NHL Grind Down: Saturday, October 24th - Page Two
Florida Panthers at Dallas Stars – 08:00 PM EDT
| Florida Panthers | Dallas Stars | ||||||||
 | Roberto Luongo |  | Kari Lehtonen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 38-29 | 41-31 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.41 | 2.60 | 16.30% | 80.00% | Team Stats | 3.13 | 3.13 | 19.00% | 80.70% |
The Florida Panthers will look to rebound from three straight losses when they travel to Dallas tonight to take on the Stars for the second time this season. Florida jumped out of the gate this year with victories in three of their first four games, but have since come back to earth with a 3-3-1 record. Florida is a young team that is still working to establish their identity. The offensive skill is in place for the Panthers and, at times, they have looked very solid on the defensive side of the puck. Consistency appears to be the issue for Florida and they may struggle to find any tonight. Star Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov will not play tonight, having left the last game with a hand or wrist injury. Barkov had shown great chemistry playing on the top line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Jaromir Jagr, so this is a big blow to the club. It’s unclear who will replace Barkov on the top line, but the value there diminishes significantly regardless, as Barkov was the playmaker that made the line churn. If you are looking for fantasy relevance here, Nick Bjugstad may be the way to go as he is highly skilled and the most likely replacement for Barkov on the top line. The Stars have been surprisingly good defensively to begin the season, allowing only 2.14 goals against per game.
The Dallas Stars will look to extend a five-game winning streak tonight on home ice against the Panthers. The Patrick Sharp – Tyler Seguin – Jamie Benn line is the best in all of hockey and they’re completely matchup proof. On any given night this trio can light up the scoresheet both at even strength and on the man advantage. The Dallas power-play is converting at 30.4% to start the year while the Florida penalty kill is operating at a mere 76.7%. John Klingberg scored on the power-play last game and is one of the best plays on defense as the quarterback of the Dallas’ top unit. Because so much attention is given to the Benn / Seguin line both on the ice and in DFS tournaments, Jason Spezza provides great value as he often sees great match-ups and comes in at low ownership.
Elite Plays
FLA: Jaromir Jagr, Nick Bjugstad
DAL: Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, John Klingberg
Secondary Plays
FLA: Jonathan Huberdeau, Brandon Pirri, Aaron Ekblad
DAL: Patrick Sharp, Jason Spezza
New York Islanders at St. Louis Blues – 08:00 PM EDT
| New York Islanders | St. Louis Blues | ||||||||
 | Jaroslav Halak |  | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 47-28 | 51-24 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.99 | 2.73 | 18.70% | 78.00% | Team Stats | 2.91 | 2.40 | 22.30% | 83.70% |
The New York Islanders will play a road back-to-back tonight against the St. Louis Blues, having lost to Boston last night 5-3. The Islanders lacked urgency throughout much of the game against the Bruins and their record fell to 4-2-1 as a result. Playing against the Blues is never an easy task and doing so on the back-to-back and on the road will be particularly difficult for New York. St. Louis is an above average defensive team and, despite the firepower the Islanders possess on the offensive side of the puck, it’s unlikely they will find the twine tonight at the high rate they have shown to start the year. The Islanders are averaging 3.43 goals per game this season, a number that is sure to come down substantially as the year progresses. For perspective, only three teams in the NHL averaged over three goals a game last year, with the best being the Stanley-Cup Finalist Tampa Bay Lightning at 3.16 G/GP. That being said, John Tavares is a top-5 NHL player and he has ten points in seven games to start the year. In turn, the Islanders’ top line of Tavares, Ryan Strome, and Anders Lee is always in play.
The St. Louis Blues will put their 5-2-0 record on the line tonight when they host the New York Islanders who are playing on the back-to-back. The Blues’ record is impressive considering that the team has suffered some unfortunate injuries to start the year, most recently forward Jaden Schwartz who injured his leg in practice and won’t play tonight. Star defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and forwards Paul Stastny, Robbi Fabri and Patrik Berglund also remain shelved with injuries. In spite of these losses, Vladimir Tarasenko continues to pace the Blues nine points (five goals) in seven games and his linemate Alexander Steen is producing at a point-per-game clip. A home matchup with the defensively mediocre Islanders playing on the back-to-back is ideal for this duo and you should expect them to hit the scoresheet tonight, perhaps more than once. Jori Lehtera has returned to center the Steen – Tarasenko line in Stastny’s absence and anyone who followed hockey last year knows that the “STL” line was deadly. Lehtera looks to be getting power-play time as well and has a reasonable price across the industry. St. Louis is a -160 favorite in this matchup and starting goalie Brian Elliott has yet to lose a game this year. That being said, the Islanders offense has shown their offensive capability and there is definitely some risk in rostering Elliott.
Elite Plays
NYI: John Tavares
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko, Jori Lehtera, Alexander Steen
Secondary Plays
NYI: Ryan Strome, Anders Lee, Kyle Okposo, Johnny Boychuk
STL: David Backes, Alex Pietrangelo, Troy Brouwer
Pittsburgh Penguins at Nashville Predators – 08:00 PM EDT
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Nashville Predators | ||||||||
 | Marc-Andre Fleury |  | Pekka Rinne | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 43-27 | 47-25 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.65 | 2.49 | 19.30% | 84.80% | Team Stats | 2.76 | 2.46 | 16.20% | 80.80% |
The Pittsburgh Penguins travel to Nashville tonight to face the Predators. The Penguins fell to Dallas 4-1 last time out and continue to struggle to score despite the massive amount of offensive talent that the team possesses. The Penguins are averaging a paltry 1.57 goals per game to start the season… a number good for second-worst in the league. Sidney Crosby only has three points in seven games and all of those points came in the same game. Don’t quote me on this, but I’d venture to say that this is the first time in Crosby’s career that he has had six pointless games in a ten-game span. Phil Kessel has struggled to produce alongside Crosby only managing three points as well. Evgeni Malkin may be the lone bright spot production-wise on this team, as he has five points in seven games, but even those numbers aren’t particularly impressive for a player of Malkin’s caliber. I am of the belief that the Penguins will eventually figure it out, but I don’t think that will happen tonight against a sturdy Predators team. The Predators are tied for fourth in the league in goals against per game at 2.00 and are getting stellar play from Pekka Rinne. I could see taking some Penguins as a highly contrarian move but this doesn’t look like the matchup in which they will break out.
The Nashville Predators will look to improve on their impressive 6-1-0 start to the season tonight against the Penguins in Nashville. The Predators handily defeated the Ducks last time out and are rolling to start the year. Nashville is averaging over 3.14 goals per game. James Neal has been totally dominant and the hottest player in the NHL as of late, notching eight points over the last four games playing alongside Filip Forsberg and Mike Fisher. Though the Neal line provides tons of offensive spark, the Predators have significant depth and the second line of Colin Wilson, Mike Ribeiro, and Craig Smith shouldn’t be ignored. Roman Josi is showing his ability with five points in seven games and appears primed to improve on last year’s breakout season. Despite the Penguins’ offensive struggles outlined above, they have been solid on the defensive side of the puck and Marc-Andre Fleury has been reliable in net. Though there will be a lot of offensive talent on the ice in Nashville tonight, this game could end up being a tightly played affair.
Elite Plays
PIT: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin
NSH: James Neal, Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi
Secondary Plays
PIT: Phil Kessel, Kris Letang
NSH: Pekka Rinne, Shea Weber, Mike Ribeiro
Tampa Bay Lightning at Chicago Blackhawks – 08:30 PM EDT
| Tampa Bay Lightning | Chicago Blackhawks | ||||||||
 | Ben Bishop |  | Corey Crawford | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 50-24 | 48-28 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.16 | 2.51 | 18.80% | 83.70% | Team Stats | 2.68 | 2.27 | 17.60% | 83.40% |
The Tampa Bay Lightning travel to Chicago tonight on the back-to-back in a premier matchup featuring last year’s Stanley Cup Finalists. The Lightning beat Winnipeg last night in overtime and have started the year strong with a 5-2-1 record. Playing a back-to-back on the road in Chicago is not an enviable position to be in, though the task is slightly less difficult with Duncan Keith sidelined for the Hawks. Victor Hedman surprisingly leads the Lightning with nine points in seven games (all assists) and the Jonathan Drouin – Steven Stamkos – Ryan Callahan has combined for 18 points in eight games. The Triplets line of Nikita Kucherov – Tyler Johnson – Ondrej Palat that was the bread and butter for the Lightning last year has failed to produce at the same level so far this season, though they could get some nice match-ups in this game if Chicago chooses to put the Jonathan Toews line out against the Stamkos line. Despite averaging over three goals scored per game this year, Tampa Bay faces a tough matchup tonight and it may be wisest to look elsewhere for fantasy relevance considering all the other lopsided games occurring tonight.
The Chicago Blackhawks beat Florida 3-2 on Thursday, showing little that they have little difficulty playing without their defensive anchor Duncan Keith. Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin have quickly found chemistry and lead the Hawks with ten and eight points apiece to start the year. It appears Tampa Bay may give Ben Bishop a rest tonight, as they recalled rookie goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis, which would be a boon for the Hawks offense. Brent Seabrook had a huge game on Thursday in Keith’s absence, notching a goal and two assists. While Trevor Daley appeared poised to take over top power-play duties in place of Keith, Coach Joel Quenneville utilized Seabrook in that spot all night and will likely do so going forward. Seabrook is reasonably priced given his increased role and is in a great position to do some damage tonight on the man advantage against a Tampa Bay penalty kill that is only succeeding at 68.2%.
Elite Plays
TBL: Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman
CHI: Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin, Brent Seabrook
Secondary Plays
TBL: Ryan Callahan, Jonathan Drouin, Tyler Johnson
CHI: Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Trevor Daley
Columbus Blue Jackets at Colorado Avalanche – 09:00 PM EDT
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Colorado Avalanche | ||||||||
 | Sergei Bobrovsky |  | Semyon Varlamov | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 42-35 | 39-31 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.77 | 3.02 | 21.70% | 80.20% | Team Stats | 2.55 | 2.72 | 15.00% | 84.60% |
The Columbus Blue Jackets are still winless on the year, as they dropped a close game to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday… their first under new coach John Tortorella. Despite the fact that Columbus is allowing over 4.5 goals against per game, Tortorella has a reputation as a stern defensively minded coach, so I expect things to tighten up for the Blue Jackets as the season progresses. Tortorella tinkered with the Blue Jackets lines for much of the game on Thursday, but he did play studs Ryan Johansen, Nick Foligno, and Brandon Saad together a significant amount which is great for fantasy purposes. The match-up against Colorado is solid even on the road and Columbus should dominate the puck possession battle in this game. It is worth noting that Ryan Johansen didn’t take a shift for the last six minutes of Thursday’s game, so make sure he is in the lineup before rolling him out.
The Colorado Avalanche are 2-3-1 on the season, but get to face a team with a far worse record tonight in the winless Columbus Blue Jackets. Colorado continues to struggle desperately to possess the puck and the advanced analytics peg them as one of the worst teams in the league. That being said, Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon have been making the most of their opportunities to start the year, each notching six points through six games. Colorado gets an exceptional special teams match-up tonight as the Blue Jackets struggle on the penalty kill, only stopping opponents from scoring at a 65.2% rate, while the Colorado power-play converts 27.3% of the time. Defenseman Nick Holden is dirt cheap across the industry and appears poised to man the point on the Avalanche’s top power-play unit. This game has all the makings of a high scoring affair.
Elite Plays
CBJ: Ryan Johansen, Brandon Saad, Nick Foligno
COL: Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon
Secondary Plays
CBJ: Brandon Dubinsky, Scott Hartnell
COL: Matt Duchene, Jarome Iginla, Nick Holden