NHL Grind Down: Saturday, January 23rd - Page Two
Anaheim Ducks at Detroit Red Wings – 07:00 PM EST
| Anaheim Ducks | Detroit Red Wings | ||||||||
 | John Gibson |  | Petr Mrazek | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 20-18-7 | 24-15-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 1.98 | 2.31 | 19.30% | 89.10% | Team Stats | 2.43 | 2.45 | 17.60% | 80.10% |
After going 5-3 on their lengthy home stand the Anaheim Ducks took to the road to be greeted by a blizzard that ripped through the Washington, DC area that was enough to cancel last night’s game. The Ducks made it out in plenty of time to make it to Detroit so that game should go on as scheduled. With Detroit coming off a win in Buffalo last night look for them to be a bit tired, kind of the same way Ottawa and Chicago looked in last night’s games. Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf are the ones to start with here as they lead the team with 29 and 28 points respectively. Defenseman Shea Theodore has turned it up a notch with his workload being increased by being placed on the top power play unit. The move has produced a modest four game point streak going into tonight’s game for the 20 year old rookie. Rickard Rakell has added two goals in his last two games to give him a total of 21 points on the season.
The Red Wings will probably have two things working against them as they enter tonight’s game against the Anaheim Ducks. The first is the fact that they are coming in fresh off playing a great game up in Buffalo last night in which they shut out the home team by a score of 3-0. The second may not be that easy to see. Head coach Jeff Blashill has indicated he was going to wait until today to name his starting goalie. Call me crazy but I tend to think a tired Mrazek may be better than a rested Jimmy Howard, especially since the latter really hasn’t adjusted too well to life as a second stringer. In his last six starts Howard hasn’t won a game and has given up no less than three goals in the last five. All this kind of points to Anaheim scoring some goals but how will the Red Wings score. Dylan Larkin has finally been placed in the top six and he responded by assisting on a goal by Henrik Zetterberg and scored on a pass by Luke Glendening. The ducks have only given up two power play goals in their last 11 games, so it is probably best we just stick to the straight lines where Detroit is concerned. This means you can pair Larkin with either Zetterberg or Justin Abdelkader or go with Pavel Datsyuk and pair him with Gustav Nyquist. Mike Green is handling the point on the team’s top power play unit and is in play for tonight’s contests.
Elite plays
ANA: Corey Perry
DET: None
Secondary Plays
ANA: Ryan Getzlaf, Rickard Rakell, Shea Theodore, Ryan Kesler, David Perron
DET: Henrik Zetterberg, Dylan Larkin, Justin Abdelkader, Pavel Datsyuk, Gustav Nyquist, Mike Green
Montreal Canadiens at Toronto Maple Leafs – 07:00 PM EST
| Montreal Canadiens | Toronto Maple Leafs | ||||||||
 |  | James Reimer | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 17-20-8 | |||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.70 | 2.57 | 17.60% | 84.90% | Team Stats | 2.38 | 2.69 | 16.30% | 80.30% |
Even with the return of Brendan Gallagher the Montreal Canadiens continue to lose games by the boat load. Their current losing streak now stands at five as they head into Toronto for this ‘original six’ battle. With Montreal only scoring ten goals in their last six games s we will have to rely on what we know to get through this one. Max Pacioretty leads the team in scoring and has actually done quite well over the last eight games as evidence of his four goals and three assists over that time period. Defenseman P.K. Subban is also on fire of late as he brings a six game point scoring streak into this divisional tilt. Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Markov round out the team’s top power play unit which may be in business tonight considering that Toronto has given up four goals while a man down over the last five games. David Desharnais and Alex Galchenyuk skate on the second line and should only be used as GPP plays.
The injury to James van Riemsdyk continues to plague an already offensively challenged team. Toronto is another team that hasn’t scored many goals as they have only lit the lamp eight times in their last seven games. Folks, this is downright putrid but as the old saying goes, someone has to win tonight. The top line of Shawn Matthias, Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov are probably the safest plays for tonight’s contests but with another eight games on the night slate, you just may want to avoid this mess altogether. The upside is that Kadri, Tyler Bozak and defenseman Dion Phaneuf all have two assists each in their last three games while Komarov, P.A. Parenteau, Morgan Rielly and Brad Boyes have just two points in their last seven games. Besides Pacioretty and Subban, this game should be considered as a GPP only game.
Elite Plays
MTL: Max Pacioretty, P.K. Subban
TOR: None
Secondary Plays
MTL: Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Markov, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk
TOR: Dion Phaneuf, Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak, Leo Komarov
Philadelphia Flyers at New York Islanders – 07:30 PM EST
| Philadelphia Flyers | New York Islanders | ||||||||
 | Steve Mason |  | Jaroslav Halak | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 20-17-8 | 24-15-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.24 | 2.60 | 17.10% | 78.40% | Team Stats | 2.67 | 2.42 | 17.60% | 87.70% |
Editor’s Note: This game has been cancelled with no makeup date set as yet.
So far the NHL hasn’t cancelled this game but it wouldn’t be surprising if they do with all the snow that is hitting the region as we speak. Although the Flyers are only 5 points away from a playoff spot they still have to jump over five teams to get there and a win tonight against the Islanders would go a long way. Philadelphia comes into this one after losing a tough game at Pittsburgh and a ridiculous loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on home ice last Tuesday. The status of Sean Couturier is unclear at the time of this writing but if he is out, that certainly puts a crimp in the Flyers ability to keep the puck out of their own net. Sam Gagner took his spot on the second line between Brayden Schenn and Michael Raffl. The Flyers power play has connected five times in the last four games but the problem arises when you realize that the Islanders have killed 22 straight penalties in a row. Nonetheless, Philadelphia should score a few in this one and you have to start with Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux who not only lead the team in scoring but also have tallied two goals and five assists each in the last five games. Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere can still be found fairly cheap in spots and makes a decent play as the rookie has tallied 19 points in his first 27 games in the league. Schenn and Wayne Simmonds round out the team’s top power play unit and are borderline cash plays for tonight’s contests.
Backed by winning six games in their last ten the Islanders find themselves in fourth place in the Metropolitan division with 56 points. A win tonight could propel them into third place with the Rangers having the night off. John Tavares trails Kyle Okposo by only two points for the team lead in scoring but makes a good play tonight as he has scored a goal and added three assists over the last four games. Tavares also continues to shoot the puck as he has tallied four or more shots in seven of his last nine games. Okposo has added four points to his total over the last three games and makes a good play against the Flyers by virtue of skating on the power play with Tavares. Frans Nielsen and Nick Leddy also get the top power play minutes with Leddy being the stronger play of the two. He’s not only a cheap defenseman with a good matchup, he also brings a three game scoring streak into tonight’s game.
Elite Plays
PHL: None
NYI: John Tavares
Secondary Plays
PHL: Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Shayne Gostisbehere, Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn
NYI: Kyle Okposo, Nick Leddy, Frans Nielsen, Anders Lee, Ryan Strome
Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars – 08:00 PM EST
| Colorado Avalanche | Dallas Stars | ||||||||
 | Semyon Varlamov |  | Antti Niemi | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 24-21-3 | 30-13-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.77 | 2.73 | 20.50% | 80.10% | Team Stats | 3.27 | 2.65 | 21.60% | 79.00% |
The Avalanche have scored only two goals in each of their last three games and miraculously they won all three of them. Goaltender Semyon Varlamov is the reason for the current winning streak as he has stopped all but three of the 99 shots he has faced during their current streak. Be sure to use the tools here at RotoGrinders to see which goalie Patrick Roy will use today as Colorado comes into this one after defeating the St Louis Blues in a shootout by a score of 2-1 last night. With the Stars giving up five goals in the last four games while being a man short, it might be a good idea to look at the players that Colorado puts out on the top power play unit. Defenseman Tyson Barrie anchors the point and makes fine play as he has tallied 14 of his 31 points with the man advantage so far this season. Matt Duchene also is on the top unit and leads the team with 22 goals with six of them coming on the power play. If you believe in playing second liners on the road then Gabriel Landeskog is the play for you. Landeskog skates on the second line but gets his share of top unit power play minutes on a nightly basis. Blake Comeau is the wild card here as he is usually right there with Landeskog but he did not play in the last game due to his wife having a baby and his status is uncertain for tonight’s game. Alex Tanguay and Nathan MacKinnon skate with Duchene on the top line but get the second unit power play along with Carl Soderberg. Soderberg is your one-off here as he has accumulated seven points in his last eight games skating on that second line.
After a red hot start the Dallas Stars have slipped into second place by virtue of only winning three games in their last ten tries. To exemplify the Stars scoring woes one just has to look at the last seven games where they have scored two goals or more only twice during that span. The only constant through all of this has been the play of Jason Spezza who has found the scoresheet in seven of the last nine games. Jamie Benn has been heating up as well by virtue of scoring three goals and adding two assists over the last five games. Tyler Seguin continues to struggle as he has found the scoresheet just three times over the last nine games. Patrick Sharp seems to be back on the top line and continues to shoot the puck and ranks second on the team with 154 shots. The Jason Demers experiment seems to have run its course as John Klingberg was back on the point logging the most power play minutes where defensemen are concerned. Klingberg got off to a hot start but has cooled off in recent weeks as he has not scored in his last six games. Look for Dallas to take care of business tonight, especially if Varlamov is not in net for the Avalanche.
Elite Plays
COL: None
DAL: Jamie Benn
Secondary Plays
COL: Tyson Barrie, Gabriel Landeskog, Carl Soderberg, Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene
DAL: Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp, John Klingberg
Los Angeles Kings at Arizona Coyotes – 09:00 PM EST
| Los Angeles Kings | Arizona Coyotes | ||||||||
 |  | Louis Domingue | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 29-14-3 | 22-19-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.59 | 2.22 | 21.40% | 82.00% | Team Stats | 2.70 | 2.98 | 18.40% | 76.10% |
It looks like Los Angeles head coach Daryl Sutter has finally decided to give forward Marian Gaborik another chance. I guess he figures if he can get Vincent Lecavalier to produce, he can revive anyone’s career. To be fair Gaborik has only tallied one assist in his last eight games but has been skating on the third and fourth lines or the past month and that folks is not a good recipe for scoring success. Jeff Carter will be the third part of this trio and with the team being on the road I kind of like this line to do some damage against Arizona tonight. The first line hasn’t been too shabby of late either as Anze Kopitar has ten points in his last six games while Tyler Toffoli has tallied three goals and two assists in his last five games. Jake Muzzin and Drew Doughty man the points on the power play with the top line that features Kopitar, Toffoli and Milan Lucic. This is important as the Coyotes have had a bit of trouble of late killing penalties as they have surrendered seven goals while a man short in their last five games. The Kings should get back on track tonight, especially after being shut out by the Minnesota Wild on home ice on Thursday night.
UPDATE: Well so much for some consistency on the kings top two lines. Sutter has mixed them up at today’s morning skate and now they look like this, which makes the second and third lines a bit more shaky.
Lucic-Kopitar-Toffoli
King-Carter-Brown
Gaborik-Lecavalier-Lewis
Pearson-Shore-Nolan
Arizona comes into this one on a four game losing skid and more importantly have only scored four goals in those games. Can someone say power outage? The scoring drought hasn’t affected Shane Doan much as he has had a hand in three of those four goals all the while skating on the third line. Doan does get his opportunities on the power play as he skates with Tobias Rieder, Antoine Vermette, Mikkel Boedker and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to round out the team’s top unit with Boedker and Ekman-Larsson leading the team in points with 33 of them. Max Domi skates with Vermette and Boedker on the top line but outside of his three goal outburst five games ago he hasn’t found the scoresheet in seven of the last eight games. I would be surprised if the Kings play another bad game like the one they had two days ago.
Elite Plays
LAK: Anze Kopitar
ARZ: None
Secondary Plays
LAK: Milan Lucic, Tyler Toffoli, Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin, Jeff Carter
ARZ: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Shane Doan. Mikkel Boedker, Tobias Rieder