NHL Grind Down: Saturday, November 14th - Page Three
Chicago Blackhawks at St. Louis Blues – 08:00 PM EST
| Chicago Blackhawks | St. Louis Blues | ||||||||
 | Corey Crawford |  | Jake Allen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 8-7-1 | 11-4-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.56 | 2.56 | 19.00% | 80.00% | Team Stats | 2.81 | 2.31 | 15.40% | 83.30% |
This game is a rematch of the game that was played November 4th in Chicago. In that game the Blackhawks led after the first period by a score of 5-2, but St Louis came all the way back to gain the overtime win by a score of 6-5 which saw Vladimir Tarasenko with the game winner. The Hawks have had a rough time of it since then as they have dropped two games to New Jersey and bested Edmonton at home by a score of 4-2. The Hawks need to get back on track tonight and will look to their second line to works it’s magic. Patrick Kane is pricy but may be worth it tonight as the Blues have given up 71 minor penalties which ranks 2nd in the league.
The Blues were rolling right along at a 6-1 clip until they ran into the red-hot New York Rangers Thursday night. New York scored the first 3 goals in that game and never looked back as they beat the Blues by a score of 6-3. Look for St Louis to rebound tonight with the top line doing most of the damage.
Elite Plays
CHI: Patrick Kane
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko
Secondary Plays
CHI: Jonathan Toews, Artemi Panarin, Duncan Keith
STL: Alex Steen, Jori Lehtera, David Backes, Kevin Shattenkirk
Minnesota Wild at Dallas Stars – 08:00 PM EST
| Minnesota Wild | Dallas Stars | ||||||||
 | Devan Dubnyk |  | Kari Lehtonen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 10-3-2 | 13-4-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.07 | 2.67 | 19.20% | 75.80% | Team Stats | 3.65 | 2.65 | 30.20% | 78.40% |
Without superstar Zach Parise, one would think the Minnesota Wild would just close up shop and become a mediocre team. Quite the opposite has happened as they own a 10-3-2 record as well as being 7-2-1 in the last 10. Chasing Dallas and St Louis, a win tonight against the Stars would put them just two points out of 1st place. Mikko Koivu continues to dole out assists and guys like the streaky Thomas Vanek and Jason Zucker are starting to find the net with more frequency. Depending on what line the Stars decide to try to shut down will depend on which line needs to produce for the Wild to pull out the victory tonight.
Dallas sits atop the Central division with a 13-4 record. We spoke about their moves and how it has affected them in a positive way on Thursday, since then nothing has really changed except for the fact that they disposed of the Winnipeg Jets pretty comfortably by a score of 6-3. Yes, I know they scored 2 empty net goals to seal the deal, but for all intents and purposes, the game was over when Jamie Benn scored a power-play goal at the 14:05 mark of the 3rd period. Look for Dallas to do more of the same on home ice tonight.
Elite Plays
MIN: None
DAL: Jamie Benn, Patrick Sharp, Tyler Seguin, John Klingberg
Secondary Plays
MIN: Mikko Koivu, Thomas Vanek, Ryan Suter
DAL: Jason Spezza, Alex Goligoski
Edmonton Oilers at Los Angeles Kings – 10:00 PM EST
| Edmonton Oilers | Los Angeles Kings | ||||||||
 | Cam Talbot |  | Jonathan Quick | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 6-11-0 | 10-6-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.59 | 3.18 | 22.20% | 77.30% | Team Stats | 2.44 | 2.06 | 22.00% | 86.40% |
With or without Connor McDavid, the Oilers still look the same to me, putrid. True, they do need time to see how their first round pick will fit into the Edmonton system, but that will have to wait for another day. The Oilers are unlike the Buffalo Sabres who also had a very high draft pick, but instead of resting on that, they went out and got some other pieces to put around him and well… the Sabres look like a much better team than last year. The reason the Oilers do not look better is because of all the young talent they already had. With all the hoopla a few years ago it looks like only Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins seem to be worth anything. One can make a case for young defenseman Oscar Klefbom, but that’s about it as Edmonton continues to make critical mistakes in their own end.
The Kings looked like they were going to hit a rough spot there as they lost games to Columbus and Arizona in the last ten days. However, they were able to keep the New York islanders in check on home ice Thursday night by only allowing one goal en route to a 2-1 victory. Edmonton should not pose a threat of any kind to the Pacific division leaders, so look for the Kings to score some goals while gaining two more points in the standings.
Elite Plays
EDM: None
LAK: Jeff Carter, Drew Doughty
Secondary Plays
EDM: Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
LAK: Tyler Toffoli, Milan Lucic, Anze Kopitar, Jake Muzzin