NHL Grind Down: Saturday, November 5th - Page Three
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Chicago Blackhawks at Dallas Stars
| Chicago Blackhawks | Dallas Stars | ||||||||
 | Corey Crawford |  | Antti Niemi | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 7-3-1 | 4-4-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.55 | 2.45 | 22.70% | 61.50% | Team Stats | 2.60 | 3.10 | 14.30% | 75.70% |
Chicago has come on with a vengeance over the last four games as they have scored 15 goals while only three pucks have found their way behind goaltender Corey Crawford. As you may have expected, the Hawks have won all four of those games and have a good chance to make it five tonight in Dallas. Richard Panik joins Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane on the top line but I think we should concentrate on the team’s top power play unit tonight. That would make Patrick Kane a strong one-off play tonight as he has collected 13 points in 11 games while the Blackhawks have tallied five goals in the last four games with the man advantage. Dallas on the other hand has given up four goals while short-handed over the last five games, so you can see why we want some special team’s players on the Chicago side. The second line of Artemi Panarin, Artem Anisimov and Marian Hossa is the line to target tonight and will no doubt see some exposure in cash game play tonight. Anisimov leads the team in scoring with 14 points while Panarin has lit the lamp five times to go along with seven assists. Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith man the points on the power play with Kane, Panarin and Anisimov up front so taking any combination of these players could pay off big tonight.
Through ten games the Dallas stars have looked like two totally different teams at times. One night they will outshoot a team like Winnipeg 39-36 and end up losing 4-1 while on another night they get outshot 30-27 and beat St Louis by a score of 6-2. It’s true that they have had some injuries as Patrick Eaves and Jason Spezza have missed a couple games while guys they were going to rely on like Jiri Hudler and Ales Hemsky have all but logged just five games combined. Even Jamie Benn has been complaining that he isn’t back to full strength after off season surgery. Through it all though it has been Tyler Seguin and benn leading the way with 12 and eight points respectively through the first ten games. These two are obviously the ones to target on home ice as they have combined for two goals and ten assists in the five games they have played at home. Add line mate Patrick Eaves to the mix and you have yourself a nice little line stack there. Make no mistake, Seguin and Benn are pricey and may not be worth the risk, so maybe take Eaves with one of them or add defenseman John Klingberg to the mix as he seems to be not only shooting the puck a little more but finding the scoresheet as well. Although it’s not recommended tonight, you could use the second line of Jason Spezza, Radek Faksa and Antoine Roussel as the only one who doesn’t get time on the man advantage would be Faksa. Chicago has apparently been working on their penalty kill as after they gave up 15 goals while being down a man, they have given up none of that variety in the last three games.
Elite Plays
CHI: Patrick Kane
DAL: Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn
Secondary Plays
CHI: Artem Anisimov, Artemi Panarin, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook
DAL: Patrick Eaves, John Klingberg
Calgary Flames at Los Angeles Kings
| Calgary Flames | Los Angeles Kings | ||||||||
 | Brian Elliott |  | Peter Budaj | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 5-6-1 | 5-6-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.83 | 3.42 | 9.30% | 73.10% | Team Stats | 2.00 | 2.91 | 12.50% | 75.60% |
The Calgary Flames continue their four game road trip with a stop in Los Angeles to take on the Kings in this Pacific Division match up. The Flames find themselves one point ahead of the Kings in the standings as they look to climb even higher with a win here tonight. Calgary has already beaten Chicago, St Louis and more recently, the San Jose Sharks on the road so far this season so the task at hand may not be as big as it first seems. Calgary’s power play has been listless in the last four games while the kings have given up four goals in the last three games while trying to kill a penalty. Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan skate on the top power play line while skating on the team’s top line but what I like even more is the fact that Calgary seems to be getting smarter. Instead of trying to find a power play unit across three lines it seems that they have moved Sam Bennett to the team’s second line with Troy Brouwer and have both skating with Gaudreau and Monahan on the top power play unit. Brouwer and Bennett will make a decent GPP duo as they do have some upside and will surely be under owned tonight. Instead of Mark Giordano on the point with the man advantage it looks like T.J. Brodie will assume that spot while fellow defenseman Dougie Hamilton continues to produce on just a little over 17 minutes of ice time per night. Hamilton actually leads the team in scoring over the past five games with two goals and three assists. Bennett is a close second with four points over that same time frame.
After losing three games, winning four and then losing three more the Kings fought a tough battle on Thursday night as they outlasted the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 3-2 in overtime. The Kings continue to switch up their lines in search of some offense as defenseman Alec Martinez has been in on nine of the 23 goals they have scored so far this year. Anze Kopitar and Tanner Pearson is now joined by Teddy Purcell on the top line while Jeff carter and Tyler Toffoli continue to look for the magic they had last year while having Dwight King as their winger on the left. Perason and Kopitar have a combined point total of 13 while Carter and Toffoli have accumulated 12 points so far this year. If you want to have a few late hammers I’d suggest keeping them together rather than splitting them apart. If you don’t want to use Martinez on the blue line the only other options are Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin but the smart money is on Martinez.
Elite Plays
CGY: None
LAK: None
Secondary Plays
CGY: Johnny Gaudreau, Troy Brouwer, T.J. Brodie, Dougie Hamilton, Sam Bennett
LAK: Anze Kopitar, Alec Martinez, Tanner Pearson, Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli
Pittsburgh Penguins at San Jose Sharks
| Pittsburgh Penguins | San Jose Sharks | ||||||||
 | Matt Murray |  | Martin Jones | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 7-2-2 | 6-5-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.82 | 2.82 | 25.00% | 79.50% | Team Stats | 2.45 | 2.45 | 22.20% | 86.70% |
In what could be the most entertaining game of the night, people like me that live on the east coast will have to stay up a bit later to watch the conclusion. That’s ok because we get the added benefit of moving the clocks back one hour, which will help at least a little. The Penguins look to win their third game on this current four game road trip here in San Jose as they will head back home to play Edmonton on Tuesday night. I spoke about Sidney Crosby last Saturday night about how skating on the ‘second’ line would open the ice up for him a bit. Well, in the three road games I has done exactly that as he has grabbed four goals and added an assist in those three games. Look, I don’t have to tell you that Crosby is a good player but the home teams have to choose which line they want to put their top defensive unit on and normally, on the road, it’s the line of Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and Chris Kunitz. Now that may change here tonight as this will be the second game that Carl Hagelin will skate with Crosby and Patric Hornqvist so maybe they will attract a little more attention tonight. Kris letang is back in the lineup and is always a consideration as he quarterbacks one of the most talented power play units in the league. Pittsburgh should score a few goals here so as usual, make sure you keep the pairs together, especially in cash game play.
San Jose comes into this one looking for a win as their last two losses to Calgary and Arizona does not look good on the resume. Unfortunately they have to try to get it together against the reigning Stanley Cup champions in the form of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The top line that features Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton will be the most popular play as they are first and third in team scoring with 12 and nine points respectively. Defenseman Brent Burns is sandwiched in between with four goals and 11 assists through the team’s first 11 games. Logan Couture plays on the team’s second line while Patrick Marleau skates on the third line with the red hot Tomas Hertl who has two goals and three assist in the last five games. Hertl is the only one who doesn’t get the major minutes when the team has the man advantage, but pairing him with Marleau is not a bad idea for GPP play. Of course you could play him as a one-off as well but I would also keep that as a GPP play as well. There are just too many other players in better spots to use as a one-off in cash games tonight. You could use Joonas Donskoi in the same manner with Logan Couture as he has grabbed four of five points in the last five games. It looks like the Sharks are getting some secondary scoring so now all that needs to happen is it to come altogether to get back on track tonight. This will be a great game to watch, so do that!
Elite Plays
PIT: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin
SJ: Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns
Secondary Plays
PIT: Kris Letang, Patric Hornqvist, Phil Kessel
SJ: Logan Couture, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Tomas Hertl
GOALTENDERS
1. Craig Anderson – Ottawa Senators
2. Carey Price – Montreal Canadiens
3. Braden Holtby – Washington Capitals