NHL Grind Down: Sunday, November 13th - Page Two
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New York Rangers at Edmonton Oilers
| New York Rangers | Edmonton Oilers | ||||||||
 |  | ||||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 10-4-0 | 9-5-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 4.14 | 2.43 | 22.40% | 84.20% | Team Stats | 2.93 | 2.53 | 18.60% | 88.90% |
Backed by a stellar effort from Henrik Lunqvist, the New York Rangers defeated the Calgary Flames by a score of 4-1 in Alberta last night. Tonight, they stay in the same province as they take on the much better Edmonton Oilers. The Rangers have been getting production from all four lines lately, and that is the reason they are tied with Pittsburgh for the Metropolitan division with 22 points. Ten different Rangers have scored a goal over the last three games. That’s pretty impressive since they only have found the back of the net 12 times in those three games. We have to pick a line here so let’s go with Pavel Buchnevich, Mika Zibanejad and Mats Zuccarello for the mere fact that this line has produced five of the last 12 goals. Buchnevich is starting to find his groove, as he is the only player who has three goals over the last three games and looks to be shooting the puck a bit more along with his line mates. Chris Kreider, Derek Stepan and Rick Nash are also in play here as this is the line the team will look to for leadership considering they have been around more than say a Mika Zibanejad or Pavel Buchnevich. J.T. Miller and Kevin Hayes continue to lead the team in points and should be considered here as well. This is a unique situation where you can play any of those three lines and be rewarded with a goal two. This is unlike teams like say, Boston who you know have guys that can score but don’t do it consistently enough. With all of this scoring, it is no wonder the Rangers are the first team to break the 60-goal mark, as Philadelphia is seven points below them with 55 goals scored so far this season. Ryan McDonagh has been cold of late but is the choice here so maybe it’s best to look elsewhere or punt with Brady Skeji who has grabbed a few pints over the past week.
The Rangers started a four game road trip last night in Calgary while Edmonton has dropped their last two games at Pittsburgh and at home against Dallas. The top line of Connor McDavid, Jordan Eberle and Patrick Maroon has been at the core of the scoring over the past four games as each had a hand in five of the 10 goals the Oilers have scored. Playing on home ice surely helps them to get the match ups they want on the ice against a team that played last night. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Milan Lucic join McDavid and Eberle on a power play that was hot but has cooled off over the last two games. If the Rangers can take some tired penalties, we could be in business here. Oscar Klefbom was moved to point the first unit on the power play as Andrej Sekera was basically useless in that role. Keep McDavid and Eberle together while you can use Lucic and Nugent-Hopkins as one-offs here tonight.
Elite Plays
NYR: None
EDM: Connor McDavid
Secondary Plays
NYR: Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Pavel Buchnevich, Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller, Kevin Hayes
EDM: Jordan Eberle, Patrick Maroon, Milan Lucic