NHL Grind Down: Saturday, January 2nd - Page Three
Winnipeg Jets at San Jose Sharks – 10:00 PM EST
| Winnipeg Jets | San Jose Sharks | ||||||||
 | Ondrej Pavelec |  | Martin Jones | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 17-18-2 | 18-16-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.68 | 2.92 | 13.90% | 77.30% | Team Stats | 2.75 | 2.83 | 21.80% | 81.40% |
With a record of 6-13-1 it would appear that the Winnipeg Jets are another team that doesn’t fare well on the road. In fact they have dropped their last six games on the road while only being able to muster a paltry eight goals which makes their top line a GPP play at best. Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little lead the team in points while Drew Stafford has been recently placed on the top line. Stafford should see a bump in his statistics by merely just skating with those guys. Dustin Byfuglien has not seen negative points on plus/minus sites since way back on November 23rd which would indicate that he may be a nice GPP play where the defensive position is concerned.
Logan Couture celebrated his return to the San Jose lineup with two assists after a seven game absence because of injury. Although he wasn’t placed on the top power play line as yet he was reunited with Patrick Marleau and didn’t seem to lose a step. Speaking of the Sharks power play, they have scored nine goals in their last six games with the man advantage and should have plenty of opportunities tonight against a Winnipeg team that has taken 18 minor penalties in their last four games. Joe Pavelski leads the charge not only as the team leader in goals and points, but in the last four games as evidence by his four goals and an assist in that time frame .Defenseman Brent Burns has five goals to go along with five assists while Joe Thornton has added three goals and assisted on seven others in their last seven games. The Sharks should score some goals tonight and these five should figure in on most of the scoring.
Elite Plays
WIN: Blake Wheeler
SJ: Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns
H3. Secondary Plays
WIN: Bryan Little, Dustin Byfuglien
SJ: Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture, Joe Thornton, Joel Ward
Calgary Flames at Colorado Avalanche – 10:00 PM EST
| Calgary Flames | Colorado Avalanche | ||||||||
 | Jonas Hiller |  | Semyon Varlamov | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 17-18-2 | 18-17-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.59 | 3.24 | 12.20% | 73.90% | Team Stats | 2.87 | 2.79 | 20.60% | 79.70% |
With just five road wins this season the Calgary Flames should only be considered for your GPP games tonight. It also doesn’t help that the Flames are a one line team, which makes it much easier to defend against, especially when on the road. Johnny Gaudreau should always be considered in any format but after that it gets a bit murky. Gaudreau leads the team leads with 39 points in just 37 games while line mate Sean Monahan has tallied 12 goals to go along with 14 assists over that same time period. Jiri Hudler rounds out the top line but even he only has 20 points in the 34 games he has played in. Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie are your choices on defense with the former being the better play as he has four goals and four assists in his last seven games. Proceed with caution here.
Although Colorado has six wins in their last ten games, they are still working on getting the home ice advantage. Only the San Jose Sharks have less wins at home than the Avalanche which really isn’t saying much considering that their record at the Pepsi Center stands at 6-8-3. It does bear mentioning however that Colorado has lost only two games in regulation in their last 11 games, which would indicate that they are playing better hockey of late. The Colorado power play has been on fire of late by tallying eight goals in their last 17 tries. This bodes well for Jarome Iginla, Carl Soderberg and the team leader in points, Nathan MacKinnon who all get the top minutes on the Avalanche power play. Soderberg has responded well to his promotion by posting two goals and two assists in his last two games. Defenseman Tyson Barrie is battling flu-like symptoms and is questionable for tonight’s game making Erik Johnson an easy pivot. Pivot is probably not the right word if you consider the fact that Johnson has two goals and four assists in his last five games. If Barrie does end up playing, either one is a decent play for your cash games tonight.
Elite Plays
CGY: Johnny Gaudreau
COL: Nathan MacKinnon
Secondary Plays
CGY: Sean Monahan, T.J. Brodie, Mark Giordano, Jiri Hudler
COL: Jarome Iginla, Carl Soderberg, Gabriel Landeskog, Matt Duchene, Erik Johnson