NHL Grind Down: Thursday, February 23rd - Page Two
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Boston Bruins at Los Angeles Kings
| Boston Bruins | Los Angeles Kings | ||||||||
 | Anton Khudobin |  | Peter Budaj | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 30-23-6 | 29-26-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.66 | 2.61 | 20.00% | 86.40% | Team Stats | 2.44 | 2.42 | 16.80% | 84.60% |
Boston has been playing very well down the stretch, but they did see their four-game winning streak snapped with an overtime loss in Anaheim last night and happen to be the only team playing tonight on the second half of a back-to-back. With their playoff lives on the line, new coach Bruce Cassidy needs to find a way for his hockey club to power through this west coast road trip. Their task won’t be easy tonight as the Los Angeles Kings also have their backs up against the wall and own a solid 15-10-1 record at the Staples Center. The Bruins have two very capable scoring lines to attack Los Angeles with, and if you like strategic hockey, then tune in for this game. The trio of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Backes leads the charge offensively. Marchand leads the way with 59 points in 60 games and has racked up 34 points in 32 road games this season. While Cassidy will likely want to utilize their defensive skills to slow down Jeff Carter, Darryl Sutter will most likely be using the last line change to match them against Anze Kopitar as often as possible. This means that the second line of Peter Cehlarik, David Krejci and David Pastrnak will be a major key to this game. Pastrnak has been held off the score sheet in each of the last two games but has scored six goals and added nine assists in his last 11 games. Torey Krug has established himself as the top fantasy weapon on the Boston blue-line. He’s posted 37 points in 60 games and his shot volume (162 SOG) makes him a fine cash game option. Alternatively, Zdeno Chara is still showing to have some life left in his legs as he scored a goal last night and has three goals and three assists in his last six games.
Time is running out quickly for this Los Angeles team if they can’t get things turned around. They did pick up a win against the Colorado Avalanche in their last game, but are just 2-5-0 in their last seven games and are averaging just 1.86 goals per game during that span. They’ll face a tough test tonight as these two teams are ranked first and second in the entire NHL by puck possession standards and the Los Angeles dropped a 1-0 snooze fest in their only previous meeting this season. Much like Boston, the Kings have to main forward lines to worry about. Jeff Carter has easily been their most consistent scoring option and now owns 29 goals and 24 assists in 59 games. He’ll be joined by Tanner Pearson and Dustin Brown on one line, leaving Anze Kopitar to center Tyler Toffoli and Dwight King on another. I mentioned the potential coaching chess matchup that will likely occur a bit earlier, but despite the potentially tough matchup, Carter and Pearson still look like the top plays. They’ve combined for nine goals and eight assists in nine games this month. On defense, there are plenty of fine options. Drew Doughty, Alec Martinez and Jake Muzzin have all put up fine offensive numbers this season and also rack up the peripheral stats as well. Just keep your expectations in check a bit as Boston happens to own the NHL’s best penalty kill (86.6%).
Boston Bruins
Team Metrics – 2016-17 – 55.57 CF%, 5×5 Goal Differential -15, 113.24 CP60
Elite Options
Brad Marchand ($7,700 FD, $7,300 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 71.42 CF60, 3.07 xGF60, 96.67 PDO
David Pastrnak ($6,600 FD, $6,700 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 71.5 CF60, 3.22 xGF60, 99.21 PDO
Torey Krug ($5,600 FD, $5,100 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 67.03 CF60, 2.55 xGF60, 96.33 PDO
Secondary Options
Patrice Bergeron ($7,100 FD, $6,700 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 70.57 CF60, 2.8 xGF60, 96.87 PDO
David Backes ($5,100 FD, $4,900 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 64.03 CF60, 2.69 xGF60, 96.39 PDO
David Krejci ($5,300 FD, $4,900 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 62.62 CF60, 2.61 xGF60, 96.13 PDO
Expected Netminder
Anton Khudobin – My Ratings (out of 10): 5.5 Cash, 6.5 GPP
Los Angeles Kings
Team Metrics – 2016-17 – 54.92 CF%, 5×5 Goal Differential -1, 109.63 CP60
Elite Options
Jeff Carter ($7,400 FD, $7,400 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 61.24 CF60, 2.64 xGF60, 100.37 PDO
Drew Doughty ($5,500 FD, $5,500 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 61.3 CF60, 2.63 xGF60, 100.38 PDO
Secondary Options
Anze Kopitar ($5,900 FD, $5,400 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 63.4 CF60, 2.97 xGF60, 98.69 PDO
Tyler Toffoli ($5,400 FD, $5,600 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 61.83 CF60, 2.6 xGF60, 98.54 PDO
Tanner Pearson ($5,700 FD, $5,800 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 64.61 CF60, 2.65 xGF60, 100.31 PDO
Alec Martinez ($4,500 FD, $4,800 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 60.74 CF60, 2.68 xGF60, 95.23 PDO
Jake Muzzin ($4,400 FD, $4,700 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 62.28 CF60, 2.59 xGF60, 94.86 PDO
Expected Netminder
Peter Budaj – My Ratings (out of 10): 6 Cash, 6.5 GPP