NHL Grind Down: Saturday, November 4th - Page Three
Pittsburgh Penguins at Vancouver Canucks
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Vancouver Canucks | ||||||||
 | Matt Murray |  | Anders Nilsson | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 8-5-2 | 6-4-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.67 | 3.60 | 29.09 | 80.65 | Team Stats | 2.58 | 2.33 | 14.81 | 84.09 |
The Penguins come into this one tied for first place in the Metropolitan Division which is almost amazing considering that they have scored 40 goals but have given up a whopping 54 of them. Sidney Crosby appears to be centering a line with Conor Sheary and Patric Hornqvist while Evgeni Malkin will center Brayn Rust and Tom Kuhnhackl. This leaves Riley Sheahan to skate with Phil Kessel and Jake Guentzel. It’s probably best to stick with Crossby, Malkin, Hornqvist and Kessel as they all soak up the most minutes on the team’s top power play unit that has scored four times in the last four games. Malkin and Kessel lead the team with 15 points so pairing them together could work out but if you are looking to pair them with line mates it’s Guentzel with Kessel and Rust with Malkin. Kris Letang logs over 26 minutes of ice time on a nightly basis and has made the most of it as the defenseman has registered 11 points through the first 15 games. Ollie Maatta makes for a decent alternative on the back line as his nine points would suggest he may be a better play than most second option defensemen on most any other team.
Vancouver seems to have returned to their normal form from the past few seasons as they have dropped two games in a row with a total output of one goal in those two contests. The two losses drop the team to 6-4-2 which is still good enough for a third place tie in the Pacific Division. The Canucks have been kept afloat by the stellar goaltending of Anders Nilsson while the top line of Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi seem to be the line to target on home ice tonight. Boeser leads the team with seven assists and nine pints while his line mates each have four goals apiece and combine for 15 points through the first 12 games. Daniel Sedin and his brother Henrik Sedin have clearly lost a step in their old age and if you had to take one of them from the second line the choice would be Daniel and his two goals and three assists. Thomas Vanek, Sam Gagner and Alexander Burmistrov comprise the team’s third line and could be used as a GPP play as they have combined for six goals and nine assists in 12 games. Michael Del Zotto and Chris Tanev are then choices on the back line if you are looking to use a Vancouver defenseman in a full line stack. Both have mustered five points so far so it is basically a coin flip in terms of scoring but Del Zotto and his 30 shots easily out weight the 13 that Tanev has accumulated. The Canucks could score some here against a Pittsburgh team that has given up 54 goals this season which is the most any team has given up in the Eastern Conference.
Top Plays
PIT: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin
VAN: Brock Boeser
Secondary Plays
PIT: Phil Kessel, Kris Letang, Patric Hornqvist, Conor Sheary, Jake Guentzel
VAN: Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi, Thomas Vanek, Daniel Sedin
Nashville Predators at Los Angeles Kings
| Nashville Predators | Los Angeles Kings | ||||||||
 | Juuse Saros |  | Jonathan Quick | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 6-5-2 | 10-2-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.33 | 2.83 | 22.64 | 83.61 | Team Stats | 3.38 | 2.08 | 19.05 | 91.49 |
The Nashville Predators seem to be playing almost like the Pittsburgh Penguins, who of course were the other team that played well into the month of June before losing the Cup to their opponents in six games. Nashville switched up their lines last night and on the surface it looks like it may have worked as they came away with a 5-3 victory against a depleted Anaheim team last night. We must keep in mind that Anaheim is not the same without Ryan Getzlaf and also that the Kings are the best defensive team in the league. Add all that with the Predators playing on back-to-back nights and you may have a recipe for disaster on your hands. Filip Forsberg found himself with a few new line mates as the team leader had Colton Sissons and Craig Smith riding shotgun with him as Ryan Johansen was moved to center Scott Hartnell and Viktor Arvidsson. This is actually not a bad strategy as now the opposing team has to figure out what line they want to put their defensive line against. At first look it would appear to be the Johansen line but that leaves Forsberg and his eight goals and 13 points to make his line mates better, which obviously bumps up their value as well. They all get about equal time on the top power play units that has struck for goals in four of the last five games so the best thing to do here is keep the lines or pairs together when choosing who to roster. Kevin Fiala sees time on the power play from the third line and could be used as a GPP one-off as four of his six points have come with the extra attacker. Roman Josi and P.K. Subban are the choices from the back line and to be honest either one is fine here if you think that Nashville is going to score some goals. Subban has the point lead over his defensive counterpart by a 10-8 tally while Josi has the shots on goal advantage 45-32. Be careful here as the Predators have many factors going against them tonight.
If the Stanley Cup playoffs started now there is no doubt that the Kings would be one of the favorites to win the whole thing. The 27 goals that they have allowed so far is best in the league and is just a tick over two a game as they have played 13 games so far this season. They put their 5-0-1 home record on the line tonight as they take on the Nashville Predators. Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown lead the way on both the top line and the top power play unit as they have combined for 13 goals and 15 assists so far this season. Alex Iafallo skates with them on the top line but has amazingly has almost no value so far as he has just three assists to his credit. Tanner Pearson, Tyler Toffoli and Adrian Kempe skate on the team’s second line that has combined for six goals and six assists over the last seven games. Toffoli is the one-off here as he has matched Kopitar with seven goals for the team lead through the first 13 games. Alec Martinez and Drew Doughty join Kopitar, Brown and Mike Cammalleri in the top power play unit that has struck for three goals over the last two games. Doughty is a solid play but has been outscored by Jake Muzzin so far as Muzzin has lit the lamp twice while adding eight assists while being the tied for third for the team scoring lead. The Kings should take care of business in front of the home crowd tonight.
Top Plays
NSH: Filip Forsberg
LAK: Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown
Secondary Plays
NSH: Ryan Johansen, P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, Viktor Arvidsson, Scott Hartnell
LAK: Tyler Toffoli, Jake Muzzin, Drew Doughty, Tanner Pearson
Anaheim Ducks at San Jose Sharks
| Anaheim Ducks | San Jose Sharks | ||||||||
 | Ryan Miller |  | Martin Jones | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 6-6-1 | 7-5-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.92 | 3.00 | 10.81 | 84.91 | Team Stats | 2.83 | 2.42 | 19.23 | 89.36 |
Without Ryan Getzlaf it is very hard for the Ducks to win a game let alone become fantasy relevant. This is the third game that the team leader in points-per-game will miss and will be re-evaluated over the weekend. This leaves a mess up on the front lines in which we have seen the Anaheim brass use a few different combinations to try and prevent the team from losing the third game in a row. Last night The Ducks dropped a 5-3 game to the visiting Nashville Predators and now will travel up the road 366 miles to take on the San Jose Sharks. Andrew Cogliano leads the team with six assist and nine points while his new line mates in Corey Perry and Rickard Rakell should be enough to grab a goal here tonight. Rakell is right behind the leader with eight points while Perry has two goals and five assists through the first 13 games. Ondrej Kase has been a welcome sight as he is tied with Rakell with five goals for the team lead. He found himself skating with Antione Vermette and Nick Ritchie last night while Jakob Silfverberg was with Derek Grant and Chris Wagner. As you can see things are pretty slim in Anaheim as their 6-6-1 record is only good enough for sixth place in the Pacific Division. Until defenseman Sami Vatanen gets his legs back the only real choice on the blue line is Brandon Montour who has collected seven points in the 13 games the Ducks have played. Vatanen has just three shots on goal in the three games he has suited up for since returning from a shoulder injury that has sidelined him for the first 10 games. The Ducks are in trouble so using them as deeper GPP plays is probably the way to go here tonight.
There are a few decent one-off plays tonight and Logan Couture has to be up there with the best of them. The second line center leads the team with eight goals and 12 points while seeing the majority of the ice time when the Sharks have the extra attacker. Tomas Hertl and Melker Karlsson skate with him in the 5×5 situations but with this being a home game it wouldn’t make sense to use them as a line stack in cash game formats. GPP plays are a different story as you are trying to find that line that no one else will have that goes off. This gets problematic when you realize that Karlsson has just three points this season which would indicate that it’s better to leave it alone than play with fire. Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton not only are also on the top power play unit that has struck for at least a goal in three of the last four games. Kevin LaBanc skates with them at even strength and can be used here as a GPP line stack as well. This line is obviously a stronger play against a deplete Anaheim team who just played last night against Nashville. Brent Burns and Tim Heed are the defensive choices and each make for a fine play here tonight. They both man the points on the power play and have each notched seven points so far this season. Third liner Joonas Donskoi has managed to grab four goals and three assists over 12 games with seeing just over 12 minutes of ice time on a nightly basis. Look for the Sharks to win in front of the home crowd tonight.
Top Plays
ANA: None
SJ: Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture
Secondary Plays
ANA: Andrew Cogliano, Corey Perry, Rickard Rakell, Brandon Montour, Jakob Silfverberg, Ondrej Kase
SJ: Joe Thornton, Brent Burns, Tim Heed