapshot and a healthy dose of playing time with the man advantage, he’s a terrific punt option if you’re looking for a bargain-priced defender.
The Canucks left the Staples Center with an impressive 3-0 victory over the Kings on Tuesday and now own a 3-0-1 record to start the season. Vancouver took all three meetings between these teams last season, but with all that said, I’m still a bit gun-shy to over invest in Vancouver in this matchup. The Sedin Twins have proven to still be very lethal (especially on the power-play) and are basically matchup proof at this point as they combined for points on the same goal more often than any other duo in the league last season. Alexandre Burrows made his return to a familiar role as the third wheel alongside the Sedins, and assuming he stays there, it’s a nice boost to his fantasy value. With Radim Vrbata content playing alongside Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi on the second line, the Canucks finally have a solid and dependable secondary scoring line that they haven’t had since the Ryan Kesler days. Alex Edler is really the only blue-liner worth consideration for the Canucks, as the veteran scored a goal and added an assists against Los Angeles and soaks up the lions share of the minutes on the point of the power-play.
Elite Plays
STL: Alexander Steen, Vladimir Tarasenko
VAN: Daniel Sedin
Secondary Plays
STL: Paul Stastny, Troy Brouwer, Jori Lehtera, Alex Pietrangelo, Colton Parayko
VAN: Henrik Sedin, Brandon Sutter, Radim Vrbata, Bo Horvat, Alexander Edler
Minnesota Wild at Los Angeles Kings – 10:30 PM EDT
| Minnesota Wild | Los Angeles Kings | ||||||||
 | Devan Dubnyk |  | Jonathan Quick | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 46-28 | 40-27 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.77 | 2.41 | 15.80% | 86.30% | Team Stats | 2.66 | 2.40 | 19.00% | 80.90% |
Heading to Los Angeles has generally been a tough matchup for opposing hockey teams, but considering the Kings inconsistencies of late, things are much less clear in that regard early in the 2015-16 season. The Wild were in action late last night against the Arizona Coyotes, so tired legs could be a bit of concern even this early in the season. With fatigue a concern, and the Parise line likely seeing a heavy dose of the very defensively sound Anze Kopitar, it’s probably wise to temper your expectations from the Wild offense this evening. Ryan Suter remains a workhorse for the Wild on the blue-line, and both his passing ability and heavy workload make him a nice (and rather cheap in some places) option on the blue-line.
The Kings were blanked by the Canucks on Tuesday and, after a very disappointing 2014-15 season, now find themselves off to a very ugly 0-3-0 start. They’ve been outscored 12-2 to start the season and grabbing two points from the Minnesota Wild is rarely easy. However, the Kings posted a 25-9-7 record at the Staples Center last season and several of their key players posted very lopsided home vs road splits (ie: Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar). With Anze Kopitar likely being asked to do his best to slow down the Zach Parise line, the Kings second line of Carter, Lucic and Toffolo will likely be called on to produce in the offensive end. With that in mind, and considering the Kings were the top team in the league last season by Corsi Standards, there’s some intrigue to that line despite the very tough and likely tightly checked matchup. On the blue-line, both Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin log huge minutes with prominent roles on the power-play, but with Minnesota posting the league’s best penalty kill last season, they’re a bit less appealing than usual.
Elite Plays
MIN: Zach Parise
LAK: Jeff Carter
Secondary Plays
MIN: Ryan Suter, Mikael Granlund, Jason Pominville, Mikko Koivu
LAK: Anze Kopitar, Tyler Toffoli, Marian Gaborik, Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin