NHL Grind Down: Saturday, October 15th - Page Two
Jump to Page 1 2 3
New Jersey Devils at Tampa Bay Lightning
| New Jersey Devils | Tampa Bay Lightning | ||||||||
 | Cory Schneider |  | Andrei Vasilevsky | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 38-36-8 | 46-31-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.22 | 2.00 | 19.90% | 83.00% | Team Stats | 2.73 | 4.00 | 15.80% | 84.00% |
Is it just me or should have Taylor Hall and Mike Cammalleri had more time on the ice while Devils had the man advantage Thursday night. Hall logged a minute and 13 seconds while Cammallieri saw a paltry 46 seconds while Travis Zajac and Adam Henrique received two minutes and 39 seconds of ice time on the power play. Call me dumb, but I think the name of the game is to have your skilled players on the ice when the other team is short-handed, thus giving you a better opportunity to score. Hopefully head coach John Hynes will make some adjustments before they go losing another 2-1 game in overtime. Tampa Bay plays a solid game at home so you may actually want to look elsewhere tonight but just in case you want to go a bit contrarian I’d stick with Cammallieri, Kyle Palmieri and Adam Henrique as they make up the Devils new second line. Hall, Zajac and P.A. Parenteau skate on the top line and will undoubtedly be shadowed for most of the night. On defense, look for youngster Yohann Auvitu to get some power play looks as he collected one of the assists on New Jersey’s lone goal the other night.
With Steven Stamkos in tow the Lightning seem poised to make yet another run at the Stanley Cup. In year’s past the Devils were a good defensive team but seem a bit lacking lately as they gave up 34 shots in Florida on Thursday night. Meanwhile the Lightning got busy scoring six goals at home against the Detroit Red Wings by beating them by two goals. Stamkos and Jonathan Drouin should be a popular pair tonight as they not only anchor the top line with Ondrej Palat, they receive a good chunk of ice time while with the man advantage while being on different power play lines. The same can be said for Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov as they anchor the team’s second line with Alex Killorn. If you are looking for a one-off it could very well be Vladislav Nemestnikov as he skates on a power play line with Stamkos. I never really got the whole mixing of lines for the power play units as one would think it takes away from the chemistry when you have a lot of strong players on the team. The only reason it works for a team like the San Jose Sharks is the fact that those five players are by far the best five they have, unlike this Tampa Bay team. Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman are the choices on defense. The only thing I am hesitant about is the Devils goaltender Cory Schneider. He is usually very good early in the season and the other night was no exception against Florida so maybe using Tampa players sparingly tonight is the way to go.
Elite Plays
NJ: None
TB: Steven Stamkos
Secondary Plays
NJ: Taylor Hall, Mike Cammalleri
TB: Jonathan Drouin, Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson, Anton Stralman, Victor Hedman
Montreal Canadiens at Ottawa Senators
| Montreal Canadiens | Ottawa Senators | ||||||||
| #N/A | Craig Anderson |  | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 38-35-9 | |||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.63 | Team Stats | 2.80 | 4.00 | 15.80% | 75.80% | |||
Montreal came away with a 4-1 in Buffalo against a depleted Sabre team on Thursday night. The top line of Max Pacioretty, Brandan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk accounted for half of the team’s goals while getting most of the power play time as well. Shea Weber grabbed a point in his first game in a Habs jersey while logging the top power play minutes from the point along with fellow defenseman Andrie Markov. It’s tough to get behind Montreal’s second line of Tomas Plekanec, Alexander Radulov and Artturi Lehkonen until they show a little chemistry although Lehkonen did have five shots in Thursday night’s game. It’s probably best to stick with the top line here even on the road against a defensively challenged Ottawa team.
Ottawa is still giving up a lot of shots as they were able to snag a 5-4 overtime win against Auston Matte…errr I mean the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night. The Leafs outshot them by a count of 38-30 but the only thing that counts is the score at the end of the game. Defenseman Erik Karlsson led the way with a goal and two assists and should almost always be considered when making you cash line ups. The top line of Kyle Turris, mark Stone and Mike Hoffman should also be considered for cash game plays on home ice. I mentioned on Wednesday as to how Turris should be able to have a decent season as he was banged up a little bit last year. Not only was he able to net two goals, he had the game winner in overtime. Bobby Ryan and Derick Brassard aren’t bad plays either, but I prefer them on the road as opposing teams will be trying to shut down the top line where here at home, Turris and company should be just fine.
Elite Plays
MTL: None
OTT: Erik Karlsson
Secondary Plays
MTL: Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gallagher, Shea Weber, Andrei Markov
OTT: Kyle Turris, Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, Bobby Ryan, Derick Brassard
New York Islanders at Washington Capitals
| New York Islanders | Washington Capitals | ||||||||
 | Thomas Greiss |  | Braden Holtby | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 45-27-10 | 56-18-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.77 | 5.00 | 18.30% | 84.50% | Team Stats | 3.02 | 2.00 | 21.90% | 85.20% |
I saw a great tweet yesterday from Brock Seguin that said ‘So the #Isles waived P.A Parenteau, scratched Mathew Barzal and sent Josh Ho-Sang to the AHL, so that Chimera could play with Tavares. OK.’ The Islanders will also miss Kyle Okposo who has moved on to the Buffalo Sabres. The Islanders really only have one line to defend against and it is for this reason that unrosterable fourth liners like Cal Clutterbuck and Nikolay Kulemin will find the scoresheet when they are on the road. Yes, Tavares is good, but he can’t carry the whole team on his back on a nightly basis, especially on the road, which is where he finds himself tonight. Andrew Ladd is the third piece of the top line with Tavares and Chimera so look for the Capitals to easily shut this line down tonight. Brock Nelson is a one-off here as he centers the second line with Anthony Beauvillier and Josh Bailey while being the only one on the team’s top power play unit. The same could be said for defenseman Nick Leddy, but again like a lot of other teams, the Islanders are really not a lucrative play for cash games tonight.
The Penguins did a good job of holding Alexander Ovechkin to just five shots on Thursday night but this will not be the case tonight as he not is now on home ice, the Capitals play a much worse defensive team as well. There are plenty of ways to go here as you can pair #8 with T.J. Oshie, who plays on both the top line and power play with him or go the other way and take Evgeny Kuznetsov who gets top line duty with Ovechkin but also sees second line power play action. If you don’t feel like spending on Ovechkin I have no problem taking Marcus Johansson and Nicklas Backstrom as you get a piece of Ovechkin as they skate on the top power play unit while anchoring the second line. John Carlson is your choice here for defenseman plain and simple as he gets a ton more power play time than Matt Niskanen. Look for Washington to be high owned tonight in cash games.
Elite Plays
NYI: None
WSH: Alexander Ovechkin
Secondary Plays
NYI: John Tavares, Nick Leddy
WSH: Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov
New York Rangers at St. Louis Blues
| New York Rangers | St. Louis Blues | ||||||||
 | Henrik Lundqvist |  | Carter Hutton | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 46-27-9 | 49-24-9 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.84 | 3.00 | 18.60% | 78.20% | Team Stats | 2.67 | 2.00 | 21.50% | 85.10% |
The Rangers come into this one fresh off a 5-3 win on Thursday night over in-state rivals, the New York Islanders. The Blues however are not the Islanders and the Rangers should find the task a bit tougher tonight playing on the road. The first line of Jimmy Vesey, Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan managed just one goal from Zuccarello the other night as the second line of Mika Zibanejad, Pavel Buchnevich and Chris Kreider were joined by fourth liner Brandon Pirri and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snagged almost two thirds of the power play time. I am not opposed to playing any of those five but Pirri does make a great one-off play here as he skates on the fourth line away from all of the attention.
After winning their first two road games backed by the stellar performance of goaltender Jake Allen, the St Louis Blues have their home opener tonight against the New York Rangers. I have a sneaky feeling that a lot of folks will be trying to fit Vladimir Tarasenko into their line ups if they can somehow manage his high salary. You could opt to pair him with either David Perron or Jori Lehtera as they are his linemates. The other option would be to either pair him with Alexander Steen or Paul Stastny as they play on the team’s top power play with him. The other option is to just simply skip over Tarasenko and play Steen and Stastny. Either way there should be a few goals to go around tonight. Kevin Shattenkirk is the defensive choice as he and fellow defenseman Alex Pietrangelo round out the team’s top power play unit.
Elite Plays
NYR: None
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko
Secondary Plays
NYR: Mats Zuccarello, Derek Stepan, Brandon Pirri, Ryan McDonagh
STL: Alexander Steen, Paul Stastny, Kevin Shattenkirk, David Perron
Nashville Predators at Chicago Blackhawks
| Nashville Predators | Chicago Blackhawks | ||||||||
 | Pekka Rinne |  | Scott Darling | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 41-27-14 | 47-26-9 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 19.70% | 81.20% | Team Stats | 2.85 | 5.00 | 22.60% | 80.30% | ||
We are not even one week into this young season and we already get to witness the second home and home series over the first four days of action. We saw Edmonton beat Calgary in two games in their series so now it’s Nashville’s turn to try to turn the trick tonight in Chicago. Backed by first liner Ryan Johansen and defensemen P.K. Subban and Roman Josi the Predators were able to hold on to a 3-2 lead through the whole third period. After a rough start by Pekka Rinne, he settled in fine and made some key saves down the stretch. Johansen and Filip Forsberg should be covered a bit better tonight on the road so taking second liners James Neal and Mike Fisher, who had a goal and assist last night, may not be a bad idea. Neal was also in front of the net screening Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford on one of the Predators goals. If Neal continues to go towards the net, there’s no doubt he will be able to pick and a few rebounds this season to knock home.
Chicago has started off a bit slowly which has prompted head coach Joel Quenville to switch his lines up after the first game. Because of travel it looks like the Hawks did not skate this morning but one has to figure that on home ice Marian Hossa will be back up on the top line with Jonathan Toews. He was put down on the third line for last night’s game but that could have only been to try to get some depth on the road. Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin are still the plays here though as a team must look to its leaders to get them going. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook man the points on the power play for a team that looks to break out tonight in front of the home crowd.
Elite Plays
NSH: P.K. Subban
CHI: Patrick Kane
Secondary Plays
NSH: Mike Fisher, James Neal, Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi
CHI: Artemi Panarin, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook