NHL Grind Down: Saturday, January 14th - Page Two
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New York Rangers at Montréal Canadiens
| New York Rangers | Montréal Canadiens | ||||||||
 | Antti Raanta |  | Carey Price | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 28-13-1 | 26-11-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.43 | 2.52 | 23.20% | 83.00% | Team Stats | 3.07 | 2.49 | 22.20% | 78.60% |
The Rangers have the daunting task of trying to regroup from a 4-2 loss last night to face a team that was literally embarrassed two nights ago. This normally wouldn’t be a big deal if they were playing a team like Colorado, but that team was Montreal who is 15-4-2 in front of the home crowd this season. The top line of Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello are normally the easy choice for cash games but for tonight, I’d look elsewhere as the Canadiens have the ability to shut down other teams top lines. All three players are tied for first on the team scoring chart with 31 points so far this season. The Rangers scoring has been so diverse this season that even two skaters from the second line are tied with for the team lead in points as well. Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller skate with Michael Grabner on the second line at even strength and while the former two have 31 points each, it is Grabner who leads the team in goals with 19. This line has also combined for ten goals and nine assists in the last five games which could easily put them on anyone’s tournament radar tonight. Rick Nash is back from injury and could be used as a one-off here as he skates on the third line while laeding the team along with Kreider and Brandon Pirri with four power play goals. Ryan McDonagh is the choice on the back line as he registered his 26th points of the season last night in the 4-2 loss at home against Toronto. McDonagh soaks up more than half of the time on the power play in which he has a team leading nine points when the rangers have the man advantage. Two things are working here. The first thing is Montreal on home ice after a brutal loss should be ready to come out and play a very solid game while the second is the fact that the rangers get scoring from all there lines. This makes it hard to choose which line to target as any line can either score or be silent on any given night.
After getting boat raced by the Minnesota Wild by a score of 7-1 on Thursday night the Montreal Canadiens will return home to try and right the ship. Montreal does have a nine point lead over the Boston bruins for the top spot in the Atlantic Division so as long as they don’t make a habit of losing, they will be okay. Max Pacioretty, Alexander Radulov and Phillip Danault will skate as the team’s top line while Danault is the odd man out when Montreal goes on the power play. It is for this reason that Pacioretty and Radulov should make for a decent cash pairing as they both lead the team in scoring. Pacioretty has 19 goals and 35 points while Radulov leads with 22 assists and 32 points. Danault has been a bit hot of late as he has notched five of his 21 points over the last five games. Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gallagher, David Desharnais and Andrew Shaw continue to be sidelined with injuries. This makes Tomas Plekanec the center on the second line with Paul Byron and Artturi Lehkonen. Plekanec and Lehkonen have combined for six goals and three assists over the last five games so maybe taking a look at them for deeper tournament plays isn’t a bad idea in this spot. The time to keep Nathan Beaulieu a secret is over as the cheap defenseman has racked up a goal and five assists in the last five contests. Shea Weber is obviously the better choice on a night to night basis, but if you need a little salary relief, Beaulieu is your guy. Look for Montreal to erase that last game from their minds as they go for their 16th win on home ice tonight.
Elite Plays
NYR: None
MTL: Max Pacioretty, Alexander Radulov
Secondary Plays
NYR: Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Michael Grabner, Ryan McDonagh, J.T. Miller, Rick Nash
MTL: Shea Weber, Nathan Beaulieu, Phillip Danault, Artturi Lehkonen
Columbus Blue Jackets at Florida Panthers
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Florida Panthers | ||||||||
 | Sergei Bobrovsky |  | James Reimer | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 28-8-4 | 19-16-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.33 | 2.23 | 25.80% | 82.10% | Team Stats | 2.26 | 2.53 | 14.90% | 85.10% |
It looks like it didn’t take long for head coach John Tortorella to figure out that shuffling up the liens may have been a bad idea as the Blue Jackets came back from a first period deficit to defeat the Lightning by a score of 3-1. The win kept them one point in front of the Washington Capitals for the league lead with 62 points. Ok, now back to this line shuffling thing. To read the line changes going into last night’s game you can check out yesterday’s Grind Down. By the end of the game last night Brandon Saad was back with Nick Foligno and Alexander Wennberg while Cam Atkinson was stuffed back on the second line with Boone Jenner and Brandon Dubinsky. Look to the top line as adecent tournament play tonight as all three players have combined for 38 goals and 68 assists so far this season. Saad has remarkedly been able to keep pace with Foligno and Wennberg as he has racked up 34 points while both of his line mates have 36. This wouldn’t be that odd except for the fact that Wennberg has registered 18 power play points while Foligno clocks in at 17 while Saad has just two. Saad’s 32 even strength points put him just two behind Connor McDavid for the league lead. Not bad company at all. Atkinson should be used as a one-off here as a lot team leading 40 points have come by skating with Foligno and Wennberg on the team’s top power play unit. Atkinson leads the team in that category with nine goals and ten assists. Sam Gagner makes for another decent one-off play here as he moves up from the fourth line to join Atkinson and crew on the top power play unit. Gagner has lit the lamp 14 times this season while snaring 16 assists in the process. Defenseman Zachary Werenski has been a bit quiet lately as his assist last night was the only point he has registered in the last five games. He still remains on the top power play unit which is why he is the better play over guys like Jack Johnson and Seth Jones.
The loss of Aleksander Barkov has been taking its toll on the Florida Panthers chances of making the palyoffs. Their loss last night to the New York Islanders by a score of 5-2 on home ice is more than enough evidence to come to this conclusion as the team is now tied with Toronto for ninth place in the Eastern Conference. Vincent Trocheck and Jaromir Jagr have been doing their part as Trocheck has had a hand in six of the last ten goals that Florida has scored. The problem that they have run into is that they really don’t know who their line mate will be from game to game. Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault have both seen time with them but now Florida has decided to put Seth Griffith back up there since it worked so well the first time around. Marchessault can be used as a one-off here in deeper tournament play as he has collected 12 goals and 14 assists in the 37 games he has suited up for. Reilly Smith and Jussi Jokinen skate with him at even strength and should probably not be looked at for cash game play with so many other options on the board tonight. Keith Yandle has been putting up the points lately as he has been involved in four of the last ten goals the Panthers have scored. Aaron Ekblad is the other choice on the back line but the story is the same here. Ekblad has taken 146 shots so far this season and has scored seven goals, but his four assists give him just 11 points on the season.
Elite Plays
CBJ: Cam Atkinson, Alexander Wennberg
FLA: None
Secondary Plays
CBJ: Nick Foligno, Brandon Saad, Sam Gagner, Zachary Werenski
FLA: Vincent Trocheck, Jaromir Jagr, Keith Yandle, Jonathan Marchessault
Minnesota Wild at Dallas Stars
| Minnesota Wild | Dallas Stars | ||||||||
 |  | ||||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 26-9-5 | 18-17-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.23 | 2.10 | 20.20% | 85.10% | Team Stats | 2.65 | 3.00 | 16.70% | 74.50% |
The only thing that can stop the Wild is if they get caught looking ahead to tomorrow’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks as they are just two points behind them for first place in the Central Division. The task at hand is to take one game at a time and the next team to get in their way is the Dallas Stars who are coming off a 5-2 win over Detroit on Thursday night. The Wild didn’t do too bad either two nights ago as they dismantled the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 7-1. Eric Staal, Zach Parise and Charlie Coyle now skate as the team’s top line which also doubles as the Wild’s top power play unit. Staal leads the team with three goals and five assists over the last five games while Parise has caught fire of late by scoring five of his 20 points over that same time frame. Staal leads in both goals and assists while Coyle leads the team with four power play goals. Mikko Koivu, Jason Zucker and Mikael Granlund skate on the second line at even strength and may be worth a look here as a deeper tournament play. Granlund has done fairly well this season as he sits in third place on the Wild scoring chart with 13 goals and 22 assists. Meanwhile Koivu has three goals and three assists in the last five games as he is right behind Granlund with 29 points so far this season. Ryan Suter and Mathew Dumba are the choices on the back line as we give the nod to Suter by virtue of his 80 shots on goal and 24 points so far this season. That doesn’t mean that Dumba is a bad play as he has recorded eight of his 19 points with the man advantage. The wild should be able to score some goals against a Dallas team that has given up 15 goals in the last five games.
Dallas has been trying everything in the book to move into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. To their credit they have gone 5-3-2 in the last ten games and are now just two points away from the Los Angeles Kings who are sitting in the last playoff spot with 46 points. Jamie Benn returned from a four game absence as he was placed on the second line to skate with Cody Eakin and Patrick eaves. Meanwhile Tyler Seguin leads the team in scoring with 15 goals, 26 assists and 41 points as he skates on the top line with Jason Spezza and Jiri Hudler. Minnesota has only given up 86 goals so far this season so maybe looking at the top power play is the way to go tonight. They get a bit stronger with the man advantage with Benn in the lineup as he will skate with Seguin, Spezza and Eaves to form 80% of the top power play unit that sees a majority of the ice time when the Stars draw a penalty. Eaves leads the team with eight power play goals while Seguin has found the score sheet 15 times with the man advantage. John Klingberg completes the fabulous five and is getting hot at the right time. Klingberg has three goals and five points over the last six games which has upped his season total to 23 points. As stated above, Minnesota is one of the better defensive teams in the league so using some discretion is almost a must when making your cash game lineups tonight.
Elite Plays
MIN: Eric Staal
DAL: Tyler Seguin
Secondary Plays
MIN: Zach Parise, Charlie Coyle, Ryan Suter, Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund
DAL: Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza, Patrick Eaves, John Klingberg
Anaheim Ducks at Arizona Coyotes
| Anaheim Ducks | Arizona Coyotes | ||||||||
 |  | ||||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 23-13-8 | 12-22-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.66 | 2.57 | 22.10% | 82.00% | Team Stats | 2.05 | 3.18 | 14.40% | 76.30% |
Anaheim is the next team in line to pad their stats against an Arizona team that is dead last in the Pacific Division. Anaheim will look to extend their divisional lead as their 54 points is two better than the San Jose Sharks. Ryan Getzlaf has returned to center the top line along with Corey Perry and Rickard Rakell. I doubt that the Coyotes have anyone to shut this line down which is why they will most likely pop up in some of your cash games tonight. Getzlaf leads the team with 26 assist while Perry has netted eight goals to go along with 24 assists so far this season. Rakell is tied with Ryan Kesler for the team lead in goals with 17 in the 33 games he has suited for. Speaking of Kesler, he makes for a decent one-off play here as his line will assuredly have more room on the ice to skate while jumping up with Perry and Getzlaf to form the team’s top power play unit. Kesler leads the team with seven power play goals while leading the team with 36 points. Jacob Silfverberg skates with Kesler at even strength and could be paired up with him as he leads the team with 123 shots on goal while recording 13 goals and 16 assists so far this season. Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen man the points on the power play from the back line and for all intents and purposes there really isn’t much difference between them. Fowler does lead the defensive corps with 23 points but now Vatanen has been given an opportunity to get the extra minutes as well. Look for the Ducks to have plenty of scoring opportunities against one of the worst teams in the league.
Arizona is a team that is trying to find its identity. With the injury to Max Domi the Coyotes have tried to mix the lines up in any way possible to be a more competitive team. Last night’s 4-3 win was only their 13th so far this season which now gives them an 8-10-2 record in front of the home crowd. Martin Hanzal centers the top line along with Tobias Rieder and Anthony Duclair while Radim Vrbata skates on the second line with Peter Holland and Jamie McGinn. Both McGinn and Holland scored in last night’s game but that doesn’t mean that they can turn the trick twice as if I am not mistaken I thought I heard the announcer say that that was Holland’s first goal in 34 games. Vrbata makes a nice one-off play here as he leads the team in both goals and assists with nine and 18 respectively. Brendan Perlini scored the other two goals last night while skating with Shane Doan and Christian Dvorak. He is a rookie who has registered seven points in his first 16 games in his young NHL career. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the choice on the blue line as he soaks up most of the time with the man advantage and leads the team with 12 of his 23 points coming on the power play. The Coyotes scored four goals for the first time in the last 12 games so I wouldn’t be too optimistic of them doing it again tonight.
Elite Plays
ANA: Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler
ARZ: None
Secondary Plays
ANA: Rickard Rakell, Cam Fowler
ARZ: Radim Vrbata, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Martin Hanzal, Tobias Rieder
Calgary Flames at Edmonton Oilers
| Calgary Flames | Edmonton Oilers | ||||||||
 |  | ||||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 23-19-2 | 22-15-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.61 | 2.73 | 20.70% | 81.60% | Team Stats | 2.82 | 2.66 | 20.40% | 81.40% |
The battle of Alberta continues tonight as the fourth place Calgary Flames travel to take on the Edmonton Oilers who are just three points above them in third place of the Pacific Division. If you look at this game close enough you will find that these teams are much closer than one may think. Calgary is 11-9-2 on the road while Edmonton has a 10-8-2 record in front of the home crowd. Calgary is 6-4 in the last ten games but has only scored nine goals in the last five games. Johnny Gaudreau makes for a decent one-off play here as he skates with Sean Monahan and Alex Chiasson. Gaudreau has lit the lamp ten times and has snared 17 assists in the 35 games he has suited up for so far this season. Now, it will be up to Edmonton as to whether they want to try to shut Gaudreau down or the hot line of Mikael Backlund, Matthew Tkachuk and Michael Frolik. Backlund leads the team with 12 goals while Tkachuk leads the team with 19 assists. Frolik has been a streaky player for most of his career and currently has scored four of his 11 goals over the last six games. The defense has plenty of choices to choose from as T.J. Brodie sees the most power play time while Dougie Hamilton and Mark Giordano have been outperforming him so far his season. Hamilton added another assist to his credit last night which now has him at seven goals and 19 assists on a team leading 128 shots on goal. He is clearly the better choice here. These teams haven’t seen each other since the first two games where Edmonton took the victory in both games by scores of 7-4 and 5-3. That’s still a lot of goals, even if you are the team on the losing end.
Edmonton needs to improve on their 10-8-2 record in front of the home crowd if they want to have any chance of advancing past the first round in this year’s playoffs. That’s assuming of course that they can hold onto the six point lead they have over the ninth place teams in Vancouver and Nashville who have 45 points in the Western Conference. Connor McDavid, Patrick Maroon and Leon Draisaitl will skate as the team’s top line and should see a lot of ownership in both cash and tournament contests tonight. McDavid leads the league with 50 points while Draisaitl leads the team with eight power play goals so far this season. McDavid and Draisaitl are joined by Milan Lucic and Mark Letestu on the team’s top power play unit that has scored just one goal in the last six games. Lucic has been demoted to the third line while Letestu has 19 points while skating on the fourth line. One can only start to wonder if the lack of the success with the man advantage can be attributed to trying to make their top power play unit from three different lines. They certainly have mixed it up on the back line as Oscar Klefbom and Andrej Sekera are the ones that have been alternating on the top unit. Even Matt Benning saw some top power play minutes back in December. The second line of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle and Benoit Pouliot could make for a sneaky GPP stack here as Eberle is fourth on the team with 26 points so far this season. Hopefully this will give the Oilers the two scoring lines they need to go deep into the playoffs.
Elite Plays
CGY: Johnny Gaudreau
EDM: Connor McDavid
Secondary Plays
CGY: Mikael Backlund, Matthew Tkachuk, Dougie Hamilton, Michael Frolik
EDM: Leon Draisaitl, Patrick Maroon, Milan Lucic, Jordan Eberle, Andrej Sekera