NHL Grind Down: Saturday, March 26th - Page Two
New York Rangers at Montreal Canadiens – 07:00 PM EDT
| New York Rangers | Montreal Canadiens | ||||||||
 | Antti Raanta |  | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 42-24-8 | |||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.82 | 2.59 | 18.80% | 77.10% | Team Stats | 2.59 | 2.84 | 16.60% | 83.60% |
After going 1-2 on the west coast the Rangers came back with impressive wins over both the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins by a combined score of 9-4. Tonight they travel across the border to face a Canadien team that is clearly throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks. Derek Stepan and Mats Zuccarello are the play here from the second line as each has tallied at least three points over the last five games while skating on the top power play unit. The top line has been in flux as Chris Kreider now joins Rick Nash and Derick Brassard with the latter making a good one-off play here as he gets the top power play minutes and also has a goal and two assists in the last five games. Keith Yandle is the play on defense while Kevin Klein has been productive with his four goals and two assists over the last five games. Antti Raanta starts this one according to beat writer Andrew gross and makes for a nice GPP option between the pipes.
Injuries have plagued the Canadiens for most of the season and now look forward to some meaningful golf tournaments. Alex Galchenyuk and Max Pacioretty have been in on four of the last nine goals Montreal has scored and since they get the most time on the ice it would appear they should be the ones to get on your roster. Tomas Plekanec, Michael McCarron and defenseman Andrei Markov complete a power play unit that has only connected twice in the last fourteen games. Keep an eye on newcomer Joel Hanley as the 24 year old defenseman has registered four assists in his first three games with the big club. The only thing that Montreal has going for them is that Henrik Lundqvist is not in the opposing net.
Elite Plays
NYR: None
MTL: None
Secondary Plays
NYR: Derick Brassard, Derek Stepan, Mats Zuccarello, Keith Yandle
MTL: Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk
New York Islanders at Carolina Hurricanes – 07:00 PM EDT
| New York Islanders | Carolina Hurricanes | ||||||||
 | Thomas Greiss |  | Cam Ward | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 39-25-9 | 32-28-14 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.74 | 2.52 | 18.50% | 85.60% | Team Stats | 2.42 | 2.65 | 16.70% | 84.30% |
The Islanders are fresh off their 7-4 loss to the Lightning in Tampa Bay last night and if they are going to turn it around they have to start playing a bit cleaner in their own end. John Tavares makes a decent one-off play here as he has three points over the last six games but it will be up to the second line to kick this team in gear. The Islanders now have 87 points which is a measly two points away from the two teams that are battling for the last playoff spot in the eastern conference. If New York continues to play this bad, both Detroit and Philadelphia may have their playoff tickets punched while the islanders fill out their scorecards at the local golf course come mid-April. Nick Leddy is the choice on defense as he sees the top power play minutes but the biggest players with the most upside have to be Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen. To give you an example of how the islanders are running those four goals they scored last night were the most in any game since a 6-4 win back on March eighth against the Rangers. Brock Nelson has the hot as he has scored four goals over the last six games.
Carolina is another team that appears they have no clue as to what they are doing. After trading Eric Staal and Kris Versteeg this team is in more of a mess than when they began the season. The power play is comprised from three separate lines with Jordan Staal and Chris Terry, of all people, who have four points over the last five games. Terry’s four points represents 40 percent of his points on the year in the 60 games he has played in. The Hurricanes haven’t scored more than three goals in any of their past 15 games and no, I don’t count cheap shoot out wins. Defenseman Noah Hanifin has chipped in three assists over the last five games as he sees the top minutes on the power play. The best thing to do is avoid this whole mess but if you can’t the suggestion is pair Staal with either Joakim Nordstrom or Elias Lindholm or Jeff Skinner with Chris Terry or Victor Rask. These are supposedly the team’s top two lines as they may be able to score against an Islanders team that played in Tampa last night.
Elite Plays
NYI: John Tavares
CAR: None
Secondary Plays
NYI: Frans Nielsen, Nick Leddy, Kyle Okposo, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson
CAR: Jordan Staal, Jeff Skinner, Chris Terry, Noah Hanifin
Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning – 07:00 PM EDT
| Florida Panthers | Tampa Bay Lightning | ||||||||
 | Roberto Luongo |  | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 41-24-9 | 43-26-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.76 | 2.42 | 17.10% | 81.30% | Team Stats | 2.78 | 2.35 | 16.30% | 83.90% |
By the looks of it the Florida Panthers may have assembled three decent lines just in time for the playoffs. The top line of Aleksander Barkov, Jaromir Jagr and Jonathan Huberdeau is probably the most stable as each has a goal and assist over the last five games with Jagr getting an extra assist somewhere along the way. Vincent Trocheck and Jussi Jokinen should be in play here also as they not only have six points apiece in the last five games. There’s no doubt that Tampa will try to shut down the top line but even that is in question after they are on a back-to-back. The third line of Nick Bjugstad, Teddy Purcell and Jiri Hudler each have two goals and two assists over the last five games with Bjugstad making a devent one-off play here as he mans the point on the power play with defenseman Aaron Ekblad. The Panthers have power play goals in five of the last seven games so there’s no need to worry about Ekblad and his two points in his last five games.
With a 7-4 win over the New York islanders last night he Tampa Bay Lightning have finally caught the Florida Panthers for first place in the Atlantic divison of the Eastern conference. This sets up tonight’s game as almost must see tv if you line in Florida. The rest of us will follow the games that we have rostered the most players from. Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov are the top plays here as Stamkos has six goals and nine points in the last six games. Kucherov is right there with him as he has an equal four goals and four assists over that same time frame. The second line features Ondrej Palat who, thanks to three assist last night now has 12 points in his last ten games. Feel free to pair him with either Tyler Johnson or Jonathan Marchessault for GPP plays as they all make up the team’s second line. With the injury to Anton Stralman, Victor Hedman now becomes the choice on defense as not only will he be on the top power play unit, he will have more chances to score as well.
Elite Plays
FLA: None
TB: Steven Stamkos
Secondary Plays
FLA: Jaromir Jagr, Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, Jussi Jokinen, Nick Bjugstad, Aaron Ekblad
TB: Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat, Anton Stralman, Vladislav Namestnikov
St. Louis Blues at Washington Capitals – 07:00 PM EDT
| St. Louis Blues | Washington Capitals | ||||||||
 |  | Braden Holtby | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 43-22-9 | 53-15-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.57 | 2.45 | 21.70% | 84.80% | Team Stats | 3.12 | 2.32 | 23.00% | 84.60% |
It’s not often you see two teams with 90 points or more do battle the night after shutting their opponents out but that is what we have here tonight. The Blues disposed of the lowly Canucks in fine fashion by a score of 4-0 while goaltender Brian Elliott only had to make 15 saves to earn his third straight shutout. Look to the second line tonight to do some damage as they have been slowly but surely Troy Brouwer, Robby Fabbri and Paul Stastny have been quietly putting it altogether. Not only have the each averaged a point a game over the last eight games Stastny has kicked the door down by scoring four goals to go along with eight assists over that same time frame. Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz still make decent plays from the top line but even they may find the going a bit rough tonight against a stingy Washington defense. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk has been kept off the score sheet the last two games but did have three goals and five assists in his previous eight. Look for Jake Allen to get the start between the pipes which would mean the Blues will have to score a few goals to pull this one out tonight.
Washington continues to impress as they now have 111 points on the season and are very close to being ‘uncatchable’ as far as being the best team in the league goes. Scott Wedgewood held the Capitals off the board three periods before John Carlson buried the game winner in overtime as Washington beat the devils in Newark last night by a score of 1-0. Carlson had just as much power play time as Matt Niskanen did last night so there’s no reason to think that his power play time will diminish. St Louis played last night as well so we just may see two tired teams battling it out as we come down the home stretch. It’s unclear as to whether or not T.J. Oshie will play tonight but regardless of that the top line that features Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom should be the one to target tonight. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Andre Burakovsky make a decent GPP play as they have been a bit more productive than the top line with a combined six points over the last five games. Washington has been winning with mostly their defense over the last few weeks so maybe it’s best to fade Ovechkin and his high price tag.
Elite Plays
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko
WSH: Alexander Ovechkin
Secondary Plays
STL: Jaden Schwartz, Robby Fabbri, Paul Stastny, Kevin Shattenkirk, David Backes
WSH: Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Andre Burakovsky, John Carlson
Anaheim Ducks at Ottawa Senators – 07:00 PM EDT
| Anaheim Ducks | Ottawa Senators | ||||||||
 | John Gibson |  | Craig Anderson | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 40-23-10 | 34-33-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.56 | 2.33 | 23.70% | 86.40% | Team Stats | 2.77 | 2.99 | 15.90% | 75.50% |
The Ducks have dropped their last two games and tonight look to even their current road trip at 2-2. It’s not like they haven’t been scoring enough goals as 15 in the last four games should be plenty so it’s more a case of the ten they have given up in the past two games that have done them in. Jamie McGinn has potted five goals over the last five games while Ryan Getzlaf has four assists over that same time frame. Newcomer Brandon Pirri rounds out the top line that also serves as the top power play unit with three points in the last five games. Corey Perry makes an excellent one-off play here as he leads the team with 30 goals coming and 21 power play points. Rickard Rakell makes a good choice to pair him with as he skates on the second line with Perry that should see some room on the ice tonight. Cam Fowler gets the power play minutes from the point but Hampus Lindholm has been productive by virtue of registering four points over the last five games. Any combination of these players makes for a good play against the team that has given up the second most goals in the league.
Ottawa can score at times so taking Mark Stone and Zack Smith from the top line may not be a bad idea considering that both get the first shot on the team’s top power play. The second line that features Mike Hoffman and Mika Zibanejad has been the most consistent over the last five games as Zibanejad has two goals and three assists while Hoffman has found the score sheet six times with five of them coming via assisting on other’s goals. Bobby Ryan makes an okay one-off play here as he skates on the third line but gets the top power play minutes. Defenseman Erik Karlsson has five points in as many games as he anchors the point on the team’s top power play unit. Ottawa has scored five of its last eight goals against Montreal so it’s not really clear where they are in terms of offense going into tonight’s game.
Elite Plays
ANA: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry
OTT: Erik Karlsson
Secondary Plays
ANA: Cam Fowler, Jamie McGinn, Brandon Pirri, Hampus Lindholm
OTT: Mark Stone, Zack Smith, Bobby Ryan, Mike Hoffman, Mika Zibanejad