NHL Grind Down: Saturday, January 9th - Page Two
Pittsburgh Penguins at Montreal Canadiens – 07:00 PM EST
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Montreal Canadiens | ||||||||
 | Marc-Andre Fleury |  | Carey Price | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 19-16-5 | |||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.33 | 2.40 | 18.80% | 84.70% | Team Stats | 2.83 | 2.45 | 18.60% | 84.80% |
After losing two games to the Chicago Blackhawks, the Penguins will try to get back on track tonight at Montreal. Pittsburgh has scored 15 goals in their last five games and six have come on the power play. With the Penguins switching up their lines, that would be a good place to start tonight. Defenseman Kris Letang leads the team with three goals and eight assists in his last six games and from there it is all just a matter of preference. Patric Hornqvist joins Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel on the team’s second line and should be in play tonight as they all play on the top power play unit. Malkin is the choice here as he has two goals to go with six assists in his last five games. Sidney Crosby rounds out the top power play unit and should be in play as well as he has five goals and two assists in his last five games. Chris Kunitz and David Perron also skate top line with Crosby but they really haven’t been doing much of late as they have only accumulated only three points in their last six games.
Brendan Gallagher has returned to the Montreal lineup and for all intents and purposes the team looks a bit better. Gallagher has been placed on the top line with Max Pacioretty and Thomas Plekanec and that trio also skates on the top power play line making the second line almost insignificant. Pacioretty has three goals and two assists in his last four games while Gallagher in his three games back since the injury has two goals and one assist. P.K . Subban and Andrei Markov man the points on the power play but Subban is the selection here as he has four assists in his last five games while Markov has only managed two assist in his last 10 games. Alex Galchenyuk has three goals and three assists in his last eight games but a lot of that was skating on the top power play line in Gallagher’s absence.
Elite Plays
PIT: Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang
MTL: Brendan Gallagher
Secondary Plays
PIT: Patric Hornqvist, Phil Kessel, David Perron
MTL: Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec, P.K. Subban, Andrei Markov, Alex Galchenyuk
Minnesota Wild at Dallas Stars – 08:00 PM EST
| Minnesota Wild | Dallas Stars | ||||||||
 | Devan Dubnyk |  | Kari Lehtonen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 21-11-8 | 29-10-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.70 | 2.38 | 18.20% | 79.40% | Team Stats | 3.40 | 2.60 | 22.10% | 81.10% |
After a tough home loss to the Philadelphia Flyers the Wild will look to regroup and face one of the best teams in the league. Zach Parise has found the scoring touch as he has scored four of the teams last eight goals. Mikko Koivu , Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville join him on the power play but based on recent numbers, it may be best to stay away. I know the Wild aren’t scoring much but that trio has a total of four goals and three assists in the team’s last ten games and Koivu has two of each. Ryan Suter has a goal and two assists in the last two games and even though that is a small sample size, he does man the point on the power play so at least he gets the minutes.
Dallas coach Lindy Ruff broke up the lines last game and then put them back together in the third period as the Stars were deadlocked with the Winnipeg Jets at one goal apiece as they went into the shootout. It’s tough to say what Ruff will do tonight when the face the Minnesota Wild. It’s probably safe to just stick with the top power play unit that features no less than three players in the league’s top 10 in scoring. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin have been cold of late so it’s only a matter of time before the second and third best scorers in the league start to heat up again. Patrick Sharp is in the midst of an 11 game scoring streak while Jason Spezza has tallied seven points in his last six games. John Klingberg gets all the top power play minutes and is tied for ninth in the league in points. He has a goal and five assists in his last six games and would be the choice on defense tonight.
Elite Plays
MIN: Zach Parise
DAL: Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Patrick Sharp
Secondary Plays
MIN: Mikko Koivu, Ryan Suter, Mikael Granlund, Thomas Vanek
DAL: John Klingberg, Jason Spezza
Nashville Predators at Arizona Coyotes – 09:00 PM EST
| Nashville Predators | Arizona Coyotes | ||||||||
 | Pekka Rinne |  | Mike Smith | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 19-14-7 | 20-16-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.55 | 2.63 | 19.70% | 76.30% | Team Stats | 2.80 | 3.10 | 17.60% | 78.30% |
In an odd twist of events the Nashville Predators saw an opening and took it as they traded defenseman Seth Jones for Ryan Johnasen, who had made his way into the Columbus doghouse pretty quickly over the last month or so. Head coach Peter Laviolette must read the Grind Down’s because I have been screaming for weeks calling for him to give James Neal something to work with and now it appears he finally did. Johansen was placed on a line with Neal and Colin Wilson and could arguably be the team’s best. Filip Forsberg, Mike Ribeiro and Calle Jarnkrok make up the teams ‘second line’ and it is just a matter of what line Arizona decides to shut down that will dictate what line should have more room on the ice tonight. Defenseman Roman Josi and Shea Weber get most of the top power play minutes and a long with the rest of the team, should be considered for your GPP plays tonight. With Nashville playing on a back-to-back and Arizona having a decent record of 10-6-2 at home and Nashville being 7-9-4 on the road…..ok ok, you get it. The narrative here is that the predators are 0-4 after playing a game the night before and have given up exactly four goals in each of those games.
The Coyotes had the day off yesterday as they prepare for a seven game home stand which starts tonight against the Predators. Shane Doan comes in as one of the hottest players in the league by tallying nine goals to go along with two assists in his last ten games. Doan skates on the team’s top power play line with Mikkel Boedker and Martin Hanzal who saw his first game action since December 19th. Hanzal gives this team a boost up front as evidence of not missing a beat by hitting the twine in his first game back. Mikkel Boedker and Max Domi fill out the top line with Hanzal and although they have some work to do chemistry wise, I would look for this line to be productive tonight against Nashville. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is they play on the back line as he usually logs over 23 minutes a night including duties on the top power play line. If you want to go a bit contrarian I’d look on the third line and take Tobias Rieder who gets top power play minutes and pair him with Anthony Duclair who can score at times, but it’s usually in bunches as six of his 11 goals have come in multipoint games.
Elite plays
NSH: None
ARZ: None
Secondary Plays
NSH: Ryan Johansen, James Neal, Roman Josi, Shea Weber, Mike Ribeiro, Filip Forsberg
ARZ: Shane Doan, Max Domi, Mikkel Boedker, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Martin Hanzal
Tampa Bay Lightning at Vancouver Canucks – 10:00 PM EST
| Tampa Bay Lightning | Vancouver Canucks | ||||||||
 | Ben Bishop |  | Ryan Miller | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 19-17-4 | 16-16-9 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.48 | 2.38 | 19.10% | 79.70% | Team Stats | 2.37 | 2.76 | 16.70% | 78.80% |
The Lightning continue their four game trip tonight with a stop in Vancouver to play a Canuck team that has given up power play goals in five of their last seven games. Now I don’t have to give you a reason to play Steven Stamkos but that information comes at you like a double edged sword considering that Tampa played last night and may come in a bit tired. The second line of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov may be the play here however as last night was the best they have looked since being reunited last week. Kucherov has been the healthiest of the three so it’s no wonder he has been the most productive over the last ten games by posting four goals and nine assists during that span. Victor Hedman showed some signs of life last night in Edmonton by having a hand in all three goals and makes a decent GPP play but for cash games I’d stick with the more consistent Anton Stralman if you are thinking of selecting a Tampa Bay defenseman.
Backed by some stellar goaltending by Jacob Markstom the Vancouver Canucks have used the last ten regulation goals they have scored to their advantage by posting a 4-2 record in their last six games. The smart move here is to stick with the guys who have been playing the most so that would make the top line of Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin and Alex Burrows in play, maybe. When a team hasn’t been scoring it’s awfully hard to trust them so maybe even guys on the top line are GPP plays at best tonight. Based on recent production Burrows and defenseman Alexander Edler should probably be off your lists as the only pouint they have in the last ten games is a Burrows assist. Radim Vrbata would be the only other consideration here as he skates on the top power play line but hasn’t looked like himself from the player he was a year ago. I mean 10 goals on 140 shots doesn’t look that attractive, right? An don’t give me that Bo Horvat stuff, the guy has had plenty of chances on a dismal team and just because he has scored three goals in his last two games doesn’t mean he’s Wayne Grtezky. I think his two goals in the other 39 games is more his speed.
Elite Plays
TB: Steven Stamkos
VAN: None
Secondary Plays
TB: Valtteri Filppula, Anton Stralman, Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson
VAN: Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin
St. Louis Blues at Los Angeles Kings – 10:30 PM EST
| St. Louis Blues | Los Angeles Kings | ||||||||
 |  | Jonathan Quick | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 23-14-6 | 26-12-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.42 | 2.47 | 22.20% | 85.40% | Team Stats | 2.63 | 2.18 | 19.80% | 81.50% |
The Blues come limping into this one without a win in their last five games. I must give head coach Ken Hitchcock credit though as this looks more like his tenure in Dallas as it took them six years to fire him as opposed to Philadelphia and Columbus, in which it only took him four years to lose the clubhouse and realize his demise. To his defense the Blues have had their share of injuries but the Hitchcock we knew in the past actually made more out of less as this St Louis team has to be considered one of the more talented teams he has coached, injuries or not. Speaking of injuries it now looks like Paul Stastny may miss a game or two as he was injured in last night’s game and did not return. Other injuries from last night include goaltender Jake Allen and defenseman Francis Bouchemin who also did not return to the game and could be out for tonight’s game. Vladimir Tarasenko is usually in play every night but with all the injuries, the Blues playing on a back-to-back and the game being against the second best defensive team in the league on the road, his salary may be too high to realize the full return on investment tonight. With the Stastny injury it is tough to tell what Hitchcock will do tonight as far as the second line goes. It seems the only constant in last night’s game was the duo of Alexander Steen playing alongside of Troy Brouwer as they were on the ice together the whole game albeit with four different players as line mates. Kevin Shattenkirk is the choice on defense but with everything going against the Blues it is tough seeing them as anything more than a GPP play tonight.
Jeff Carter returned to the Kings lineup in fine fashion by scoring a goal in his first game back since being sidelined with an upper body injury back on December 26th. Brian Sutter chose not to break up the top line of Anze Kopitar, Tyler Toffoli and Milan Lucic but instead elected to put Carter between Tanner Pearson and Marian Gaborik. The reason for this is simply the chemistry formed between Kopitar and Toffoli has produced six goals and 13 assists in Carter’s absence. It is also worth mentioning that the Kings have only lost once in the last seven games which dates back to the actual game Carter was injured in. Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin make for fine defensive plays tonight as they both get top power play minutes and should be able to get plenty of shots on net against a tired Blues team.
Elite Plays
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko
LAK: Jeff Carter, Anze Kopitar, Tyler Toffoli
Secondary Plays
STL: Kevin Shattenkirk, Robby Fabbri, Alexander Steen, Troy Brouwer
LAK: Milan Lucic, Marian Gaborik, Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin