NHL Grind Down: Saturday, October 7th - Page Three
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Vegas Golden Knights at Arizona Coyotes
| Vegas Golden Knights | Arizona Coyotes | ||||||||
 | Malcom Subban |  | Antti Raanta | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 30-42-10 | |||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | Team Stats | 2.31 | 3.16 | 16.20% | 77.30% | ||||
The newly minted Golden Knights will definitely have some growing pains even if they do have a few goal scorers like James Neal and Jonathan Marchessault. This was evident as the Vegas team gave up a ton of shots last night in Dallas and if it wasn’t for goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury they would have been blown out very early. Marchessault skated on a line with Reilly Smith and Oscar Lindberg while Neal skated on the second line with Cody Eakin and David Perron. It will be interesting to see if they can generate any kind of offense against one of the worst teams in the league from last year. If they can’t you will know that it will be a long season for the Golden Knights and will probably be irrelevant for most of the season where daily fantasy is concerned. This is a team that will have to feel its way through the season as evidence of having every player that was suited up receive some kind of ice time with the man advantage. Jason Garrison, Nate Schmidt and Colin Miller are all playing the defensive position but I wouldn’t recommend playing any of them unless they are at home and playing a very weak team.
Arizona gave it the old college try before succumbing to two third period goals in their 5-4 loss at Anaheim on Thursday night. The good news is that the Coyotes did manage to put some pucks in the net and that should be able to help us here against the expansion Vegas team. We always seem to start with defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson as he is one of the more talented players Arizona has ever had. It seems year after year he produces while the rest of his team mates aren’t. He will get plenty of ice time tonight, including the first shifts when the Coyotes have the man advantage. Newcomer Derek Stepan will center Max Domi and Clayton Keller while Christian Dvorak will play in between Nick Cousins and Anthony Duclair on the team’s second line. Dvorak joined the top line on the team’s top power play unit the other night and I would expect no different tonight seeing as they did apply a lot of pressure on their four chances the other night. Brendan Perlini and Dylan Strome will skate on the third line but I don’t think there is a need to go that deep tonight. If you want to deviate on the back line Alex Goligoski is probably one of the better secondary defensemen tonight considering his match-up.
Top Plays
LVG: None
ARZ: Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Secondary Plays
LVG: Jonathan Marchessault, James Neal
ARZ: Max Domi, Derek Stepan, Christian Dvorak
Edmonton Oilers at Vancouver Canucks
| Edmonton Oilers | Vancouver Canucks | ||||||||
 | Cam Talbot |  | Jacob Markstrom | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 46-26-9 | 30-42-9 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.88 | 2.59 | 22.90% | 80.60% | Team Stats | 2.18 | 2.93 | 14.20% | 76.60% |
There was some talk that Leon Draisaitl would be taken off the Connor McDavid and Patrick Maroon line before the last game but that was all put to bed once the game started. McDavid went on to score all three goals in the 3-0 home victory over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night while the aforementioned Drasaitl notched two assists. Both get the extra minutes on the top power play unit which basically makes them the chalk plays of this game. Edmonton does have other players if you can believe that as Milan Lucic and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins anchored the second line with three different right wingers. This does not bode well for taking anyone else but those two if you are looking to get away from McDavid and still roster players from the visiting Edmonton team. Mark Letestu skates on the third line and is still seeing the extra minutes with McDavid on the top power play unit. This my friends, makes for a decent punt play here as you have probably already surmised. Oscar Klefbom is the easy choice on the back line if you like the chalk play but you may also want to look at Adam Larsson or matt Benning if you want to go a bit cheaper. Although Vancouver has a few new faces it is probably not likely they will have enough to stop the Oilers tonight.
Next to Colorado, Vancouver was the worst team in the league last year with 69 points as their acquisition of Loui Eriksson basically blew up in their faces. Eriksson is back on the second line with Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi while newcomer Thomas Vanek will skate with Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin. The Sedin brothers are getting a bit long in the tooth so putting the defensively challenged Vanek with them makes no sense whatsoever. The y should however get some scoring chances as they are also slotted to hit the ice first when the Canucks have the extra attacker. This does not mean you can disregard Horvat and Baertschi as the former led the team in points with 52 of them last season. Sam Gagner will join the Sedin line on the top power play unit along with defenseman Alexandre Edler. Vancouver scored the second least most goals last season so using any of these guys as other than a GPP play may be sealing your fate tonight.
Top Plays
EDM: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl
VAN: None
Secondary Plays
EDM: Patrick Maroon, Mark Letestu, Milan Lucic, Oscar Klefbom
VAN: Daniel Sedin, Thomas Vanek, Bo Horvat, Henrik Sedin
Philadelphia Flyers at Anaheim Ducks
| Philadelphia Flyers | Anaheim Ducks | ||||||||
 | Brian Elliott |  | John Gibson | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 39-33-9 | 45-23-13 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.59 | 2.82 | 19.60% | 79.90% | Team Stats | 2.71 | 2.54 | 18.70% | 84.80% |
The Flyers hung in there on opening night and beat a depleted San Jose team in California by a score of 5-3. Wayne Simmonds started his 30 goal campaign off early and often by lighting the lamp three times while defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere may have just shaken off the sophomore slump from last year as he added three assists to the festivities. Simmonds skates on the second line with newcomer Nolan Patrick and Jordan Weal while Claude Giroux has moved to a wing that is centered by Sean Couturier and Jakub Voracek. Look for Valtteri Filppula to jump up from the third line to join Giroux, Voracek, Simmonds and Gostisbehere on the team’s top power play unit. The Flyers are a team that uses the first power play unit for a good portion of the time that the team has the extra attacker which makes these guys the chalk plays here. Defenseman Ivan Provorov saw a little power play time as well as he was able to get two shots on goal while blocking another five on opening night. Keep an eye on the Anaheim injury list as they are missing a ton of players which could make it easy for the Philadelphia team tonight.
Ryan Kesler, Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen, Patrick Eaves were all deemed out of Thursdays lineup but when Ryan Getzlaf showed up as a scratch I bet most thought that the Ducks may have had a hard time with the Arizona Coyotes. They would have been right as it took two third period goals to squeak by the team from the desert. Rickard Rakell took over the top line centering duties as he was thrust between Corey Perry and Andrew Cogliano while Antoine Vermette found himself between Jakob Silfverberg and Nick Ritchie. Perry, Rakell and Silfverberg saw an enormous amount of power play time as defenseman Cam Fowler and Brandon Montour manned the points from the blue line. Rakell and Perry are the two I’d look at here if Getlzaf is still out as they will skate side by side for most of the night with Anaheim dictating what line skates against the Philadelphia weaker lines. The Flyers lost 2-0 to the kings on Thursday and will be playing their third game in three nights. The Ducks were 29-8-4 in front of the home crowd last year and should continue that trend tonight as they are one of the better teams at matching lines on home ice.
Top Plays
PHL: Wayne Simmonds
ANA: Corey Perry
Secondary Plays
PHL: Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Shayne Gostisbehere
ANA: Rickard Rakell, Jakob Silfverberg, Cam Fowler
Winnipeg Jets at Calgary Flames
| Winnipeg Jets | Calgary Flames | ||||||||
 | Steve Mason |  | Mike Smith | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 40-35-7 | 45-33-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.00 | 3.11 | 18.20% | 77.50% | Team Stats | 2.67 | 2.73 | 20.20% | 81.60% |
Both teams come into this one looking for their first win of the season. At least Winnipeg was able to light the lamp a few times but unfortunately it’s the same old song and dance as last year, they can’t prevent the puck from going into their own net. The Jets were awarded eight power plays in their 7-2 loss to Toronto and didn’t cash in on any of them. There is no doubt that we will see the Jets lines change on a nightly basis if this keeps up. For now though we have Mark Scheifele centering Blake Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers whole Bryan Little has Mathieu Perreault and Patrik Laine to his left and right respectively. Laine is the stud here as it will be interesting to see what the youngster can do with a full season’s worth of games. All six logged a lot of power play minutes Wednesday night along with Adam Lowry, who skates on the team’s third line. He should be cheap enough to use as a punt play here. On the back line there are two choices if you want to walk the straight line and they are Dustin Byfuglien and Jacob Trouba. Both defensemen registered five shots apiece on opening night but it was Byfuglien who was second on the team last year with 241 shots on net last season. This should be a fairly close game with the edge going to the home team.
It looks like Jaromir Jagr is poised to join the Calgary line up and will skate on the third line with Sam Bennett and Kris Versteeg. Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan are the chalk plays here as they not only skate on the top line but they anchor the Flames top power play unit as well. Despite only playing in 72 games last season Gaudreau was able to rack up 61 goals which included lighting the lamp 18 times. Micheal Ferland will join them on the top line while Michael Frolik, Matthew Tkachuk and Mikael Backlund shore up the team’s second line. As far as the back line goes you have a few choices as Mark Giordano, Dougie Hamilton and T.J. Brodie all see north of 21 minutes per game and get just about the same amount of extra ice time when the Flames have the extra attacker. Given the fact that Calgary is playing later in the evening and they are playing Winnipeg I expect to see quite a bit of exposure to Gaudreau and company.
Top Plays
WIN: Patrik Laine
CGY: Johnny Gaudreau
Secondary Plays
WIN: Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Bryan Little, Dustin Byfuglien
CGY: Sean Monahan, Matthew Tkachuk, Mikael Backlund, Dougie Hamilton
Los Angeles Kings at San Jose Sharks
| Los Angeles Kings | San Jose Sharks | ||||||||
 | Jonathan Quick |  | Martin Jones | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 39-35-7 | 46-29-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.46 | 2.44 | 19.00% | 84.60% | Team Stats | 2.65 | 2.42 | 16.70% | 80.70% |
The Kings held the fort down on Thursday night as they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers by a score of 2-0. Tonight they travel to San Jose to take on a Sharks team that lost to that same Philadelphia team by a score of 5-3 on Wednesday evening. Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar will be relied on just like they have been the past few seasons to get the Kings back on track after missing out on the playoffs last season. Carter has been put back on the top line with Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson while Kopitar centers Dustin Brown and Alex Iafallo. This leaves newcomer Mike Cammalleri to patrol the third line with Johnny Brodzinski and Adrian Kempe in tow. Look for the pair of Brown and Kopitar to team up with carter and Toffoli to form 80% of the team’s top power play unit. Defenseman Drew Doughty completes the unit and should be looked at here as one of the better defensive plays of the night. Jake Muzzin and Oscar Fantenberg saw some time on the Kings second power play unit and should be considered as punt plays only on a large slate like tonight’s. Los Angeles may not pull off a win but they should score a few goals against the Sharks tonight.
While Patrick Marleau was busy scoring a pair of goals for his new team opening night, his old team was floundering on home ice to the tune of 5-3 against Philadelphia. Kevin Labanc netted two of the goals as he was skating on the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski. I am pretty sure that if you or I was on a line with those two we could score some goals as well. Mikkel Boedker and Logan Couture skate on the second line with Jannik Hansen while Tomas Hertl and Joonas Donskoi skate on the Sharks third line. If you are looking to pair up stick with either Pavelski and Thornton or Couture and Boedker as they are awarded the extra minutes on the team’s top power play unit. Brent Burns anchors the power play unit from the blue line and is always a chalk play if you can afford him. With this many games on the slate it is very tough to recommend either Paul Martin or Justin Braun as they just don’t bring enough to the table on a nightly basis.
Top Plays
LAK: Jeff Carter
SJ: Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns
Secondary Plays
LAK: Anze Kopitar, Tyler Toffoli, Drew Doughty, Dustin Brown
SJ: Logan Couture, Joe Thornton