NHL Grind Down: Saturday, October 14th - Page Three
Calgary Flames at Vancouver Canucks
| Calgary Flames | Vancouver Canucks | ||||||||
 | Eddie Lack |  | Jacob Markstrom | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 45-33-4 | 30-42-9 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.00 | 2.25 | 20.20% | 81.60% | Team Stats | 2.33 | 2.67 | 14.20% | 76.60% |
I’d look for the Flames to continue to switch up the lines tonight after the beating they took last night on home ice at the hands of the Ottawa Senators. Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau skated together for most of the night with Jaromir Jagr and Curtis Lazar while Mikael Backlund centered Michael Frolik and Matthew Tkachuk. Meanwhile the Flames other ‘scoring’ line consisted of Matt Stajan, Troy Brouwer and Micheal Ferland. Other than last night Calgary has looked okay as their record of 3-2 would indicate so taking a peek at Gaudreau, who leads the team with seven points, and Monahan wouldn’t be a bad idea for GPP play. You know how the mind of a DFS player works, it’s the old ‘what have you done for me lately’ or ‘never again syndrome’ which is the exact reason Gaudreau should be underowned tonight. T.J. Brodie is the choice on the back line as he has lit the lamp twice to go along with three assist after the first five games. Mark Giordano and Dougie Hamilton usually are in the mix as well but they will have to start producing before you start rostering them in cash games. Both teams come into this one with obvious flaws which means it is a very difficult game to roster anyone as a cash game play on a slate that features 13 other games.
Trying to decipher the Vancouver Canucks is like trying to drink jello through a straw. Charles Demar may have been able to do it in the movie Better Off Dead, but for you and I its best we leave that alone. Thomas Vanek skates on the top line with Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin while Bo Horvat centers Sven Baertschi and Brock Boeser. The Canucks do have other talented players from the past like Loui Eriksson, Sam Gagner, Brandon Sutter and Markus Granlund but those guys are easily role players and need better talented players around them for them to flourish. The Sedins are getting a bit long in the tooth but nonetheless the members of the top line lead the team with two points each in the first three games. Defensively you have your choice of Chris Tanev, Troy Stecher or Alexander Edler. Tanev does have two goals this season but it’s still best to pass on this mess. Just for reference the Canucks had nine players log over three and a half minutes of power play time last game so it’s buyer beware.
Top Plays
CGY: Johnny Gaudreau
VAN: None
Secondary Plays
CGY: Sean Monahan, T.J. Brodie, Matthew Tkachuk, Mikael Backlund
VAN: Thomas Vanek, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi
Ottawa Senators at Edmonton Oilers
| Ottawa Senators | Edmonton Oilers | ||||||||
 | Mike Condon |  | Cam Talbot | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 44-27-10 | 46-26-9 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.33 | 2.33 | 17.20% | 79.70% | Team Stats | 2.33 | 2.67 | 22.90% | 80.60% |
Erik Karlsson did not travel with the team on this trip but the Ottawa Senators look as if they are doing just fine without him as they practically dismantled the Calgary Flames last night by a score of 6-0. The win was the first game this season that didn’t go into a shootout as they are holding steady with a 2-0-2 record. All the Senators have to do tonight is stop Connor McDavid and they should be able to have a chance to improve on their record and possibly move into a first place tie in the Atlantic Division. Mark Stone, Derick Brassard and Bobby Ryan skate as the team’s top line while Kyle Turris centers Zack Smith and Ryan Dzingel on the second line. Mike Hoffman is the easy one-off here as he skates on the third line but gets a decent amount of extra minutes when the team draws a penalty. Speaking of the power play, the Senators deploy two solid lines and each gets about the same amount of ice time so taking any of the aforementioned players isn’t a bad play tonight. Brassard leads the team with five points while Turris, Ryan and Stone are just one point off the pace for the team lead. Defensemen Cody Ceci and Chris Wideman are filling up the back line in Karlsson’s absence as each has notched three points in the early going. Ottawa should be able to score a few goals tonight against an Edmonton team that appears to have a penchant for giving up a few goals.
After beating the Calgary Flames on opening night the Edmonton Oilers dropped two straight to Vancouver and Winnipeg. This is not the start that Connor McDavid envisioned as he has done all he can by scoring four of the team’s seven goals. Leon Draisaitl and Patrick Maroon skate with him on the team’s top line and will look to get the team back on track in front of the home crowd tonight. Although Draisaitl had a swollen eye from Saturday’s game and will not play in tonight’s game. This means that Kailer Yamamoto will be a nice value play here skating on the top line. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins looks like he will remain with Milan Lucic on the second line as well as anchor the team’s second power play unit. Nugent-Hopkins looks to turn it around this season and is already off to a good start by lighting the lamp twice in the first three games. Lucic joins McDavid, Ryan Strome and Mark Letestu on the team’s top power play while defenseman Oscar Klefbom completes the five man unit. While Klefbom leads the team with 24 shots on goal fellow defesneman Darnell Nurse is trying to make the most of his 19 minutes a night as he has found the scoresheet once on a healthy 10 shots on goal. With the injury to Draisaitl it looks like Strome and Yamamoto make decent low salary plays if you are looking for exposure to McDavid. Look for Edmonton to use the four days they had off to work on getting back on track tonight in front of the home crowd.
Tops Plays
OTT: None
EDM: Connor McDavid
Secondary Plays
OTT: Derick Brassard, Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone, Bobby Ryan, Kyle Turris
EDM: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Oscar Klefbom, Milan Lucic, Mark Letestu
New York Islanders at San Jose Sharks
| New York Islanders | San Jose Sharks | ||||||||
 | Thomas Greiss |  | Martin Jones | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 40-29-12 | 46-29-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.50 | 3.25 | 14.90% | 81.70% | Team Stats | 2.33 | 3.67 | 16.70% | 80.70% |
The New York Islanders started of their three game west coast swing with a 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night. They have had two full days off with which to practice and get things going in the right direction as their 1-2-1 start is not exactly the way they wanted to start the season. John Tavares is the stud here but the odd thing is that both bottom six centers in Brock Nelson and Casey Cizikas match his as they are all tied for the team lead with two goals and three points. Tavares was skating with Jordan Eberle and Anders Lee on the team’s top line while Josh Bailey was in the middle of Anthony Beavuillier and Mathew Barzal. Malcontent Josh Ho-Sang saw all of 12 minutes of ice time but did manage to assist on both goals while logging almost as much power play ice time as the first unit. It looks like he will be on a line with Nelson and Andrew Ladd, which could give both of them a small GPP bump here. Tavares, Eberle, Lee, Bailey and defenseman Nick Leddy go out first when the Islanders have the man advantage on a power play that is now 0-15 on the season. Defenseman Calvin de Haan is the only other blue liner with any value but since the New York team is on the road, I’d stay away here. The Islanders are basically a one-line team and should be easily bottled up by the home town San Jose team.
After losing their first two games at home The Sharks continued their five-game home stand with a 3-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. This is nothing to write home about as the loss of Patrick Marleau continues to sting this San Jose team early in the season. It was the third line of Timo Meier, Chris Tierney and Joonas Donskoi that did most of the damage against Buffalo as they scored two of the three goals in Thursday night’s win. Kevin LaBanc leads the team with three points as he skates on the top line with the sluggish Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. Meanwhile defenseman Brent Burns has put a team leading 12 shots on goal but has just one assist to show for his efforts. Logan Couture centers Tomas Hertl and Mikkel Boedker on the second line. New York has given up eight goals in their two road games so look for the San Jose heavies to get back into swing tonight. Although we have been burned by Thornton, Pavelski and Burns so far this season, this just may be the game they get things going.
Top Plays
NYI: John Tavares
SJ: Brent Burns, Joe Pavelski
Secondary Plays
NYI: Jordan Eberle, Anders Lee, Nick Leddy
SJ: Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, Kevin LaBanc
Buffalo Sabres at Los Angeles Kings
| Buffalo Sabres | Los Angeles Kings | ||||||||
 | Robin Lehner |  | Jonathan Quick | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 33-36-12 | 39-35-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.25 | 4.25 | 24.60% | 77.30% | Team Stats | 3.00 | 1.67 | 19.00% | 84.60% |
If you believe in streaks then you have to believe the Sabres will get shut out tonight just like they have the last four times that they have visited Staples Center here in Los Angeles. What’s worse is the fact that they haven’t won a game here since October 23rd 2003. Yeah, let that sink in while you look at Buffalo’s record of 0-3 with just nine goals scored in their first three games. Is it possible that can win tonight, sure, but it’s highly unlikely. Kyle Okposo took the day off from practice yesterday to regain his stamina as he played the other night while shaking of an illness. He will join Ryan O’Reilly and Evander kane back on the top line while Jack Eichel and Jason Pominville will continue to skate with Zemgus Girgensons on the left side. While the Sabres are never a high event team to begin with it is awfully tough to look at any Buffalo player tonight for cash game play. Kane and Pominville lead the team with four goals while Eichel has notched five points in the first four games, which includes scoring the only other goal that Buffalo has scored. Let that sink in for a minute. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is really the only option on the back line as he soaks up almost all of the power play time from the point when the Sabres have the extra attacker. Marco Scandella and Josh Gorges are nowhere near having any fantasy relevance while Nathan Beaulieu could be okay if he returns to the player he was in Montreal. Buffalo will be low owned in most contests tonight as they may not even light the lamp against the defensive minded Kings.
The Kings seem to be back at what they do best, play good defense and rely on goaltender Jonathan Quick, a lot. Los Angeles has only given up five goals in their first three games in which the team has gone 2-0-1 to start the season. Dustin Brown is off to a hot start as his five points leads the team with line mate Anze Kopitar as they skate 5×5 with rookie Alex Iafallo. Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson round out the teams second scoring line. There are other players to look at like Mike Cammalleri and Nick Shore from the third line but with a slate this big there really is no reason to dig this deep for players who get hardly any extra ice time. Speaking of extra ice time, there’s no doubt that there will be some exposure to the Kings so sticking with the pairs of Kopitar and Brown or Carter and Toffoli is the optimal plays as they get the lion’s share of the ice time when the Kings have the extra attacker. Defenseman Drew Doughty round out the top unit who has tallied an assist on 11 shots so far this season. Fellow blue liner Jake Muzzin can be looked at here as he has found the scoresheet twice via two assists in the first three games. Buffalo has started the season off by giving up some goals so couple that with the Kings defense and you can surmise that the team from Los Angeles should come out on top tonight.
Top Plays
BUF: Jack Eichel
LAK: Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter
Secondary Plays
BUF: Jason Pominville, Evander Kane
LAK: Drew Doughty, Tyler Toffoli, Dustin Brown