NHL Grind Down: Saturday, February 4th - Page Three
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Pittsburgh Penguins at St. Louis Blues
| Pittsburgh Penguins | St. Louis Blues | ||||||||
 | Marc-Andre Fleury |  | Jake Allen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 32-13-5 | 25-21-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.55 | 2.90 | 23.40% | 78.60% | Team Stats | 2.84 | 3.08 | 22.40% | 83.00% |
It took the Penguins an extra three minutes and 17 seconds and a penalty to Cam Atkinson to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets in overtime by a score of 4-3 last night in front of the home crowd. It looks like Evgeni Malkin will not play again tonight so look for the line of Phil Kessel, Jake Guentzel and Nick Bonino to do some more damage in tonight’s game. The Blues will probably put their best defensive line against Sidney Crosby, Patric Hornqvist and Matt Cullen but that doesn’t mean that they will shut them down either. Thanks to a three point game last night Kessel leads the team with eight points over the last seven games which gave him 50 points in 50 games this season. Crosby is still the best bet here as he continues to lead the team in goals and points with 28 and 56 respectively. Kris Letang and Justin Schultz were tapped to skate with Kessel and Crosby on the game’s final power play last night which saw them both tally an assist on the game winning goal. Either one is fine here as Schultz has recorded 36 points in 50 games while Letang has registered 25 points in just 32 games.
New head coach Mike Yeo has said he wasn’t going to mess with the lines too much as they went into their 5-1 win against Toronto on Thursday night in front of the home crowd. Paul Stastny and Alexander Steen have led the team with 11 goals and 10 assists in the last ten games as they have seen David Perron jump up to their line over the last few games. Although they are good numbers you probably want to stick with the top line of Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz and Jori Lehtera for your cash game selections tonight. Tarasenko leads the team with 23 goals and 27 assists while Schwartz has grabbed ten of his 32 points over the last two games. The Blues were just one point away from being in a tie for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. They may catch a break here as Pittsburgh played a tough game last night in front of the home crowd against a much better team in the Columbus Blue Jackets. Kevin Shattenkirk has been surrounded with trade rumors in the past week but still remains the play from the back line as his 35 points is good for second on the Blues scoring chart so far this season.
Elite Plays
PIT: Sidney Crosby
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko
Secondary Plays
PIT: Patric Hornqvist, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang, Justin Schultz
STL: Kevin Shattenkirk, Jaden Schwartz, Alexander Steen, Paul Stastny
Minnesota Wild at Vancouver Canucks
| Minnesota Wild | Vancouver Canucks | ||||||||
 | Devan Dubnyk |  | Ryan Miller | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 33-12-5 | 23-22-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.28 | 2.28 | 20.90% | 82.80% | Team Stats | 2.27 | 2.78 | 13.90% | 78.80% |
Minnesota remains on top of the Western Conference with 71 points as there 7-3 record has kept them three points above the rest of the pack. They did slip up a bit last game as I think they took Calgary a bit too lightly as the fell to the Flames by a 5-1 tally on Wednesday Night. Eric Staal leads the team in goals from the top line as Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter have been demoted from the top line. Niederreiter has netted six goals and six assists over the last 11 games as he is now tied for fourth on the team in points with 15 goals and 21 points so the demotion to the third line makes no sense here. Alex Tuch will make his NHL debut skating with Staal and Zach Parise. This is the first time Parise has seen top line duties in quite a while and may actually be worth taking a gamble on tonight. Mikael Granlund is the one-off here as he leads the team with 44 points while grabbing 13 points in the last 11 games. Jason Zucker and Mikko Koivu skate with Granlund on the team’s second line and should be looked at as a tournament play based on their recent success. Zucker leads the team with seven goals in the last 11 games while Koivu has racked up eight of his 36 points over that same time frame. Ryan Suter and Matthew Dumba man the points when the Wild draw a penalty with Suter being the better play of the two as he not only has registered eight points in the last 11 games, he is also seventh on the team in scoring with 30 points so far this season.
Thanks to a 3-4-3 record over the last ten games the Vancouver Canucks are slowly slipping into oblivion. Their 23-22-6 record has them at 52 points which is three points away from the last playoff spot. The problem is they have to jump over four teams to get there. The Canucks have only scored 10 goals in the last seven games so maybe it would be best to look elsewhere for your cash game plays tonight. However if its GPP plays you are looking for, we may have a couple here. There’s no doubt that anyone in their right mind wouldn’t pick players from a low scoring team going up against a good defensive team, right? Henrik Sedin has been the steadiest of the bunch as he is tied with Bo Horvat for the team lead with 32 points so far this season. Henrik skates with his brother Daniel Sedin on the top line while Horvat skates with Sven Baertschi and Alexandre Burrows on the second line. Henrik and Daniel make a good pairing as well as Horvat and Baertschi but only for tournament plays as they do not score enough on a consistent basis to take them in cash games. Troy Stecher is the choice on the back line as he soaks up almost all of the power play time. His production doesn’t match his opportunity though as he has managed just 12 points in the 42 games he has played in so far this season. It is best to look elsewhere for cheap defensemen tonight.
Elite Plays
MINN: Mikael Granlund, Eric Staal
VAN: None
Secondary Plays
MIN: Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Jason Zucker, Ryan Suter
VAN: Henrik Sedin, Bo Horvat, Daniel Sedin, Sven Baertschi
Arizona Coyotes at San Jose Sharks
| Arizona Coyotes | San Jose Sharks | ||||||||
 | Mike Smith |  | Martin Jones | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 16-28-6 | 33-17-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.18 | 3.16 | 15.30% | 76.50% | Team Stats | 2.69 | 2.27 | 17.80% | 82.80% |
Now that the Coyotes have seen the return of Max Domi they can now start to realize just how far away from the other teams in the league they are. They have already sent down Anthony Duclair who was supposed to be part of this team’s future and also own the second worst record in the league. Radim Vrbata would appear to be the only player that is actually useful and even at that I would only play save him for deeper GPP play. He has racked up 11 of his 35 points in the last ten games as he skates on the top line with Tobias Rieder and Martin Hanzal. This line should draw the most attention however which means that San Jose could post their fourth shutout of the year. Domi will skate on the team’s second line with Al;expander Burmistrov and Jamie McGinn while Shane Doan, Brendan Perlini and Christian Dvorak skate at even strength on the third line. Micheal Stone could have been an option on the back line had he still been on the top power play unit although it’s probably best to stick with Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The veteran defenseman has recorded 14 of his 27 points on the power play and continues to be one of the main scoring sources for the Coyotes. I wouldn’t expect too much here tonight as Arizona’s five wins away from the home crowd is the lowest in the league.
San Jose sits atop the Pacific Division with a 33-17-2 record which has the team just three points away from being the best team in the Western Conference. Minnesota holds the crown so far this season with 71 points and they have a couple of games in hand. Nonetheless you should have a bunch of exposure to the Sharks in your cash games tonight. Brent Burns leads the team in goals and assists from the back line and is always in play if you can afford him. His 22 goals and 33 points has him third in the league with 55 points. I know a lot of people don’t like paying his salary but being third in the league in points is nothing to sneeze at, especially tonight. You can always find a cheaper first line winger that can score a goal as opposed to a cheaper defenseman who you hope gets a few blocks to up your score. Do yourself a favor and roster burns first in your cash games tonight. Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton join Burns on the top power play unit from the first line while Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau join in from the second line. Pairing them up is fine but tonight is also a night you could probably use the top two lines as full line stacks. Tomas Hertl is back from injury and skates on the first line while Mikkel Boedker gets the call on the second line. Playing either of these two with either one player from their line or the full line should help you squeeze burns into your lineup tonight. it’s going to take a colossal effort for the Coyotes to take down the sharks in front of their home crowd.
Elite Plays
ARZ: None
SJ: Brent Burns
Secondary Plays
ARZ: Radim Vrbata, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Martin Hanzal, Max Domi
SJ: Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton