NHL Grind Down: Sunday, December 6th - Page Two
Buffalo Sabres at Edmonton Oilers – 08:00 PM EST
| Buffalo Sabres | Edmonton Oilers | ||||||||
 | Chad Johnson |  | Anders Nilsson | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 11-12-3 | 10-15-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.38 | 2.58 | 21.90% | 75.80% | Team Stats | 2.41 | 2.96 | 17.80% | 80.50% |
Buffalo took advantage of a nice matchup on Friday and defeated the Arizona Coyotes 5-2. They have another favorable matchup on tap tonight as they’ll head to Edmonton to battle a defensively inept Oilers squad. Our friends in Vegas aren’t expecting much offense out of this game, but I tend to disagree. The Sabres have scored at least four goals in each of their last four games and have two very strong scoring lines. Ryan O’Reilly leads the way with 8 goals and 13 assists in 26 games this season and is joined by the finally healthy Evander Kane and emerging rookie Sam Reinhart on the very dangerous top line. Phenom Jack Eichel headlines the second line with Brian Gionta and Jamie McGinn on his wing. With Edmonton allowing 2.96 goals against per game this season, all six forwards are fine options if the asking price is right. Former first round pick Rasmus Ristolainen has emerged as the top option on the blue-line and the 21-year-old has racked up three goals and ten assists over the last 13 games.
In what should be the first of hopefully man exciting battles between Jack Eichel and Connor McDavid, the Oilers will put their two game winning streak on the line against Buffalo. With that said, they still own the worst record in the Western Conference and their schedule is about to get very daunting. Despite their struggles, the Oilers are certainly not lacking offensive talent. Taylor Hall has already racked up 10 goals and 16 assists in 27 games and headlines the very dangerous top line alongside Leon Draisaitl and Jordan Eberle. With Buffalo owning an atrocious 75.8% penalty kill, all three players look like very nice targets. Alternatively, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins centers Teddy Purcell and Lori Pakarinen on the second line and that grouping should be on your GPP radar. Andrej Sekera, Oscar Klefbom and Justin Schultz are the top options on the Edmonton blue-line, but none of them have a tremendous upside.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Los Angeles Kings – 10:00 PM EST
| Tampa Bay Lightning | Los Angeles Kings | ||||||||
 | Andrei Vasilevskiy |  | Jonathan Quick | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 12-11-3 | 16-8-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.31 | 2.19 | 17.30% | 77.30% | Team Stats | 2.56 | 2.12 | 19.50% | 83.90% |
The Lightning have been decimated by injuries lately, but they’ll head to the Staples Center tonight looking to head back to Florida with a sweep of the three California teams. The team will once again be without both Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat, which really puts the weight of the scoring on the Steven Stamkos line. However, with Anze Kopitar disruptive defense shadowing Stamkos all evening, this does not look like the best time to deploy him into your cash game rosters. The Kings have allowed just 2.12 goals per game this season and are 10-5-0 at the Staples Center, so tread carefully. On defense, Victor Hedman has posted 14 points in 26 games and is the top option with Anton Stralman seeing plenty of time on the power-play and carrying a much more reasonable asking price across the industry.
The Lightning escaped with a 2-1 overtime victory in the first meeting between these two teams, but the Kings out-shot Tampa 38-30 in that contest and the Lightning are far less menacing away from Amalie Arena. Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli (and Milan Lucic) and combined to form a very dangerous forward line and that trio has combined for 30 goals and 30 assists in 25 games this season. With Kopitar’s line likely on defensive duty, Darryl Sutter will be counting on them to keep things rolling offensively. Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin are easily the top two options on the Los Angeles blue-line, and with the Lightning owning an ugly 75.9% penalty kill, both players look like fine targets.