NHL Grind Down: Sunday, December 11th - Page Two
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Dallas Stars at Chicago Blackhawks
| Dallas Stars | Chicago Blackhawks | ||||||||
 | Antti Niemi |  | Scott Darling | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 11-12-6 | 17-8-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.57 | 3.18 | 17.40% | 76.70% | Team Stats | 2.62 | 2.34 | 16.10% | 72.10% |
The Dallas Stars have their work cut out for them as they roll into Chicago tonight fresh off a 4-2 loss in Philadelphia yesterday afternoon. Head coach Lindy Ruff tried to stick with Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza as his top line but deviated from it frequently throughout the game as he normally does. There really is no reason to deviate from these three however as they are the best players the Stars have regardless of what line they play on. Seguin leads the team with 29 points on 93 shots while Benn is right behind him with eight goals and 16 assists so far this season. Spezza gets the pass here as he has been hurt but has still managed to grab 14 points in the 21 games he has played. They all play on the top power play unit that has scored three goals in the last five games. Defenseman John Klingberg mans the point on the power play while forward Patrick Eaves joins them to complete the five-man unit. The second line of Antione Roussel, Radek Faksa and Brett Ritchie probably have no value here unless you wanted to slip Faksa and Roussel into a GPP. Both can score at times with Roussel being the hotter player here as he has three points in the last five games. There was a rumor that Jiri Hudler may return tonight, but we will have to wait and see on that.
Chicago comes into this one leading the Western conference which is heavily backed by their 11-2-3 record on home ice. Jonathan Toews will miss his ninth straight game while the status of defenseman Brent Seabrook is unknown at this time. Patrick Kane Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov will no doubt see a lot of cash game ownership tonight as they lead the team with 27, 23 and 23 points respectively. They also get plenty of extra ice time as they are the team’s top unit with the man advantage. Marian Hossa makes for a nice one-off play here as he has collected three goals in the last five game, which gives him 14 on the year. He slides up with the Kane line when the team draws a penalty as he has accumulated six of 20 points when the Blackhawks have had the man advantage. If you want to deviate a little bit you could try to use Marcus Kruger or Ryan Hartman with Hossa as they complete the team’s second line. The problem is that they have just seven points each so far this season which probably doesn’t even warrant taking the risk, even in GPP’s. Duncan Keith is the paly on the point especially since Seabrook may not even get back into the lineup tonight. Keith anchors the top power play unit and has collected 17 assists while logging over 25 minutes of ice time per night.
Elite Plays
DAL: Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn
CHI: Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin
Secondary Plays
DAL: Jason Spezza, John Klingberg
CHI: Artem Anisimov, Duncan Keith, Marian Hossa
Colorado Avalanche at Toronto Maple Leafs
| Colorado Avalanche | Toronto Maple Leafs | ||||||||
 | Semyon Varlamov |  | Antoine Bibeau | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 10-15-1 | 11-10-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.24 | 2.96 | 16.00% | 79.00% | Team Stats | 2.96 | 3.08 | 18.40% | 85.70% |
The ad in the paper read ‘Goaltender Wanted’ Call Joe Sakic at 867-5309. This is what it should have read after the Avalanche have cemented themselves as the worst team in hockey last night by losing to the Canadiens by a score of 10-1. Truthfully I really don’t know how this team can rebound from this shellacking as they have only scored 57 goals all season. Colorado has given up more than five goals in a losing effort five times so far this year and the next game was always a loss. This bunch doesn’t seem to possess the short memory one needs to play professional sports, much less the puck. Gabriel Landeskog is probably wondering why he returned to the lineup after this debacle. Landeskog found himself on the second line last night with Carl Soderberg and Mikhail Grigorenko while the team scoring leader in Nathan MacKinnon centered Rene Bourque and Jarome Iginla. Luckily for the 21 year old MacKinnon he is making five million dollars a year because you’d have to be making that much to play with those two who have a combined age of 74, that’s right 74! Matt Duchene is second on the team in scoring next to MacKinnon and saw John Mitchell as his center with Mikko Rantanen on the opposite wing. Whatever Colorado was trying to do last night clearly didn’t work and probably should try to find their top six guys and put them together because that surely isn’t it. Tyson Barrie usually man the point on the team’s power play so taking anyone other than him, Landeskog, MacKinnon or Duchene would be utterly ridiculous tonight. For the record MacKinnon has 18 points in 25 games, Barrie has 12 points in 25 games while Duchene is your best bet as he has 17 points in 21 games. That is the top three scorers the Avalanche have.
The Maple Leafs shuffled their lines up a little bit last night and it seems to have worked as they beat Tuukka Rask in Boston by a score of 4-1. The top line of James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak and Mitchell Marner was left intact as they are the team’s best line and should be considered for cash game plays tonight. This trio has each found the scoresheet three times in the last four games as they occupy three of the top four spots on the maple Leafs scoring chart. Auston Matthews joins them as his 11 goals and nine assists are good enough for third on the team. Matthews makes a nice one-off play tonight as he has found the back of the net three times in the last four games. It looks like William Nylander was finally moved off of the fourth line and skated with Leo Komarov and Nazem Kadri which would put this line in position to be a nice GPP play tonight. Jake Gardiner and Morgan Rielly are the plays from the point as they each see some power play time with Rielly being the play here as he has more shots and points than the aforementioned Gardiner. I wouldn’t expect Colorado to give up another ten goals, but you never know.
Elite Plays
Col: None
TOR: James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak
Secondary Plays
COL: Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Tyson Barrie
TOR: Mitchell Marner, Auston Matthews, Morgan Rielly, Nazem Kadri
Winnipeg Jets at Edmonton Oilers
| Winnipeg Jets | Edmonton Oilers | ||||||||
 |  | ||||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 13-14-3 | 14-11-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.57 | 2.87 | 15.00% | 78.90% | Team Stats | 2.97 | 2.70 | 22.10% | 84.40% |
The Jets are getting very close to having a dominant top six as it’s starting to get tougher to figure what line is actually the top line. Going into last night’s game with CalgaryMark Scheifele was leading the team in points with 27 while skating with Blake Wheeler and Mark Dano. The weak link here is the 22 year old Australian as he has been trying to catch on over the last four years with Winnipeg being this third team so far. Time may be running out for Mr. Dano. Patrik Laine, Nikolaj Ehlers and Bryan Little make for as decent GPP play here even though the Oilers will try to shut them down. Both Laine and Ehlers have over 23 points so far with Laine leading the team in goals but we can’t discount Little just because he’s not in the ten in team scoring. He returned from injury eight games ago and has notched three goals and two assist over that time frame. This line is could do some damage especially if Edmonton continues to play like they have been. Dustin Byfuglien is the choice on defense as he has 19 points so far this season but now we find Jacob Trouba playing next to him on the team’s top power play unit. This could get interesting as the young defenseman has scored all of his points over the last four games.
The Oilers have lost their last four games and look to get back on track tonight on home ice as they host the Winnipeg Jets. They may catch the Jets napping here as they will be coming in from Calgary after playing the Flames last night. It will be interesting to see if they keep Drake Caggiula on the top line or not as he has just one goal playing next to Connor McDavid and Milan Lucic. Either way it’s going to be hard to pass up the leagues scoring leader on a night like tonight. McDavid has 12 goals and 28 assists while Lucic has 21 points playing next to the budding superstar. The ownership on these two will probably be through the roof in cash game play tonight as both play on the team’s top power play unit. The second line of Patrick Maroon, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle could be used as a GPP play here as they have recorded a total of eight points in the last five games. It may not seem like much but it’s about time Nugent-Hopkins and Maroon started to get their act together as Eberle has 23 points in 30 games, making him a nice one-off play here tonight. Speaking of one-offs you probably can’t get any better than Leon Draisaitl as he has grabbed three goals and two assists in the last four games upping his point total to 26 in 30 games. He skates on the third line but gets major exposure to McDavid while skating next to him on the team’s top power play unit. The Oilers are littered with one-off plays as Mark Letestu is yet another player who gets the McDavid exposure from the fourth line. Letestu has three of his ten points over the last four games. Andrej Sekera is the choice on defense as he quarterbacks the team’s top power play unit that has scored a whopping nine goals in the last six games. That’s good enough for me.
Elite Plays
WIN: Mark Scheifele
EDM: Connor McDavid
Secondary Plays
WIN: Patrik Laine, Nikolaj Ehlers, Bryan Little, Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien
EDM: Milan Lucic, Leon Draisaitl, Jordan Eberle, Andrej Sekera