NHL Grind Down: Sunday, February 26th - Page Two
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Ottawa Senators at Florida Panthers
| Ottawa Senators | Florida Panthers | ||||||||
 |  | ||||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 32-21-6 | 28-22-10 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.61 | 2.63 | 17.30% | 83.50% | Team Stats | 2.52 | 2.75 | 16.10% | 85.30% |
In light of their recent injuries, I am sure the Ottawa Senators spent their day off yesterday trying to recover. Mark Stone is listed as day-to-day while Mike Hoffman is just not physically fit enough to tough it out with his current groin injury. Bobby Ryan is also injured, which doesn’t help matters much as Ottawa tries to hold onto second place in the Atlantic Division. Kyle Turris will center Ryan Dzingel and Jean-Gabriel Pageau if Hoffman can’t go while Derick Brassard gets Zack Smith and Tom Pyatt as his wingers. Now you see why they didn’t score any goals the other night and may turn the same trick again tonight. One would have to figure that Florida will try to shut down the Turris line, which would give Derick Brassard the one-off sticker for tonight’s tournament action. Erik Karlsson is the only possible cash play option here, but the defenseman’s asking price is more than likely too much for tonight. Karlsson has registered eight of his team leading 52 points over the last 10 games. He also soaks up most of the time on the team’s top power play unit while averaging over 25 minutes of ice time per game.
If Florida misses the playoffs by a point or two, they will no doubt point to their last game as they let Calgary come into their own barn and beat them by a score of 4-2 on Friday night. Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Jaromir Jagr will look to give the team a shot in the arm in hopes of climbing back into the eighth playoff spot. Their 66 points has left them on the outside looking in and need to string together a couple of wins. Barkov has lit the lamp seven times over the last nine games while his 37 points in 45 games is second on the team to Vincent Trocheck. Reilly Smith and Jussi Jokinen skate on the team’s second line while Nick Bjugstad and Jonathan Marchessault get the third line duties. Florida has scored 27 goals over the last seven games, which means that basically everyone is finding the score sheet in one form or the other. Keith Yandle and Aaron Ekblad are the chioices from the back line, with Yandle being the safest play here as he keeps on churning out the points. He leads all Florida defensemen with 31 points so far this season. Look for the Panthers to light the lamp a few times here and win going away.
Elite Plays
OTT: Erik Karlsson
FLA: Aleksander Barkov
Secondary Plays
OTT: Kyle Turris, Ryan Dzingel, Derick Brassard
FLA: Jonathan Huberdeau, Jaromir Jagr, Keith Yandle, Vincent Trocheck, Jonathan Marchessault
Buffalo Sabres at Arizona Coyotes
| Buffalo Sabres | Arizona Coyotes | ||||||||
 |  | ||||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 26-25-10 | 21-32-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.43 | 2.72 | 22.60% | 75.40% | Team Stats | 2.33 | 3.22 | 14.90% | 77.50% |
Although Buffalo is still mathematically in this thing, their 62 points going into last night’s action was still a good six points away from the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They would also have to jump over three teams to get there, so a nice winning streak is needed to stay in the conversation. After watching the first period of last night’s game, it was obvious that Buffalo had the ‘fly out west blues’ as they gave up three goals in the first period to a Colorado team that hasn’t scored three goals in the last nine games let alone the first period. The top line of Kyle Okposo, Ryan O’Reilly and Justin Bailey serve as the team’s top line while Jack Eichel centers the second line with Evander Kane and Sam Reinhart. Much like last night, the second line is the one to target as Eichel and Company should get the extra room on the ice as Arizona should have their top defensive unit out against the O’Reilly line. It’s always a good idea to use Eichel as a one-off, especially against bad teams as he has collected 34 points in just 40 games and is eight shots away from leading the team in that department with 159 of them. Kane leads the team with 21 goals, while Okposo’s 39 points is tops on the team. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is the choice on the back line as he has notched 21 of his 37 points while quarterbacking the team’s top power play unit. Buffalo has been shut out just twice all season, with the last time being way back on November 7th; thinking they won’t score a few goals against a bad team tonight is probably just bad thinking.
After Arizona gave a few teams a scare, they are back to playing ugly hockey at best. They are, however, starting to score more than two goals a game as they have eclipsed that number eight times over the last 11 games. Playing against another team that isn’t that good and catching them on the second half of a back-to-back might be just what the GPP Doctor ordered here. Tobias Rieder has joined the top line, as he now skates with Martin Hanzal and Radim Vrbata. Hanzal leads the team with 16 goals, while Vrbata’s 44 points is tops on the team. This can only help Rieder’s stats, as he has found the score sheet 25 times in his 58 games. Max Domi has registered eight of his 24 points over the last 10 games and can be used here as a one-off play as he skates with Alex Burmistrov and Peter Holland at even strength. Brendan Perlini, Christian Dvorak, and Shane Doan make up the team’s third line but it’s probably best to look elsewhere for both cash and tournament selections tonight. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the play on the back line, as he is second on the team with 33 points. Meanwhile, Alex Goligoski has added eight points to his total of 24 over the last 10 games. Use him at your own risk.
Elite Plays
BUF: Rasmus Ristolainen, Jack Eichel
ARZ: Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Secondary Plays
BUF: Kyle Okposo, Ryan O’Reilly, Evander Kane, Sam Reinhart
ARZ: Radim Vrbata, Martin Hanzal, Max Domi, Tobias Rieder