NHL Grind Down: Saturday, November 21st - Page Two
Arizona Coyotes at Winnipeg Jets – 07:00 PM EST
| Arizona Coyotes | Winnipeg Jets | ||||||||
 | Mike Smith |  | Ondrej Pavelec | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 10-8-1 | 9-9-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.79 | 2.95 | 13.50% | 82.20% | Team Stats | 2.70 | 3.10 | 15.90% | 80.50% |
This game can only be described as your “Power Play Special” of the night. Winnipeg comes into this game talking 98 minor penalties while Arizona has taken 83 of them. Arizona has dropped a little bit in the standings thanks to their 5-5 record in their last ten games, but they did rebound to beat Montreal by a score of 3-2 Thursday night. This is the final game of their four-game road trip, so look for some tired legs out there tonight.
Winnipeg finally broke their six-game losing streak Wednesday night with a solid 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks. The Jets look to improve on their 4-3-1 home record as I look for this game to be one of the higher scoring games of the night. A lot of power plays could mean a lot of goals in this one.
Elite Plays
Arz: Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Winn: Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little
Secondary Plays
Arz: Max Domi, Mikkel Boedker, Martin Hanzal, Tobias Rieder, Anthony Duclair
Winn: Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Mathieu Perreault
Anaheim Ducks at Tampa Bay Lightning – 07:00 PM EST
| Anaheim Ducks | Tampa Bay Lightning | ||||||||
 | Frederik Andersen |  | Ben Bishop | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 7-9-4 | 9-9-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 1.85 | 2.45 | 15.30% | 90.30% | Team Stats | 2.29 | 2.29 | 17.20% | 81.00% |
The Ducks are slowly starting to climb the ladder in the Pacific division standings thanks to their 6-2-2 record in their last ten games. After road wins against Carolina and Florida and a 3-2 loss in Nashville, the Ducks find themselves just north of Miami to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. The only downfall the Ducks could have in tonight’s contest is the fact that they like to take a few penalties. 80 minor penalties to be exact which is good for fifth in the league and maybe, Steven Stamkos.
After dropping a home and home series to the Florida Panthers, the Lightning came off the deck to win a hard fought battle by a score of 2-1 against the New York Rangers on home ice Thursday night. Not only did they break the Rangers winning streak of nine games, they did it without the services of Tyler Johnson and Ryan Callahan. The Lightning should have the edge in this game as Anaheim is basically a one-line team, so if they can shut down Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, they should be in good shape.
Elite Plays
Ana: Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf
TB: Steven Stamkos
Secondary Plays
Ana: Cam Fowler, Sami Vatanen
TB: Anton Stralman, Nikita Kucherov, Vladislav Namestnikov
Nashville Predators at Minnesota Wild – 08:00 PM EST
| Nashville Predators | Minnesota Wild | ||||||||
 | Pekka Rinne |  | Devan Dubnyk | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 11-4-3 | 10-5-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.83 | 2.39 | 20.30% | 82.10% | Team Stats | 2.94 | 2.83 | 18.50% | 74.50% |
The Nashville Predators look to rebound from what can only be described as an awful performance from goaltender Pekka Rinne as he could only turn away 14 of 17 shots in their 4-0 loss to the Blue Jackets last night. Coming in on a back to back is not the optimal situation especially when you are playing a one line team on the road.
By all accounts it looks like the return of Zach Parise will have to wait another game as reported by @russotrib yesterday afternoon. He has skated with the team and by the looks of it will even skate in pregame warmups tonight but not play. This will leave it into the hands of the top line to pull this one out for the Wild. I am not too high on this game for DFS purposes and urge you to look elsewhere for your cash game options tonight.
Elite Plays
Nash: None
Min: None
Secondary Plays
Nash: James Neal, Roman Josi
Min: Mikko Koivu, Thomas Vanek, Jason Zucker, Ryan Suter
Detroit Red Wings at St. Louis Blues – 08:00 PM EST
| Detroit Red Wings | St. Louis Blues | ||||||||
 | Jimmy Howard |  | Jake Allen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 10-8-2 | 13-6-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.25 | 2.45 | 16.90% | 83.80% | Team Stats | 2.65 | 2.40 | 17.60% | 85.90% |
The Red Wings have very quietly been putting the Mike Babcock era behind them. Head coach Jeff Blashill has the team playing good fundamental hockey as they sit in third place in the Atlantic division with a 10-8-2 record. With injuries to Johan Franzen and Pavel Datsyuk, who has just played in his fifth game of the season last night, Detroit has kept it together with the addition of blueliner Mike Green and rookie sensation Dylan Larkin. Detroit runs into a tough team tonight as they travel to St. Louis to take on the Blues at Scotttrade Center. If the Wings want to stay in this one, they will have to exploit the St. Louis penalty kill as they are third in the league in surrendering minor penalties.
The Blues look to improve on their 13-6-1 record as they take may have to take to the ice without defenseman Colton Parayko. This should not be a tall order however as they have already won games without some of their best players including Kevin Shattenkirk, Paul Stastny and Jaden Schwartz. Look for the top line to do the damage tonight against the tired Detroit legs.
Elite Plays
Det: None
StL: Vladimir Tarasenko
Secondary Plays
Det: Henrik Zetterberg, Dylan Larkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Tatar
StL: Alexander Steen, David Backes, Jori Lehtera, Kevin Shattenkirk
Buffalo Sabres at Dallas Stars – 08:00 PM EST
| Buffalo Sabres | Dallas Stars | ||||||||
 | Linus Ullmark |  | Kari Lehtonen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 8-9-2 | 16-4-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.21 | 2.68 | 22.60% | 72.90% | Team Stats | 3.55 | 2.50 | 28.30% | 79.30% |
Buffalo comes into this game after losing three tough games to Dallas, St Louis and San Jose. Tonight they get another shot at the Stars but this time it is on their home ice which could indeed make it a monumental task to pull off the victory. The Sabres have played better than last year, but I can’t see them beating the best team in the league, much less on the road.
Dallas should be one of the highest owned teams in cash games tonight, period. Their 71 goals and 32 points lead the league in both categories which is just an example of how different these two teams are.
Elite Plays
Buf: None
Dal: Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn
Secondary Plays
Buf: Ryan O’Reilly
Dal: John Klingberg, Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp