NHL Grind Down: Thursday February 4th - Page Three
Columbus Blue Jackets at Vancouver Canucks – 10:00 PM EST
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Vancouver Canucks | ||||||||
 | John Gibson |  | Cory Schneider | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 19-27-5 | 20-19-11 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.57 | 3.16 | 17.90% | 81.00% | Team Stats | 2.36 | 2.74 | 16.80% | 80.50% |
The worst team in the league plays their second game of a three-game western Canadian road trip with a stop in Vancouver to take on the Canucks. Columbus dropped their first game in Edmonton on Tuesday night by a score of 5-1 and in all honesty, I am really not sure how this Blue Jacket team was able to wrestle a home and home series away from the Montreal Canadiens early last week. Brandon Saad and Nick Foligno are the plays here as they not only skate on the top power play line, but they also skate on the teams second line as well. Saad has four points in his last five games while Foligno has four points in his last eight games. The only risky thing about this is the fact that Vancouver may want to try to shut down this line leaving the top line of Brandon Dubinsky, Boone Jenner and Cam Atkinson to do most of the damage. Dubinksy and Atkinson make a nice GPP duo as Dubinsky has four goals and four assists in his last eight games while Atkinson has scored six points in his last five games. Jack Johnson plays the point on the power play but is not a very good play as he has just two points in his last ten games.
If the playoffs were to start today the Vancouver Canucks would have already cleared out their lockers and been making tee times. Lucky for them there is still 32 games left on their schedule and with them only being four points away from a playoff spot, there seems to be some time left. Henrik Sedin returns tonight and will be placed on the top line with Daniel Sedin and Jannik Hansen but it will be Radim Vrbata taking Hansen’s place when the team goes on the power play. The Blue Jackets have given up four goals while skating short-handed over the last three games, so making this the starting and ending point may be a good idea. Alexander Edler and Alexandre Burrows take the points on the power play and it looks like Edler may have found something as he has two points in his last three games. Bo Horvat is you one-off GPP play here as he skates on the second line and has found the scoresheet seven times in the last eight games.
Elite Plays
CBJ: None
Van: None
Secondary Plays
CBJ: Brandon Dubinsky, Cam Atkinson, Brandon Saad, Nick Foligno, Scott Hartnell, Seth Jones
Van: Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Radim Vrbata, Alexander Edler, Bo Horvat
Anaheim Ducks at Los Angeles Kings – 10:30 PM EST
| Anaheim Ducks | Los Angeles Kings | ||||||||
 | Louis Domingue |  | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 22-18-7 | 30-15-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.11 | 2.32 | 18.90% | 89.60% | Team Stats | 2.58 | 2.23 | 21.20% | 82.20% |
After going 11-2-1 in their last 14 games the Anaheim Ducks have gained enough momentum to put themselves in position to qualify for this year’s playoffs. Although 53 points is just two points ahead of Vancouver in the Western conference it would appear that the Ducks are now finally healthy again and playing good hockey. Their first test comes tonight as they visit the Pacific division leading Los Angeles Kings who have 65 points through 50 games. Corey Perry leads the team in goals with 20 and has the hot hand by evidence of his three goals and three assists in his last four games. Although line mate Rickard Rakell doesn’t get the top power play minutes he has produced three goals to go along with two assists in his last five games. The top line features Ryan Getzlaf and David Perron who when joined with Perry, make up the team’s top power play unit. Getzlaf has tallied assists in eight of his last nine games which would make him a decent option even in cash games tonight. Sami Vatanen and Cam Fowler get the power play time on the points, but it may be best to shy away from them tonight, especially when there are a lot more players to choose from.
Anze Kopitar not only leads the Kings in scoring but he has been able to put together a pretty nice run of late by registering 13 points in his last nine games. Daryl Sutter has indicated he wanted Marian Gaborik to start producing more so he put him on the top line with Kopitar and Milan Lucic and so far, that seems to have worked. Gaborik has scored two goals in the last three games which is no doubt a small sample size but if he remains with Kopitar, he should be just fine. The second line of Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson has been struggling over the last five games as they collectively have just four assists over that time period. Defenseman Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin take the points on the top power play unit and both should be in play tonight. Both players are not only in the top six on the team’s scoring sheet they both also have tallied four points each in their last three games.
Elite Plays
ANA: Corey Perry
LAK: Anze Kopitar
Secondary Plays
ANA: Ryan Getzlaf, Sami Vatanen, Rickard Rakell, David Perron
LAK: Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin, Milan Lucic, Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli