NHL Grind Down: Saturday, November 28th - Page 2
Columbus Blue Jackets at St. Louis Blues – 08:00 PM EST
| Columbus Blue Jackets | St. Louis Blues | ||||||||
 | Sergei Bobrovsky |  | Jake Allen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 9-14-0 | 14-6-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.48 | 3.13 | 19.00% | 81.90% | Team Stats | 2.65 | 2.48 | 18.10% | 85.00% |
St. Louis has had their problems of late as their three wins in their last eight games have come against Winnipeg and Buffalo, twice. Tonight’s game should feature a lot of penalties from both sides as the Blue Jackets went into last night’s game taking 103 minor penalties while the Blues have taken 99, good for second and thi3rd in the league respectively. Even though the Blues take a lot of penalties, they are good at killing them off as they rank third in the league by killing them off 85% of the time. Look for Columbus to be a bit sloppy as they are fresh off playing the Penguins last night, which should result in a slower team prone to take even more penalties. Paul Stastny has returned to the Blues lineup and was placed back on the top line, but second power-play unit. I know it almost seems pointless to say that a player is a “must play,” but Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk is as close as you can get as he comes in riding a seven-game point streak.
Elite Plays
CLB: None
StL: Vladimir Tarasenko, Kevin Shattenkirk
Secondary Plays
CLB: Ryan Johansen, Boone Jenner, Scott Hartnell
StL: David Backes, Jori Lehtera, Alexander Steen
Dallas Stars at Minnesota Wild – 08:00 PM EST
| Dallas Stars | Minnesota Wild | ||||||||
 | Antti Niemi |  | Darcy Kuemper | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 17-5-0 | 11-6-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.55 | 2.59 | 26.90% | 79.70% | Team Stats | 2.95 | 2.70 | 20.80% | 74.00% |
It’s not going to be tough to analyze the Wild’s play at home even with the return of superstar Zach Parise. By posting a sterling 8-2 record at home, Minnesota has at least kept themselves in the middle of the pack in the Central division. Dallas is the best team in the conference with 34 points, so this one could have some scoring in it. Both teams come in from playing last night, making it tough to find any edge because of tired legs. We can however look to the Dallas power play as they are ranked second in the league by scoring 27% of the time. This bodes well for both Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn as they both have seven-game scoring streaks which total 10 goals and 11 assists.
Elite Plays
Dal: Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin
Minn: Zach Parise
Secondary Plays
Dal: John Klingberg, Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp
Minn: Mikael Granlund, Ryan Suter, Mikko Koivu
Buffalo Sabres at Nashville Predators – 08:00 PM EST
| Buffalo Sabres | Nashville Predators | ||||||||
 | Linus Ullmark |  | Pekka Rinne | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 8-12-2 | 12-6-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.05 | 2.68 | 20.00% | 75.00% | Team Stats | 2.57 | 2.48 | 17.60% | 80.30% |
Even though Buffalo’s new head coach Dan Bylsma has the team playing better it will take a lot to beat the Predators on home ice, where they are 7-1-2. Nashville broke their three game losing streak against these same Sabres on Wednesday by a score of 3-2. Vegas has the Predators as a -220 favorite, but after losing in overtime to Philadelphia yesterday, it is going to be hard to predict where the scoring will be coming from, especially with head coach Peter Laviolette shuffling up the lines halfway through yesterday’s game. Nashville has only scored five goals in the past five games, so this may be one to stay away from tonight.
Elite Plays
Buff: None
Nash: None
Secondary Plays
Buff: Ryan O’Reilly, Jack Eichel, Rasmus Ristolainen
Nash: James Neal, Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, Mike Ribeiro, Shea Weber
Calgary Flames at San Jose Sharks – 10:00 PM EST
| Calgary Flames | San Jose Sharks | ||||||||
 | Jonas Hiller |  | Martin Jones | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 8-13-1 | 13-9-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.41 | 3.59 | 13.80% | 72.10% | Team Stats | 2.73 | 2.55 | 14.10% | 80.00% |
Calgary continues to have problems on the road as their latest loss at Anaheim gives them a 3-8-1 record away from home. What’s worse is that they have given up 80 goals in 22 games, which is easily the worst in the league. They did play at Arizona last night, so tonight’s game in San Jose will wrap up their three-game road trip. San Jose won every game on their recent six-game road trip only to come home to lose to Chicago on Wednesday night by a score of 5-2. This happens more often than not, and with the Flames playing last night, I expect that the San Jose ‘Big 4’ will have plenty of ownership tonight. You can start with defenseman Brent Burns who has scored four goals on 19 shots in his last three games. Yes, you read right, 19 shots! San Jose is a -180 favorite with a low goal total of 5, so even Vegas isn’t giving the Flames much of a chance.Melker Karlsson is once again your punt for the night.
Elite Plays
Calg: None
SJ: Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns
Secondary Plays
Calg: Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan
SJ: Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, ,Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Ottawa Senators at Arizona Coyotes – 10:00 PM EST
| Ottawa Senators | Arizona Coyotes | ||||||||
 | Craig Anderson |  | Mike Smith | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 12-5-5 | 11-9-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.18 | 2.77 | 20.90% | 78.20% | Team Stats | 2.81 | 2.90 | 15.70% | 81.50% |
By virtue of going 6-1-3 in their last ten games, the Ottawa Senators have moved into second place over the Boston Bruins in the Atlantic division. Their 12-5-5 record is good for fourth best in the conference while tallying 73 goals which is ten goals behind conference leader Montreal. Arizona has been playing some good hockey in their own right by posting a 6-4 record in their last ten games. They are in fourth place in the Pacific division and if the playoffs started today, they would be on the outside looking in. The Coyotes will take some penalties so look for the Senators top power play unit to have a few chances tonight. Erik Karlsson may be a bit pricey, but he has delivered by hitting the scoresheet in the last eight games en route to scoring five goals to go with six assists. we will also give Bobby Ryan a pass as he saw his nine-game scoring streak snapped the other night in a 5-3 win against Colorado. Normally I am leery on taking road teams for cash games but with Ottawa’s road record of 7-2-1 and Arizona playing last night, I am leaning toward the Ottawa side.
Elite Plays
Ott: None
Arz: None
Secondary Plays
Ott: Kyle Turris, Bobby Ryan, Mika Zibanejad, Erik Karlsson, Mike Hoffman
Arz: Max Domi, Martin Hanzal, Oliver Ekman-Larsson