NHL Grind Down: Saturday, October 22nd - Page Three
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Vancouver Canucks at Los Angeles Kings
| Vancouver Canucks | Los Angeles Kings | ||||||||
 |  | ||||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 31-38-13 | 48-28-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.27 | 1.50 | 15.80% | 81.10% | Team Stats | 2.72 | 3.75 | 20.00% | 81.40% |
After four home wins, all by one goal and three of them either in overtime or via shootout, the first place Canucks take their show on the road. The question I have is, if the Canucks can only score 10 goals in four games at home, how many can they score on the road? I know the Kings are slumping a bit, as they just won their first game in overtime in Dallas on Thursday night, but surely they should be able to handle the anemic Canucks. The first line of Daniel Sedin, Loui Eriksson and Henrik Sedin should be viewed as a secondary GPP line while Brandon Sutter can be used as a GPP one-off as he has had a hand in four of the ten Vancouver goals so far this season. Defensively Ben Hutton and Alexander Edler join the top line to form a power play unit that has only struck once in 12 tries. For cash games there are many more options than this on tonight’s 12 game slate.
The Kings came off the deck to grab their first win of the season in overtime down in Dallas on Thursday night. Jeff Carter leads the team by having a hand in four of the ten goals the Kings have scored so using him as a one-off in cash games could be an option. The top line features two more power play specialists in Anze Kopitar and Tyler Toffoli as they are joined by Dwight King, who has an assist and five shots on the young season. Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin are the options on the blue line but give the nod to Doughty here as he has two points and 12 shots versus no points and only five shots from Muzzin. If you are thinking Muzzin has more blocked shots, you’d be wrong, as he trails Doughty by a tally of 8-7. Look for the Kings to win the game, but not blow them out.
Elite Plays
VAN: Daniel Sedin
LAK: Jeff Carter
Secondary Plays
VAN: Loui Eriksson
LAK: Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Tyler Toffoli, Jake Muzzin
St. Louis Blues at Calgary Flames
| St. Louis Blues | Calgary Flames | ||||||||
 |  | ||||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 49-24-9 | 35-40-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.67 | 2.20 | 21.50% | 85.10% | Team Stats | 2.79 | 4.00 | 17.00% | 75.50% |
Going into Edmonton on Thursday night would have normally seemed like a walk in the park for the visiting Blues, but what they found was a regular house of horrors. They outshot the Oilers 35-23, but it was father of two newborn twins that did them in. Maybe that’s why Cam Talbot looked so bad in his previous start. Anyway, the Blues will look to make the Calgary Flames pay a little for their misstep the other night. Calgary has given up a league leading 21 goals so far while six of them have come while being a man down, also the most in the league. The Blues have scored four of their 13 goals on the power play, so this is the place to start. Vladimir Tarasenko is almost always in play every night as he leads the team in goals with four to go along with his two assists. His line mate in Alexander Steen is also in play although they play on the top line with Jaden Schwartz, who does not get the top power play minutes. Regardless, Calgary is a bad team and the Blues should light the lamp tonight. The second line features Paul Stastny, who leads the team in points with Tarasenko, as he centers Robby Fabbri and Nail Yakupov. This is a decent line to target for your GPP plays, as they will have plenty of opportunity against a weak Calgary defense. Speaking of defense, Kevin Shattenkirk and Alex Pietrangelo join Tarasenko, Steen and Stastny to complete the team’s top power play unit. Look for this unit to grab at least one goal en route to a St Louis win.
UPDATE
According to Jeremy Rutherford, the Blues beat writer, Ken Hitchcock has decided to change up his lines to look like this:
Robby Fabbri-Paul Stastny-Alexander Steen
David Perron-Jaden Schwartz-Vladimir Tarasenko
I would probably pair Stastny with Steen and Tarasenko with Schwartz. Either way, the Blues should score tonight.
Calgary Flames, the end. I wish I could leave it right there but that would be cheating you, the reader. Although Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan do not lead this team in points as yet, they are their top skilled players next to defenseman Mark Giordano and Dougie Hamilton. This is probably the reason why they along with second liner Troy Brouwer get most of the power play minutes. That means nothing at this point though, as they have just one goal in 22 tries with the man advantage. The Blues have only given up one goal in 17 attempts at killing a penalty. With that said watch the Flames torch them for three power play goals. I’m only half kidding as anything can happen in this game and usually does. For cash, I’d stick with the top line and not much else. There are better options tonight.
Elite Plays
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko
CGY: Johnny Gaudreau
Secondary Plays
STL: Alexander Steen, Paul Stastny, Kevin Shattenkirk, Alex Pietrangelo, Jaden Schwartz
CGY: Sean Monahan, Mark Giordano
Goaltenders
1. Jake Allen – St Louis
2. Craig Anderson – Ottawa
3. Braden Holtby – Washington