NHL Grind Down: Saturday, January 2nd - Page Two
St. Louis Blues at Toronto Maple Leafs – 07:00 PM EST
| St. Louis Blues | Toronto Maple Leafs | ||||||||
 |  | Jonathan Bernier | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 23-13-4 | 14-15-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.45 | 2.38 | 20.70% | 86.50% | Team Stats | 2.53 | 2.72 | 19.60% | 80.30% |
The Blues come into this one fresh off a 3-1 loss to a Parise-less Minnesota Wild on New Year’s Eve. That’s far from the result than anyone could have predicted and while outshooting the Wild, it was Devan Dubnyk standing on his head by making 33 saves on 34 shots. It also didn’t help that Vladimir Tarasenko was held out of this game with an illness. Hopefully it is just an illness and not some nagging upper body injury. Only time will tell but either way, the show must go on. Without Tarasenko the Blues put Magnus Paajarvi on the top line with Alexander Steen and Paul Stastny as the latter two collected assists on the lone Blues goal by Kevin Shattenkirk on the power play. David Backes and Troy Brouwer also played top power play minutes but it is likely that Brouwer will be the one booted back down if Tarasenko returns. It looks like Patrik Berglund is ready to return making the Blues lines even more of a guessing game. They should score some goals tonight so make sure Tarasenko is indeed in the lineup before you slug him in there tonight.
Believe it or not the Toronto Maple Leafs have been scoring some goals of late and when that happens, you actually have a chance of winning some games. The Leafs are 6-2-2 in their last ten but are still hovering just above Buffalo by a point for the rights to last place in the Atlantic division. It’s not out of the question for Toronto to score a few goals tonight so let’s take a look and see who’s hot. James van Riemsdyk has hit the scoresheet in eight of the last nine games while Nazem Kadri has scored in six of his last seven games. The odd thing here is, they very rarely are on the ice together, but yet have been the centerpiece of most of the Maple Leafs scoring over the past two weeks.
Elite Plays
STL: None
TOR: None
Secondary Plays
STL: Alexander Steen, Paul Stastny, David Backes, Kevin Shattenkirk
TOR: James van Riemsdyk, Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov
New York Rangers at Florida Panthers – 07:00 PM EST
| New York Rangers | Florida Panthers | ||||||||
 | Henrik Lundqvist |  | Roberto Luongo | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 21-13-4 | 21-12-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.92 | 2.58 | 20.80% | 80.20% | Team Stats | 2.59 | 2.24 | 17.80% | 80.00% |
The Rangers come into this one undoubtedly waiting for the calendar to turn from December to January. Their record of 4-7-2 in December could of easily have been much better but this is hockey and the name of the game is to peak right around playoff time. The Rangers have been trying to get the right combination since Derek Stepan returned to the lineup. As with most injuries it takes the player a little while to get back up to game speed and this is surely the case as Stepan has only one assist to show for his efforts since returning to the lineup five games ago. He will skate with Rick Nash and Jesper Fast and they should see the top shut down line of Florida tonight. This means that the line of Mats Zuccarello, Derick Brassard and J.T. Brown should have some room out there and while the first two skate with Nash on the top power play unit it has been Brown who has been the most consistent of late by virtue of finding the scoresheet in five of his last seven games. Speaking of production, defenseman Dan Boyle has seen a rejuvenation of sorts as he finds himself on the top power play unit and has scored three goals to go along with two assists in his last five games.
The Florida Panthers are on the opposite end of the spectrum as they probably hated to see the end of 2015. The Panthers have claimed the lead in the Atlantic division by winning 13 games over their last 16 and that includes the seven game winning streak they are currently on. Most of the scoring has come from the top line and that bodes well for tonight as they also take on the duties of the top power play line as well. The Rangers have given up six goals while a man short in 12 of their last attempts to kill a penalty which encompasses the last four games. Aleksander Barkov leads the charge as he has lit the lamp five times and has assisted on five other goals in his last seven games. Jonathan Hunberdeau has been an assist machine of late as he has accumulated seven helpers in his last five games. Last but not least, the ageless wonder, Jaromir Jagr has chipped in two goals and two assists in his last four games. Aaron Ekblad is the choice here on defense as he gets top power play minutes as well.
Elite Plays
NYR: None
FLA: Aleksander Barkov
H3. Secondary Plays
NYR: Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, Mats Zuccarello, Derick Brassard, Dan Boyle, Jesper Fast
FLA: Jaromir Jagr, Jonathan Huberdeau, Aaron Ekblad
Washington Capitals at Columbus Blue Jackets – 07:00 PM EST
| Washington Capitals | Columbus Blue Jackets | ||||||||
 | Braden Holtby |  | Sergei Bobrovsky | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 28-7-2 | 14-22-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.11 | 2.11 | 25.20% | 86.10% | Team Stats | 2.49 | 3.13 | 17.40% | 81.20% |
According to Capitals beat write Mike Vogel, the Columbus Blue Jackets have activated goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky off of the IR and could very well start tonight’s game. Normally I’d be a bit more hesitant on taking the Caps tonight with Bob in net, but like all injured players, it may take him a game or two to adjust to the speed of the game. Regardless of who is in net the top line of Alexander Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom should be considered in both your cash games and in your GPP almost every night. This line has a composite box score of 14 goals and 14 assists in their last eight games with Ovechkin leading the way with seven goals over that time frame. Defenseman John Carlson has missed the last two games with an upper body injury and it is unclear when he will return. Check in with the aforementioned Vogel during the day to see what Carlson’s status is for tonight’s game. If Carlson is in play him. If he isn’t you can easily pivot to Matt Niskanen who has tallied an assist in each of the games Carlson has been put as he has been inserted at the point on the power play right next to Ovechkin.
Matt Calvert has been diagnosed with sprained knee ligaments and is expected to be sidelined for at least four weeks, so it is tough to project how head coach John Tortorella will shuffle his lines. He’s been doing it all season so this is just another excuse to tinker a bit more with a team that has given up the most goals in the NHL. It’s no secret Tortorella has been trying to get something going as he has placed Ryan Johansen on the fourth line with Rene Bourque and Gregory Campbell. This is a complete joke as I am not sure that even Wayne Gretzky could make those two guys look good. At any rate, Johansen still gets the top power play minutes and could possibly see his promotion back into the top six as early as today. The top line of Scott Hartnell, Alexander Wennberg and Brandon Saad are the plays here as this line has scored nine goals to go along with nine assists in their last seven games. I wouldn’t be opposed to using Boone Jenner as a one-off as he is second on the tem in goals with 14 and also skates on the team’s top power play line. Washington has only given up 78 goals this season so the Blue Jackets may find some rough sledding tonight, even on home ice.
Elite Plays
WAS: Alexander Ovechkin
CLB: None
Secondary Plays
WAS: T.J. Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom, Marcus Johansson
CLB: Scott Hartnell, Brandon Saad, Alexander Wennberg, Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner
Minnesota Wild at Tampa Bay Lightning – 07:00 PM EST
| Minnesota Wild | Tampa Bay Lightning | ||||||||
 | Devan Dubnyk |  | Ben Bishop | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 20-10-6 | 18-16-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.72 | 2.36 | 20.00% | 77.30% | Team Stats | 2.53 | 2.37 | 19.30% | 78.80% |
Minnesota continues their four game road trip and they may very well be without their superstar Zach Parise. It seems he has aggravated his knee again as it wasn’t too long ago he was out a few games with the same injury. Knee injuries scare me in hockey as obviously, skating is a huge part of the game. Nevertheless head coach Mike Yeo always has the players ready to play regardless of line up. It’s going to be tough for Yeo to keep Charlie Coyle off of the top two lines as he has been on fire of late by scoring three goals and adding two assists to the scoresheet in his last five games. Mikko Koivu also makes a good play on the road as it’s more than likely the Lightning will be a bit occupied with the top line of Jason Pominville, Thomas Vanek and Mikael Granlund. To make matters better, it looks like Tampa will be without their top goalie in Ben Bishop and there are already rumblings that Andrei Vasilevsky will get that call after just being recalled from Syracuse. It’s tough to take a defenseman here as both Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon have been a bit silent of late as Suter has just one goal in his last 14 games while Spurgeon has a goal in his last eight games.
It will be interesting to see how Tampa Bay adapts without their starting goalie Ben Bishop as he had left yesterday’s practice with an apparent injury just ten minutes after he took the ice.. The Lightning power play is red hot as they have scored goals of that variety in the last five games while connecting nine times in 29 attempts. This is almost hard to fathom as they have only scored 16 goals total in those last five games. Steven Stamkos leads the charge from the point on the power play as he is joined on the back line by Anton Stralman while Nikita Kucherov, Valterri Filppula and Jonathan Marchessault man the front lines. Marchessault makes an intriguing one off play here as he has scored in seven of his last eight games while posting four goals to go along with four assists in the process. With the power play working so well, I’d stick with Stamkos and Kucherov as they skate on the team’s top line along with getting their share of the power play minutes. Tyler Johnson has returned from injury and in the two games he has played in has only generated four shots on goal. It may take a little while before he gets back up to speed so I would proceed with caution.
Elite Plays
MIN: None
TB: Steven Stamkos
Secondary Plays
MIN: Mikko Koivu, Thomas Vanek, Charlie Coyle, Jason Pominville, Ryan Suter
TB: Nikita Kucherov, Jonathan Marchessault, Anton Stralman, Valterri Filppula
New York Islanders at Pittsburgh Penguins – 07:00 PM EST
| New York Islanders | Pittsburgh Penguins | ||||||||
 | Jaroslav Halak |  | Marc-Andre Fleury | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 21-12-5 | 18-15-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.68 | 2.29 | 18.10% | 87.30% | Team Stats | 2.30 | 2.38 | 17.60% | 84.00% |
Just when the Islanders were starting to adjust to life without starting goaltender Jaroslav Halak, it looks like he is almost ready to make his return, but not tonight. Thomas Greiss is 7-2 in the last nine games he has started and that includes the last two in which the New Yorkers defeated both Toronto and Buffalo on the road. Tonight they look to end their road trip against a Pittsburgh team that has been less than stellar of late and are having a few goaltender problems of their own. Regardless of all of that the Islanders have been getting some balanced scoring from both of their top two lines. John Tavares, Josh Bailey and Anders Lee make up the top line while Frans Nielsen, Kyle Okposo and Nikolay Kulemin skate on the second line. All six of these players have at least three points to their credit over the last three games. If you want to pair them up I’d put Tavares and Bailey together or Nielsen and Okposo together as the all skate on the top power play unit with defenseman Nick Leddy.
When for the love of god are the Pittsburgh Penguins ever going to find decent line mates for Sidney Crosby? After a short stint on the third line, Chris Kunitz is back up with him but now Conor Sheary finds himself on the third line as David Perron now completes the top line trio. Since the injury and subsequent retirement of Pascal Dupuis, Crosby has had Phil Kessel Hornqvist and Conor Sheary all trying to stick on the top line. In the past few years it’s the likes of Beau Bennett and Jayson Megma that has been part of the clown parade to audition for the top line job. Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel are now joined by Matt Cullen to form the Penguins second line. Everyone but Cullen should be in play tonight for your cash games as well as defenseman Kris Letang as he has collected two goals and three assists in the three games he has played since coming back from injury.
Elite Plays
NYI: John Tavares
PIT: Evgeni Malkin
Secondary Plays
NYI: Josh Bailey, Kyle Okposo, Nikolay Kulemin, Frans Nielsen, Nick Leddy
PIT: Phil Kessel, Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz, David Perron, Kris Letang