NHL Grind Down: Saturday, November 14th - Page Two
Vancouver Canucks at Toronto Maple Leafs – 07:00 PM EST
| Vancouver Canucks | Toronto Maple Leafs | ||||||||
 | Ryan Miller |  | James Reimer | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 7-5-5 | 4-8-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.88 | 2.47 | 14.80% | 79.60% | Team Stats | 2.06 | 2.81 | 15.20% | 78.60% |
The Vancouver Canucks continue to get production from their third and fourth lines, namely Sven Baertschi and Jared McCann. Both players continue to produce on a half a point a game pace despite the fact that it is only McCann who gets minimal second-unit power-play time while both have been averaging only a tick over 11 minutes per game. This is part of the reason that they currently sit in third place in the Pacific division with a 7-5-5 record and while those numbers are great for real hockey, I find it tough to make it translate to cash games for daily fantasy play. Sure you can plug them into a GPP as they are dirt cheap and if they have a good game, you are probably in good shape.
By beating Dallas twice and Nashville once in the past two weeks, it looks like the Leafs may be starting to buy into Mike Babcock’s coaching philosophy. We all know Babcock’s track record with Detroit as he, year after year amidst injuries and subpar rosters, would somehow get the Red Wings in position to compete for the Stanley Cup. Toronto is dead last in the Atlantic division with a 4-8-4 record but after starting the season 1-7-2, it would appear the Canucks may in for a tougher time than they thought.
Elite Plays
VAN: None
TOR:: None
Secondary Plays
VAN: Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Radim Vrbata, Alexander Edler
TOR: Leo Komarov, Nazem Kadri, James van Riemsdyk, Dion Phaneuf
San Jose Sharks at Buffalo Sabres – 07:00 PM EST
| San Jose Sharks | Buffalo Sabres | ||||||||
 | Alex Stalock |  | Linus Ullmark | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 8-8-0 | 8-8-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.63 | 2.63 | 11.10% | 78.00% | Team Stats | 2.38 | 2.75 | 25.00% | 75.60% |
Believe it or not, this could be the most intriguing game of the night. The Sharks come into this game fresh off of playing last night in Detroit and, quite frankly, have not looked good in the past ten days. Their only win in their recent four-game home stand was against Florida, while losing to teams like Anaheim, Columbus and the New York Islanders. Their 7-8 record has them hanging in the middle of the pack in the Pacific division. All you need to do is ask the Los Angeles Kings what happens when you don’t take the initiative and rely on other teams to help you back into the playoffs.
Slowly but surely, the Buffalo Sabres are turning into a better hockey team right before our very eyes. Of course it helps when you have first-round pick Jack Eichel producing right out of the gate, but we can’t dismiss the fact that the Sabres went out and added more pieces to the puzzle to help the cause. Sure Ryan O’Reilly and Cody Franson help out, but in my opinion, it was the hiring of a winning coach in Dan Bylsma that has the Sabres on the rise. Buffalo’s 8-8 record is a marked improvement over their 23-51-8 record of a year ago.
Elite Plays
SJ: None
BUF: None
Secondary Plays
SJ: Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau, Brent Burns, Joe Thornton
BUF: Jack Eichel, Ryan O’Reilly, Rasmus Ristolainen, Tyler Ennis
Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning – 07:00 PM EST
| Florida Panthers | Tampa Bay Lightning | ||||||||
 | Roberto Luongo |  | Ben Bishop | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 6-7-3 | 8-8-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.69 | 2.50 | 23.20% | 74.10% | Team Stats | 2.33 | 2.33 | 19.30% | 79.60% |
We head to Florida for a ‘Sunshine State Showdown’ as the Panthers head across the state and up the coast to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. After a fast start, the Panthers have lost six of their last seven games as they find themselves sliding down the standings in the Atlantic division. Jaromir Jagr is doing all he can do to teach the young Panther team how to win as he leads the team in goals and points, but it does seem that the magic is starting to run out.
We talked about Tampa on Thursday as a team that needs to start putting the puck in the net as their 42 goals in 18 games is just not getting the job done. They have however been able to hold on to the third spot with an 8-8-2 record in the mediocre Atlantic division. It took two third-period goals on Thursday to finally shake off the Calgary Flames, who in many people’s opinion is not very good. Look for the Lightning power play to score a few goals here as Florida is ranked eighth in taking minor penalties, but more importantly, are almost at the bottom of the league as they are killing them off at a very low 74.1%.
Elite plays
FLA: None
TB: Steven Stamkos
Secondary Plays
FLA: Jaromir Jagr, Nick Bjugstad, Aaron Ekblad, Jonathan Huberdeau
TB: Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, Ryan Callahan, Tyler Johnson, Anton Stralman
Winnipeg Jets at Nashville Predators – 07:00 PM EST
| Winnipeg Jets | Nashville Predators | ||||||||
 | Ondrej Pavelec |  | Pekka Rinne | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 8-7-2 | 9-3-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.82 | 3.00 | 18.00% | 82.10% | Team Stats | 2.73 | 2.47 | 20.00% | 78.30% |
Winnipeg has all of a sudden fallen back to the middle of the pack in the Central division. Their hot start of 4-1 has turned into an 8-7-2 record by virtue of dropping five of their last six games, including being shut out by Philadelphia. Most of their scoring runs through the top line of Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little and Andrew Ladd, so when they are on the road the task is a bit easier to keep them in check.
Nashville is another team that started out hot but has since cooled off. The Predators are right above the Jets in the Central division with a record of 9-3-3 and should be able to exploit their main weakness, giving up penalties, to cruise to victory tonight.
Elite Plays
WPG: None
NSH: James Neal, Filip Forsberg
Secondary Plays
WPG: Blake Wheeler, Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little, Dustin Byfuglien
NSH: Mike Fisher, Roman Josi, Shea Weber
Philadelphia Flyers at Carolina Hurricanes – 07:00 PM EST
| Philadelphia Flyers | Carolina Hurricanes | ||||||||
 | Steve Mason |  | Cam Ward | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 5-8-3 | 6-9-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 1.81 | 3.00 | 14.60% | 76.70% | Team Stats | 2.00 | 2.88 | 12.70% | 79.40% |
The Flyers come into this game with only one win to their credit in their last eight contests. This is a team truly in trouble as at times it looks like even some AHL teams could come in and beat them. So much for coach Dave Hakstol’s ‘tough practice’ the other day as it seems all that was good for was a 5-2 loss to Washington on home ice, with Capital superstar Alexander Ovechkin not finding the scoresheet. It’s tough to count on any team that is holding a minus 18 in goal differential.
The Hurricanes are in the same boat as the Flyers as they both sit tied for sixth place with 13 points in the Metropolitan division. Furthermore, there is only one team that has scored less goals than either team and that would be the Anaheim Ducks with 28 goals going into last night’s games. It’s tough to like anyone from this game, so with that said this game will probably end up as a 5-4 Carolina win.
Elite Plays
PHI: None
CAR: None
Secondary Plays
PHI: Claude Giroux, Mark Streit, Wayne Simmonds
CAR: Justin Faulk, Eric Staal, Victor Rask, Kris Versteeg