NHL Grind Down: Saturday, March 18th - Page Two
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Montréal Canadiens at Ottawa Senators
| Montréal Canadiens | Ottawa Senators | ||||||||
 | Carey Price |  | Mike Condon | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 39-23-8 | 39-23-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.71 | 2.46 | 20.10% | 80.60% | Team Stats | 2.63 | 2.58 | 17.70% | 81.90% |
Montreal has rebounded a bit from the swoon they had in the beginning of February to reclaim the lead atop of the Atlantic Division. The only problem is that their opponent tonight is the team that is just one point behind them in the standings. Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk, and Alexander Radulov will skate on the team’s top line and will be relied on heavily to get the team going tonight. Pacioretty leads the team with 33 goals and 60 points while Radulov’s 32 assists is tops on the team. They stay together to form 60 percent of the team’s top unit when they have the man advantage. This may come in handy tonight, as Ottawa has given up a power play goal in five of their last seven games. Paul Byron steps up from the second line to join the top power play unit while leading the team with six points over the last six games. Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher skate with Byron on Montreal’s second line and can be used as a tournament play here simply because they should not draw the top defensive line of the Ottawa Senators. Defenseman Shea Weber anchors the back line when the team has the extra attacker, as he leads the team with 21 power play points so far this season. Montreal will need some secondary scoring tonight to win the game and stay atop the Atlantic Division.
The Ottawa Senators have treated their fans to a season to remember, as they haven’t finished higher than fourth place in any of the last four seasons. They are one win away from taking over the top spot in the Atlantic Division over the team they will line up against tonight. According to StubHub, you can get into this game for a mere $141 per ticket. For the price of one ticket to this game, you can get 14 tickets for the Nashville at Carolina game, but that’s a story for a different day. Derick Brassard, Alexandre Burrows, and Bobby Ryan look to get the team started tonight, as they are the line that seems to have the most talent on the team. With Mark Stone sidelined for a few weeks, this line will need to pick up the slack. Burrows seems to fit right in here, as he has lit the lamp four times and has added two assists in the eight games he has played in since being acquired at the trade deadline. Mike Hoffman always seems to get the short end of the stick, as he skates on the third line with Jean-Garbriel Pageau and Tom Pyatt. He does get to see plenty of the ice when the team has the extra attacker, which is why he leads the team with 12 power play goals this season. Kyle Turris centers Ryan Dzingel and Zack Smith, which has yielded just three goals and an assist over the last eight games, so maybe staying away here is a good idea where your cash game thinking is concerned. Defenseman Erik Karlsson should be close to the top of your list for cash game defensemen tonight. He leads the team with 63 points, while 23 of them have come with the man advantage. Karlsson is joined by Dion Phaneuf on the top power play unit and should both be looked at here. With a win, Ottawa can reclaim the top spot in the Atlantic Division.
Elite Plays
MTL: Max Pacioretty
OTT: Erik Karlsson
Secondary Plays
MTL: Alexander Radulov, Alex Galchenyuk, Shea Weber, Paul Byron, Brendan Gallagher
OTT: Mike Hoffman, Kyle Turris, Alexandre Burrows, Derick Brassard
Chicago Blackhawks at Toronto Maple Leafs
| Chicago Blackhawks | Toronto Maple Leafs | ||||||||
 | Corey Crawford |  | Frederik Andersen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 45-20-5 | 32-23-14 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.94 | 2.48 | 18.80% | 77.90% | Team Stats | 3.07 | 2.82 | 23.70% | 83.30% |
With Artem Anisimov out of action for three to four weeks, the Blackhawks will have to do their best to shuffle up the lines once again. Chicago sits three points above the Minnesota Wild for the top spot in the Central Division, so it’s not like they haven’t been here before. John Hayden was spotted playing on a line with Jonathan Toews and Richard Panik while Nick Schmaltz slid between Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin to form a second formidable scoring unit. Kane is the obvious choice here, as his 31 goals and 46 assists are both tops on the team, with 12 of those 77 points in the last eight games. Schmaltz can’t help but see his numbers rise playing next to both Kane and Panarin, so maybe he is a player to look at if you need a little salary relief. Kane, Panarin, Toews, and Panik skate on the team’s top power play unit and could be in for some luck tonight, as the Maple Leafs have given up a power play goal in three of their last four games. Defenseman Duncan Keith completes the top power play unit from the back line, which makes him one of the better plays from the blue line tonight. Keith’s 48 points are fourth on the team below Kane, Panarin, and Toews. Look for Chicago to score some goals tonight against a Toronto team that has given up 206 goals so far this season.
The Maple Leafs come into this one battling for their playoff lives, as their 78 points has them in the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. There is no rest for the wicked here, as both the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning are hot on their trail with 77 points going into tonight’s action. Auston Matthews is the easy one-off here, as he leads the team with 31 goals while skating with Zach Hyman and William Nylander. You can pair Nylander with Matthews, but going the full line stack here may not be the way to go, as Hyman drags down this line a bit with just 25 points so far this season. The most consistent scoring line has to be the one that features Tyler Bozak, Mitchell Marner, and James van Riemsdyk. All three players are in the top in the top six in scoring where the team is concerned while Bozak sits the lowest with his 47 points in 65 games. Marner leads the team with 38 assists and 55 points while van Riemsdyk has notched five of his 52 points over the last seven games. Nazem Kadri centers Connor Brown and Leo Komarov on the team’s third line and looks to be a one-off here, as well. Kadri has produced 51 points on 205 shots on goal while his line mates have had trouble finding the score sheet of late. Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev are the choice on the back line, but I’d stick with Gardiner, as he not only gets the first unit power play minutes, he leads all Toronto defensemen with 34 points so far this season. Toronto has to keep winning if they want to play hockey after the regular season is over.
Elite Plays
CHI: Patrick Kane
TOR: Auston Matthews
Secondary Plays
CHI: Artemi Panarin, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Nick Schmaltz, Richard Panik
TOR: Mitchell Marner, James van Riemsdyk, Nazem Kadri, Jake Gardiner, Tyler Bozak
St. Louis Blues at Arizona Coyotes
| St. Louis Blues | Arizona Coyotes | ||||||||
 | Jake Allen |  | Mike Smith | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 37-28-5 | 26-35-9 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.76 | 2.74 | 22.40% | 84.30% | Team Stats | 2.38 | 3.19 | 14.70% | 77.70% |
The Blues have gone from looking dead in the water to looking like an actual contender for the Cup if they can get on a roll. They rebounded nicely from their loss against Anaheim to come back and beat San Jose in their own building on Thursday night by a score of 4-1. Tonight, they continue their five-game road trip by taking on the Arizona Coyotes in the desert. Vladimir Tarasenko, Paul Stastny, and Jaden Schwartz will serve as the first line, as well as the top power play unit, while Alexander Steen jumps up from the second line to join them with the man advantage. Tarasenko leads the team with 34 goals, while Steen does the honors with 31 assists to his credit. Steen is the obvious choice as a one-off here, as Arizona will be busy trying to shut down the top line. Patrik Berglund and David Perron skate with Steen at even strength and should be considered, as a tournament play here tonight. All six players have been scoring on a regular basis of late but that is what happens when a team has won six of their last seven games, everyone gets in on the act. Alex Pietrangelo is the play from the back line, as he has taken over for Kevin Shattenkirk on the point when the Blues have the extra attacker. He has grabbed six assists over the last eight games, which has bumped his point total up to 37 points on the season. Look for the Blues to play a gritty game tonight and come away with the victory.
When we think of Arizona the last thing, we may think about is their hockey team and rightly so. They are last in the Pacific Division and should be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs any day now. There may be some value here, however, as the Coyotes have managed to win three of their last four games while scoring 13 goals over those four games. Since Arizona is on home ice, we can easily target the top line of Radim Vrbata, Max Domi and Christian Dvorak for tournament play. Vrbata leads the team with 17 goals and 41 assists while Domi’s 31 points in 47 games is good enough for fourth on the team. Brendan Perlini and Tobias Rieder skate with Jordan Martinook on the team’s second line but look like nothing but punt plays here, as Rieder leads the bunch with 33 points. Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson looks like a defenseman who is tired of playing on a bad team year in and year out. His 34 points for a defenseman is respectable but we are used to him leading the team in points, which just hasn’t materialized this season. Alex Goligoski joins him on the top power play unit that has scored three goals all month, so looking elsewhere may be a good idea tonight.
Elite Plays
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko
ARZ: None
Secondary Plays
STL: Alexander Steen, Jaden Schwartz, Paul Stastny, Alex Pietrangelo
ARZ: Radim Vrbata, Max Domi, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Christian Dvorak
Vancouver Canucks at Edmonton Oilers
| Vancouver Canucks | Edmonton Oilers | ||||||||
 | Ryan Miller |  | Cam Talbot | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 28-33-9 | 37-24-9 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.26 | 2.90 | 13.90% | 77.80% | Team Stats | 2.81 | 2.61 | 22.20% | 79.20% |
After losing five games in a row, it appears that the Canucks playoff hopes are all but gone. They are 65 points are 14 points away from the St Louis Blues, who are in the final playoff spot with 79 points in the Western Conference. Henrik Sedin, Markus Granlund, and Daniel Sedin skate on the team’s top line, which should be pretty much shut down here tonight in Edmonton. Henrik has had the better season, as his 29 assists leads the team, while he and Daniel have grabbed 12 power play points so far this season. Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi make for an interesting tournament duo if you are making more than a few line ups, as these two look to be the future of the team. Horvat leads the team with seven points over the last eight games which has him at 20 goals and 47 points, which also leads the team in those categories. The Canucks have inserted Alexander Edler, as the quarterback of their top power play unit. Edler is having a rough go of it this season, as his production has dropped off dramatically over the last two seasons. Such is life in the NHL for 30 year old defensemen. Stay away from Vancouver in cash games tonight.
The Oilers look to improve on their 18-12-4 record in front of the home crowd, as they host the Vancouver Canucks tonight. They have scored 14 goals over the last two games which could put the Canucks right in the way of an oncoming train. Connor McDavid is always in play if you can afford him, as he and his partner Leon Draisaitl have each found the score sheet seven times over the last seven games. That is actually a bit over par for McDavid, who has lit the lamp 24 times en route to leading the league with 79 points in 70 games. Patrick Maroon joins them on the top line at even strength, which should be one of the highest lines owned in cash games tonight. Milan Lucic and Mark Letestu join McDavid and Draisaitl on the top power play unit that has registered five goals over the last four games. Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins join Lucic on the team’s second line and could be used as a deeper GPP play here. Oscar Klefbom gets the call from the back line to quarterback the team’s top power play unit. His 29 points so far this season is a bit low, but he has been able to fire 177 shots on goal which is worth something. Much like the Carolina defenders, you can probably do better than this tonight.
Elite Plays
VAN: None
EDM: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl
Secondary Plays
VAN: Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin
EDM: Patrick Maroon, Milan Lucic, Mark Letestu, Jordan Eberle, Oscar Klefbom
Anaheim Ducks at San Jose Sharks
| Anaheim Ducks | San Jose Sharks | ||||||||
 | John Gibson |  | Martin Jones | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 37-23-11 | 42-21-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.57 | 2.47 | 18.60% | 85.20% | Team Stats | 2.74 | 2.35 | 16.60% | 81.60% |
Nothing like an old-fashioned shootout that features the top two teams in the Pacific Division. The problem with this thinking is that it will more than likely not be a shootout, as the four games this season have been status quo and have seen no more than five goals in any game. Anaheim is chasing San Jose for the top spot in the division, and a win here would close the gap to four points. Ryan Kesler makes for a decent one-off play here, as he centers the second line with Jakob Silfverberg and Andrew Cogliano while skating on the top power play unit. Eighteen of his fifty points have come with the extra attacker, as he skates with Patrick Eaves and Ryan Getzlaf on the team’s top power play unit. Eaves and Getzlaf skate with Rickard Rakell on the top line and make a nice tournament play here on the road. Getzlaf leads the team with 58 points while Rakell’s 31 goals is tops on the team. Corey Perry has been shuffled down to the third line but nonetheless makes for a decent one-off play here, as well as he is third on the team with 46 points. Defensemen Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen patrol the points with the man advantage, but it’s the same old story here. Take Fowler for your cash games and Vatanen for your tournament plays. A lot of folks like playing the late game to get the late hammer, but I’d be careful here, as this could be one of the lower scoring games of the night.
San Jose leads the Pacific Division with 91 points and will look to improve on their 23-9-4 record in front of the home crowd tonight. Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, and Jannik Hansen will look to get the job done from the top line, while Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau, and Mikkel Boedker will look to chip in from the second line. Kepp pavelski and Thornton together, as they skate on the team’s top power play unit, while pairing Couture and Marleau together is a good idea for the same reason. Couture has grabbed 10 of his 51 points over the last eight games while Pavelski has wrestled the most goals distinction away from Brent Burns, as Pavelski now has 28 goals, which is one more than Burns. Speaking of Burns, the defenseman has been in a bit of a funk lately, as I am sure those of you that have rostered him over the last two weeks are well aware of. Tonight’s matchup doesn’t look good, so I wouldn’t blame you for not trying to squeeze him into your cash game lineups tonight. However, good players slumps usually don’t last for long, and just when you least expect it, they go off. This could be the case tonight, as the Sharks look to win the season series on home ice tonight.
Elite Plays
ANA: Ryan Getzlaf
SJ: Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns
Secondary Plays
ANA: Ryan Kesler, Rickard Rakell, Patrick Eaves, Corey Perry, Cam Fowler
SJ: Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton