NHL Grind Down: Saturday, February 25th - Page Two
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Philadelphia Flyers at Pittsburgh Penguins
| Philadelphia Flyers | Pittsburgh Penguins | ||||||||
 | Michal Neuvirth |  | Matt Murray | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 28-25-7 | 37-14-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.50 | 2.98 | 21.10% | 81.00% | Team Stats | 3.47 | 2.78 | 21.70% | 80.30% |
The Philadelphia Flyers will look to be sellers before the trading deadline but the question will be that of the ex-Eagle Ricky Watters, for who, for what? That of course was his response when asked why he didn’t go over the middle to catch a pass out of the backfield. The Flyers play has reminded people of that lately as the team has won just three times in the last 10 attempts. Claude Giroux, Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds skate on the team’s top line as Simmonds looks to be in line for his second 30 goal campaign in as many years with 25 of them so far this season. That is something either Giroux or Jakub Voracek has not accomplished as a Flyer. In fact you have to go back to Scott Hartnell to find the last Flyer before Simmonds to score more than 30 goals in a season. And to think they traded Jeff Carter for Voracek. Sean Couturier and Jakub Voracek will skate on the second line with either dale Weise or maybe Jordan Weal if he is ready to return. Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov are the choices on the back line and at last check both were manning the points on a power play that has scored three times in the last three games. Gostisbehere has 25 points while Provorov has 24 so far this season. With the Flyers scoring just 11 goals in the last eight games it’s tough to consider any of these guys as a cash game option tonight.
Heinz Field is all set for the outdoor game between the Flyers and Penguins and it looks like the weather may cooperate. Although there is rain in the forecast in the morning the temperature will drop into the 20’s by game time which could produce a few snow flurries in the second period. The good news is that both Conor Sheary and Kris Letang practiced yesterday and it looks like Letang will be the one ready to go. The Penguins have top loaded the first two lines for the first time in a while as Carl Hagelin was skating with Sidney Crosby and Patric Hornqvist while Evgeni Malkin was centering Chris Kunitz and Phil Kessel. This now makes it very easy to pair Crosby with Hornqvist and Malkin with Kessel as they all get the lion’s share of the power play minutes from the top line. Crosby leads the team with 66 points while Malkin and Kessel have combined for 46 goals and 70 assists so far this season. Letang is always a good choice on the back line but it looks like Justin Schultz will try to return to play on the top power play unit. Schultz has had a decent season so far as he had registered 309 points so far this season. It should be noted that both players had the ‘game time decision’ sticker slapped on them yesterday afternoon.
Elite Plays
PHL: None
PIT: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin
Secondary Plays
PHL: Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, Claude Giroux, Brayden Schenn, Ivan Provorov
PIT: Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist
San Jose Sharks at Vancouver Canucks
| San Jose Sharks | Vancouver Canucks | ||||||||
 | MartinJones |  | Ryan Miller | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 35-18-7 | 26-28-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.73 | 2.38 | 17.10% | 81.60% | Team Stats | 2.30 | 2.83 | 14.50% | 78.30% |
When we last left San Jose before their break they had won three of their last nine games which was still good enough for the lead in the Pacific Division. A week has passed by and they are still in first place with 77 points while Edmonton is a close second with 74 points. Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Kevin Labanc skate on the team’s first line whole Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau and Mikkel Boedker get the second line duties. Pavelski, Thornton, Marleau and Couture all skate on the top power play unit that sees over 65% of the minutes when the Sharks have the man advantage. The best thing to do here would be pair them up as all four players are in the top five on the team’s scoring chart. Pavelski has netted 20 goals and 52 points while Thornton and Couture rank third on the team with 39 points this season. Defenseman Brent Burns leads the team with 27 goals and 37 assists which makes only his high salary the only thing in the way from rostering him on any night. Usually for cash games I try to fit him in as there is no other defenseman in the league with the upside he has. You can always find that cheap forward that gets either skates on a team’s first line or gets some exposure to a superstar on the top power play unit. Look for the Sharks to come out and score a few goals tonight.
Vancouver is another team that had the week off but will have more than the Sharks to deal with tonight if they want to win the game. It appears that the mumps has made its return to the NHL which already has taken defenseman Troy Stecher out of tonight’s game with a list of other players that may be affected. Markus Granlund, Chris Tanev, Nikita Tryamkin and Mike Chaput are the other players that have been quarantined as of yesterday. Granlund skates on the top line with Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin while Bo Horvat, Alexandre Burrows and Jannik Hansen skate on the second line. Horvat leads the team with 18 goals and 40 points which makes him an obvious one-off here. Daniel Sedin has picked it up a bit as he has registered seven of his 34 points in the last eight games so rostering him with his brother is a viable option for tournament play. I wouldn’t take any of these guys for cash as they just don’t score enough to take the risk. Brandon Sutter and Loui Eriksson could be two players that have seen their best seasons come and go, which is why they are on the third line. With Stecher sidelined on the back end people will no doubt play Alexander Edler and that is fine, let them. Vancouver is in a lot of trouble here against a San Jose team that easily has more talent than they do.
Elite Plays
SJ: Brent Burns, Joe Pavelski
VAN: None
Secondary Plays
SJ: Logan Couture, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau
VAN: Bo Horvat, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin
Buffalo Sabres at Colorado Avalanche
| Buffalo Sabres | Colorado Avalanche | ||||||||
 | Robin Lehner |  | Calvin Pickard | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 26-24-10 | 16-40-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.43 | 2.72 | 22.50% | 75.10% | Team Stats | 1.97 | 3.31 | 14.00% | 78.60% |
With 22 games left on the schedule the Buffalo Sabres are just six points away from the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 62 points. Tonight they should grab a win if they stay focused as they play the worst team in the league in the form of the Colorado Avalanche. If the Sabres can score four goals that would make the Avalanche the first team to give up 200 goals this season, yes, they are that bad. Sam Reinhart should return to the lineup tonight as he missed the Sabres last game before their mandatory break with a bout of the flu. The guess here is that he will skate on a line with Jack Eichel and while Ryan O’Reilly and Kyle Okposo will skate on the team’s top line along with Justin Bailey. Look for Okposo and O’Reilly to stay on the top power play unit with Eichel and possibly Reinhart on a unit that had scored six goals in the last eight games before the break. Eichel is easily the one-off play here as he has racked up 33 points in the 39 games he has played in while Reinhart and Kane have each eclipsed the 30 point mark this season which includes Kane’s team leading 21 goals. Okposo leads the team with 39 points while O’Reilly is just one point shy of the team lead. Rasmus Ristolainen is the easy choice on the back line as he soaks up almost all of the extra minutes when the Sabres have the man advantage. Ristolainen has recorded 20 of his 36 points on the power play while the next highest scoring defenseman the Sabres have is Jake McCabe and his 11 points. Pass on that.
Colorado has put together one of the worst season in recent memory as they have won three of their last 20 games en route to being the worst team in the league. They have scored just 13 goals in the last nine games which makes the pickings very slim here. The only thing going for them is that they are on home ice but even that isn’t the advantage that it should be as they have two more wins on the road than in front of the home crowd. Bad teams will be bad teams regardless of where they play. It really doesn’t matter what lines the top four scorers play on as Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog are the only forwards with over 20 points this season. MacKinnon leads the team with 39 points while Duchene’s 16 goals is tops on the team. Jarome Iginla must have taken some steroids or something as the aging veteran has tallied six of his 18 points over the last 11 games. That’s still not good enough to be used in cash games but maybe a punt play in GPP’s is in order if you are really desperate. Tyson Barrie and Mark Barberio man the points when the Avalanche have the man advantage with Barrie getting the nod here as he has 25 points in the 51 games he has suited up for.
Elite Plays
BUF: Jack Eichel
COL: None
Secondary Plays
BUF: Ryan O’Reilly, Kyle Okposo, Evander Kane, Rasmus Ristolainen
COL: Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Mikko Rantanen, Tyson Barrie, Gabriel Landeskog