NHL Grind Down: Saturday, January 7th - Page Three
Jump to Page 1 2 3
Vancouver Canucks at Calgary Flames
| Vancouver Canucks | Calgary Flames | ||||||||
 | Jacob Markstrom |  | Chad Johnson | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 20-18-3 | 21-18-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.40 | 2.88 | 14.40% | 80.20% | Team Stats | 2.68 | 2.78 | 20.90% | 81.30% |
As if last night wasn’t enough we get to do it all over again tonight as these two teams will change venues to complete their home-and home series which saw the Canucks win for the sixth time in a row in Vancouver last night. 4-2 two was the final with Markus Granlund playing a prominent role by lighting the lamp twice while grabbing an assist on another goal. This gives him 17 points on the season as he skates on the second line with Loui Eriksson and Brandon Sutter. This line could be targeted as a tournament play as Eriksson finally looks like he settling in as he has scored 33% of his nine goals over the last six games. It also helps that Vancouver has had three lines chipping in on almost a nightly basis and don’t fool yourself, winning breeds confidence which is also contagious. Bo Horvat continues to find the score sheet as his assist in last night’s game gives him seven points in the last six games while keeping pace as the team leader in points with 12 goals and 16 assists. Sven Baertschi makes a decent pairing to Horvat as they skate on the same line when the team is at even strength. It’s no surprise that Baertschi’s four goals and two assists over the last six games has his numbers rising to the point where he is now fourth on the team in scoring. The line that seems that has been lost in the shuffle is the top line of Daniel Sedin, Jayson Megna and Henrik Sedin. This is probably due to the fact that Daniel has been stone cold of late while his brother Henrik has been plugging along at a consistent rate with nine goals and 17 assists. Troy Stecher is the play in the back line as he sees the most time on the point when the Canucks draw a penalty. Stecher has ten points in the 32 games he has played in so maybe looking elsewhere for your cash game plays isn’t a bad idea in this spot. Vancouver goes for seven in a row as they will need what they have been getting every night and that is balanced scoring.
Believe it or not, after last night’s loss both Calgary and Vancouver would qualify for the playoffs as the win has helped the Canucks jump over the Los Angeles Kings and are now just one point away from wrestling the seventh spot away from the Flames. Head Coach Glen Gulutzan seems to be the type of coach who rewards his players when they do well, even if they aren’t the superstar of the team. How else can you explain the move to play the second line of Mikael Backlund, Matthew Tkachuk and Michael Frolik in favor of the top line of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Alex Chiasson where the power play was concerned last night? The second line has surely deserved it as they racked up a combined ten goals and 15 assists over the last six games. This scoring outburst has put the right up there with Gaudreau in the top four on the teams scoring chart. This doesn’t mean that I would favor them over Gaudreau however as he is the closest thing Calgary has to a point-per-game player as evidence of his 26 points in the 31 games he has suited up for. On defense the choices are Dougie Hamilton, Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie. A case can be made for each one of them as they all get to see some sort of ice time with the man advantage. Giordano and Brodie have each racked up six points over the last six games but Hamilton still leads the defensemen with 22 points and has the team with 116 shots on goal. Calgary will get tested tonight as Vancouver holds all the momentum coming into this game tonight.
Elite Plays
VAN: Bo Horvat
CGY: Johnny Gaudreau, Mikael Backlund
Secondary Plays
VAN: Sven Baertschi, Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Markus Granlund, Troy Stecher
CGY: Matthew Tkachuk, Michael Frolik, Sean Monahan, Dougie Hamilton
Detroit Red Wings at San Jose Sharks
| Detroit Red Wings | San Jose Sharks | ||||||||
 | Petr Mrazek |  | Martin Jones | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 17-17-5 | 23-14-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.36 | 2.79 | 11.30% | 82.90% | Team Stats | 2.49 | 2.23 | 16.70% | 82.80% |
The Red Wings continue to shuffle up the lines in search of more offense in which the team sorely needs if they want to climb back into the playoff race. This time they may have found something as their 4-0 win in Los Angeles on Thursday night may indicate. The top line of Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Tatar and Anthony Mantha stayed intact but saw some changes in the other two lines, Thomas Vanek and Frans Nielsen saw Andreas Anathasiou moved to their line while Gustav Nyquist was moved to play with Dylan Larkin and Riley Sheahan. This is an easy promotion for Sheahan as he has been stuck on the team’s fourth line for most of the season. The problem now is how do we decipher all of this new information? First off, we must remember that this is the Red Wings third game in four nights and are four games into their current seven game road trip. Let’s assume that Zetterberg’s line is the top line and the sharks will try their best to shut them down. This is not saying they can as Zetterberg leads the team with 28 points and Mantha has collected 10 goals and eight assists in the 24 games he has played in, but they can try. Thomas Vanek makes for a decent one-off play here as he is a bit better than Mantha by lighting the lamp nine times and assisting on 14 other goals while suiting up for 28 games so far this season. Dylan Larkin should also get a boost with his new line mate in Nyquist as Larkin leads the team with 111 shots on goal but has just 15 points to show for it. The back line is a total mess as their best option seems to be Ryan Sproul who continually gets his shot on the power play but almost never seems to produce. Sproul saw the most ice time last game when the Red Wings when on the power play, but alas came up with a donut as he has done on most occasions. Sproul does have a goal and five assists in 19 games but that is not anywhere near the stats needed to be considered as a cash option on a slate like tonight’s. The Red Wings need to keep winning as they are just two points away from being tied with the two worst teams in the Eastern Conference.
After going 8-1 the Sharks have lost their last three games, twice to Los Angeles and once to the Minnesota Wild. All games were decided by one goal and all this means is that San Jose is just two points away from the Central Division lead with two games in hand. A win here tonight will pull them into a dead heat with the Anaheim Ducks as the team’s look to go into the second half of the season. The top line that features Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton should see a lot of cash game ownership tonight as Pavelski has racked up 35 points in 39 games while Thornton leads the team in assists with 23. Timo Meier skates with them at even strength and could be looked at as cheap punt play but he is not afforded the extra time that the veterans get playing on the Sharks top power play unit. Logan Couture gets the power play nod from the second line as he leads the team in power play goals with six while being the team’s third best scorer with 25 points so far this season. Kevin Labanc has gained some chemistry with couture at even strength as he has registered four of his 12 points over the last five games. Patrick Marleau has been moved down to the third line in recent games but remains on the team’s top power play unit. Head coach Peter DeBoer was trying to send a message to Marleau as he not only pushed him to third line but took him off of the top power play a few games ago. The ploy obviously worked as Marleau has responded with five points over the last five games. This may not seem like a lot but it is when you consider that the veteran winger had tallied just 13 points in the previous 34 games. Brent Burns is always the top choice on any slate the Sharks are available in as he leads the team with 155 shots on goal, 15 goals and 37 points. His statistics read as though he is one of the premier wingers in the league which is why you will have to juggle things around as his high salary always poses a slight problem. Look for the Sharks to come out with some sense of urgency as they look to regain the top spot in the Pacific Division in front of the home crowd.
Elite Plays
DET: None
SJ: Brent Burns, Joe Pavelski
Secondary Plays
DET: Henrik Zetterberg, Anthony Mantha, Thomas Vanek, Dylan Larkin
SJ: Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture, Joe Thornton