NHL Grind Down: Saturday, December 3rd - Page Two
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Winnipeg Jets at St. Louis Blues
| Winnipeg Jets | St. Louis Blues | ||||||||
 | Connor Hellebuyck |  | Carter Hutton | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 11-13-2 | 14-7-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.62 | 3.00 | 15.40% | 78.10% | Team Stats | 2.75 | 2.75 | 23.30% | 86.80% |
If the Jets want to win this game they will probably have to do it against Jake Allen, who has not lost on home ice for the Blues all year. The top line of Nikolaj Ehlers, Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele will have to continue to be productive while being blanketed by the Blues best defensive unit. The Jets are 0-5-1 in their last six games on the road and have only lit the lamp eight times in those six games. Let’s assume for the moment that St Louis can shut down the top line. The scoring will then fall into the hands of Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little. This isn’t as bad as it was before as Little will be playing in his third game since returning from injury which makes Wheeler and even better play for a one-off here. The Jets are looking for a little magic from the past as the Wheeler/Little combo used to be a favorite cash game play in past years. Dustin Byfuglien is the play on the back line as he gets the top minutes when the team has the man advantage and isn’t shy to shoot the puck. It’s going to be a tough night for the visitors tonight as the Blues are 11-1-2 on home ice.
In case you missed it, it seems that Jori Lehtera has finally fell out of the Blues top six and maybe even further than that. With the return of Alexander Steen centering Vladimir Tarasenko and Robby Fabbri there is almost no need for Lehtera and that is just what head coach Ken Hitchcock is contemplating for tonight’s game. David Perron and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk will join the top line to form a formidable top power play unit. The Jets have given up seven goals after taking a penalty in their last four road games and there’s no reason for that number to change tonight. Tarasenko along with Sidney Crosby should be a staple across the board on cash game play tonight. Perron plays on the second line with Paul Stastny and Jaden Schwartz so if you are feeling a bit lucky go right ahead and use them for tournament play tonight. The Blues should win this one going away. The only setback is, we know what happens when things look too good to be true, they usually are.
Elite Plays
WIN: None
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko
Secondary Plays
WIN: Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Dustin Byfuglien, Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine
STL: Robby Fabbri, Alexander Steen, Kevin Shattenkirk, Jaden Schwartz
Toronto Maple Leafs at Vancouver Canucks
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Vancouver Canucks | ||||||||
 | Frederik Andersen |  | Ryan Miller | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 10-9-4 | 10-12-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.04 | 3.13 | 19.10% | 84.90% | Team Stats | 2.21 | 3.00 | 14.30% | 85.90% |
Evidently the Maple Leafs thought they could just skate into the Saddledome on Wednesday and beat a Calgary team that was 3-7 on home ice going into the contest. Surely wins against the Washington Capitals and Edmonton Oilers would be enough to scare the offensively challenged Flames, right? Well, 39 shots later and no goals we all know how that one ended up. Now the challenge is to get the team back on track and play yet another all-of-a-sudden tough team in the Vancouver Canucks. The top line of Mitchell Marner, James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak will probably be the line targeted to be shut down as both Marner and van Riemsdyk lead the team in points with 19. Auston Matthews makes a decent one-off play here as he has regained his confidence as well as his scoring touch. Four goals and an assist in the last five games would suggest that the youngster is back in the saddle as he leads the team with 84 shots in just 24 games. Zach Hyman an Connor Brown are his line mates but if you are looking for a GPP duo I’d look at Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov. Both get the first crack when the team draws a penalty with Kadri tie for the team lead in goals with ten. Imagine what Kadri could do if he didn’t lead the team with 53 penalty minutes. Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner are the options on defense but truthfully, I’d look elsewhere tonight as it seems most of the offense comes from the front lines.
Thanks to a 5-4-1 record over the last ten games the Canucks have successfully lifted themselves from the bowels of the Pacific division basement. Now before we go giving them the last wild card spot in the Western conference, let’s make sure they are almost for real. They are only three points away from the last playoff spot so a win here could go a long way. Besides the top line of Henrik Sedin, Brandon Sutter and Daniel Sedin, Vancouver has been starting to get scoring from other lines as well. Bo Horvat, Alexandre Burrows and Sven Baertschi have been hot over the past five games as each has lit the lamp twice while combining for another eight assists out of the 13 goals the Canucks have scored. And hey, who woke up Loui Eriksson? This poor guy was written off for dead but has risen like the phoenix to score three of his six goals in the last five games. Troy Stecher or Ben Hutton are the options on defense as both are on the top power play unit with the Sedin line and have registered at least two points over the last five games while getting at least double digits in shots as well. This will be a test for the Canucks to see if they have really turned the corner or not.
Elite Plays
TOR: None
VAN: None
Secondary Plays
TOR: Auston Matthews, James van Riemsdyk, Mitchell Marner, Nazem Kadri, Morgan Rielly
VAN: Daniel Sedin, Troy Stecher, Bo Horvat, Henrik Sedin, Brandon Sutter
Detroit Red Wings at Pittsburgh Penguins
| Detroit Red Wings | Pittsburgh Penguins | ||||||||
 | Petr Mrazek |  | Matt Murray | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 11-10-3 | 14-7-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.29 | 2.54 | 15.30% | 82.90% | Team Stats | 3.04 | 2.96 | 19.30% | 77.90% |
The injury bug has hit the Detroit Red Wings as they will be without Justin Abdelkader suffered a slight MCL sprain that will put him on the shelf for 2-4 weeks. His 35 shots and eight points will probably not be missed which should give some extra opportunity for the red Wings to get a few decent lines together. Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Tatar and Anthony Mantha skate as the top line but seems more like a two man line as Tatar has done nothing over the last five games while Mantha and Zetterberg have been playing pitch and catch over the last five games as they have combined for three goals and four assists on Detroit’s last 11 goals. The second line of Gustav Nyquist, Dylan Larkin and Thomas Vanek look to be the play here as they have seen more power play time than the top line with Larkin leading the team in shots with 69 of them. Frans Nielsen joins them from the third line and makes for a nice one-off here as he has registered five of his 13 points over the last five games. Mike Green is the choice here on the blue line based on production as he has 13 points while logging over 24 minutes of ice time per night.
The Penguins boat raced the Dallas Stars on Thursday night by a score of 6-2 in front of the home crowd. This was hot on the heels of a Wednesday night debacle as they lost to the last place Islanders by a score of 5-3 in New York. This is what Stanley Cup champions do, pick themselves up off the ice after a bad showing and come out with all guns blazing, even if it is the second game in two nights. Pittsburgh had a skate yesterday for the players that didn’t play in the game on Thursday night so I wouldn’t expect any changes. This would mean that rookie Jake Guentzel would be a scratch for the second night in a row but you have to go with what works. Sidney Crosby will be one of the higher owned players in cash games tonight as his nine points over the last five games has him seven points over the coveted point-per-game mark. Connor Sheary and Patric Hornqvist join him on the top line which should also have some exposure in cash games tonight. Evgeni Malkin centers Bryan Rust and Carl Hagelin which makes malkin a nice one-off play here as he gets exposure to Crosby on the team’s top power play unit. Phil Kessel has given Nick Bonino a jolt skating on the third line as Bonino has four of his nine points over the last five games. Kessel also has four points over the last five games with two goals and two assists. Kris Letang is the play on the back line as he quarterbacks the Penguins top power play unit. He has grabbed two assists and 18 shots over the last five games. Look for Pittsburgh to be one of the higher owned teams tonight.
Elite Plays
DET: None
PIT: Sidney Crosby
Secondary Plays
DET: Henrik Zetterberg, Anthony Mantha, Mike Green, Dylan Larkin, Frans Nielsen
PIT: Patric Hornqvist, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang
Florida Panthers at Ottawa Senators
| Florida Panthers | Ottawa Senators | ||||||||
 | Roberto Luongo |  | Mike Condon | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 12-10-2 | 14-8-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.42 | 2.46 | 14.30% | 82.80% | Team Stats | 2.25 | 2.46 | 14.70% | 83.80% |
After the Panthers 2-1 overtime win in Detroit on Thursday night head coach Tom Rowe tried to win some of his players over by cancelling practice on Friday morning. Aleksander Barkov got the game winner in overtime which was the first time he found the back of the net in the last 22 games. Jonathan Marchessault and Jaromir Jagr complete the top even strength and power play unit. Barkov leads the team with 12 assist while Marchessault leads the team in goals with ten. The second line of Jussi Jokinen, Vincent Trocheck and Reilly Smith isn’t as productive so maybe taking Trocheck as a one-off here isn’t a bad GPP play as he leads the line with six goals and seven assists so far this season. Keith Yandle and Aaron Ekblad are the choices on defense as Ekblad leads the team in shots over the last four games with 19 of them. Ekblad loves to shoot the puck and it looks like he is finally getting more shots on net as he leads the team with 77.
The Ottawa Senators wrap up their three-game home stand looking to get into the win column. Buffalo and Philadelphia have come away with victories at the Canadian Tire Center although the Senators did get a point by losing to the Flyers in a 3-2 shootout on Thursday night. Bobby Ryan is still listed as day-to-day as he re-aggravated a hand injury that he suffered back on November 19th. With the Senators having an optional skate on Friday we will have to assume they will go with the same lines they have used over the past few games. Mike Hoffman, Derick Brassard and Mark Stone should assume the top line duties but maybe selecting Hoffman and Stone is the play here. Kyle Turris joins them on the top power play unit that has scored four goals over the last three games. Hoffman has been in on all of them with two goals and two assists while Stone has had in three of those goals with the man advantage. Curtis Lazar has been bumped to the second line with Turris and Ryan Dzingel in Ryan’s absence which makes Ottawa almost a one-line team. This isn’t a bad thing since the senators are on home ice tonight. Erik Karlsson is the choice on the blue line as he leads the team in points with 19 as he plays over 27 minutes a night.
Elite Plays
FLA: None
OTT: Mike Hoffman, Erik Karlsson
Secondary Plays
FLA: Aaron Ekblad, Aleksander Barkov, Jaromir Jagr, Jonathan Marchessault
OTT: Kyle Turris, Mark Stone, Derick Brassard
Columbus Blue Jackets at Arizona Coyotes
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Arizona Coyotes | ||||||||
 | Sergei Bobrovsky |  | Mike Smith | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 13-5-4 | 8-11-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.18 | 2.23 | 25.90% | 82.80% | Team Stats | 2.36 | 3.14 | 13.60% | 80.60% |
The Blue Jackets come into this one with a 7-1-2 record over the last ten games. All of those points have propelled them over the Washington Capitals to take over third place in the Metropolitan division and are just one point behind the second place Penguins. Cam Atkinson makes for a decent one-off play here as he skates on the second line with Boone Jenner and Brandon Dubinsky but gets tapped for the extra minutes on the team’s top power play unit. Atkinson has grabbed four of his team leading 21 points over the last four games while his even strength line mates have a combined goal and assist. Alexander Wennberg, Nick Foligno and Brandon Saad will be the line the Coyotes will try to shut down which may be a tough task considering that they have combined for 38 goals and 59 assists in the first 22 games. Zachary Werenski is the choice on defense as he quarterbacks the Blue jackets top unit when they have the man advantage. He has gone a bit cold of late but still has a team best 18 shots on goal over the past five games. The other option would be Seth Jones as he has eight points in the sixteen games he has played in this season. Sam Gagner makes for a deeper GPP play as he is enjoying one of his best seasons from the team’s third line as he has eight goals and five assists while completing the team’s top power play unit.
Arizona continues to have problems putting the puck in the net as they have only scored 54 goals in the first 22 games. Just four times over the past 15 games have they scored more than two goals in a game that hasn’t gone into a shootout. The top line is the one to target here for your GPP plays as Radim Vrbata, Martin Hanzal and Max Domi have combined for five of the last ten Arizona goals. They should be able to match up well against Columbus so now it’s just a matter of whether or not goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky brings his ‘A’ game or not. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Michael Stone will play the points on the power play with the top line but that doesn’t mean too much tonight when there are plenty of better options for your cash game plays tonight. It’s tough to figure out which line is the better of the two, the one that features Christian Dvorak and Anthony Duclair or the line that has Shane Doan and Tobias Rieder. Either way I would only pair them up for deeper GPP plays tonight.
Elite Plays
CBJ: None
ARZ: None
Secondary Plays
CBJ: Cam Atkinson, Alexander Wennberg, Nick Foligno, Zachary Werenski, Brandon Saad
ARZ: Max Domi, Martin Hanzal, Radim Vrbata, Oliver Ekman-Larsson