NHL Grind Down: Thursday February 4th - Page Two
New Jersey Devils at Toronto Maple Leafs – 07:30 PM EST
| New Jersey Devils | Toronto Maple Leafs | ||||||||
 |  | James Reimer | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 25-20-5 | 17-21-9 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.24 | 2.28 | 18.50% | 80.90% | Team Stats | 2.34 | 2.72 | 15.90% | 80.10% |
After a 2-0 loss at Pittsburgh right before the All-Star break the New Jersey Devils won their fifth game in their last six by beating the New York Rangers by a score of 3-2 on Tuesday night. Mike Cammalleri has been in and out of the lineup for the better part of a month and will not be in for tonight’s game. The top line of Adam Henrique, Lee Stempniak and Joseph Blandisi has done the most damage in recent weeks by accumulating eight goals and seven assists in the last five games. Stempniak leads the way however with five goals and two assists during that time frame. On the second line we find a few decent GPP plays in the form of Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac as they have collected three and four points respectively in the last five games. Eric Gelinas has been placed on the team’s top power play unit that has scored five goals in the last four games with the man advantage.
After winning just three games in January the Toronto Maple Leafs started February off on the right foot by stealing a 4-3 overtime win in Boston on Tuesday night. Tonight they face a gritty Devils team that has only given up just ten goals in their last six games and unfortunately it looks like the Leafs have only one line that can score, but even that is a reach. Nazem Kadri has scored three of the Leafs last seven goals which would cover the last five games they have played, so as you can see, if Toronto is to win tonight they will once again have to rely on their goaltending. Team scoring leader Leo Komarov skates with Kadri on the top line as well as the top power play unit which may be the Devils weakness as they have surrendered five goals over the last 15 times they were short-handed. P.A. Parenteau has the only point that the second line has tallied in the last five games and that came in the form of a goal on Tuesday night. Michael Grabner, Tyler Bozak and defenseman Dion Phanuef have been held scoreless over those last five games. Jake Gardiner may make a decent GPP play here as he skates on the top power play unit and has tallied two assists in his last three games.
Elite Plays
NJ: None
TOR: None
Secondary Plays
NJ: Lee Stempniak, Adam Henrique, Joseph Blandisi, Eric Gelinas, Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac
TOR: Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov, Jake Gardiner
San Jose Sharks at St. Louis Blues – 08:00 PM EST
| San Jose Sharks | St. Louis Blues | ||||||||
 |  | Brian Elliott | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 26-18-4 | 28-16-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.92 | 2.67 | 22.50% | 79.30% | Team Stats | 2.42 | 2.40 | 19.60% | 85.20% |
The Sharks started out their four game road trip with a 3-2 loss at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. Thanks in part to a superb 16-7-2 road record the Sharks are currently sitting in second place in the Pacific division. Joe Thornton saw his ten game point streak snapped in the loss to Anaheim but should be able to get right back up on the horse tonight as he skates on the top line with Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl, who has done well for himself by scoring six goals and assisting on another five in the last 11 games. Pavelski is always in play as he leads the team in scoring but the problem usually occurs when you see his salary on most sites throughout the industry. San Jose is another team that uses three lines to make up their top power play unit which would make second liner Patrick Marleau and third liner Logan Couture viable options tonight as well. Brent Burns is the choice on defense as he has 44 points in 49 games, good for second on the team.
The Blues continue to shuffle up their lines in the hopes to find a bit more than the four goals they have scored over their last four games. Backed by some stellar goaltending by Brian Elliott, the Blues have managed to win two of those games but it would be foolish to think that they can sustain winning half their games by only scoring a minimal amount of goals. Vladimir Tarasenko leads St Louis in scoring with 25 goals and 46 points but some may shy away from him tonight as he hasn’t registered a point in his last four games. The same can be said for Paul Stastny, which only makes sense when you consider that they play on the same line and are together on the team’s top power play unit. Speaking of the power play unit, the Blues are yet another team that employs the ‘using three lines’ strategy to make up the top unit. Troy Brouwer has flourished in this role as he has come up from the third line to snag four points in his last five games. Alexander Steen and David Backes skate on the top line but it’s Steen who gets the extra duty on the power play. Neither have been setting the world on fire as Steen has tallied three points in his last seven games while Backes has a goal and three assists in the last ten games he has played in. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk is cold as well by virtue of only notching two points in the last 11 games. Patrick Berglund may make a good one-off play tonight as he skates with Stastny on the top line and has three goals to go with three assists in the 13 games he has played this season.
Elite Plays
SJ: Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko
Secondary Plays
SJ: Patrick Marleau, Brent Burns, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl
STL: Paul Stastny, Alexander Steen, Troy Brouwer, David Backes, Kevin Shattenkirk
Philadelphia Flyers at Nashville Predators – 08:00 PM EST
| Philadelphia Flyers | Nashville Predators | ||||||||
 | Steve Mason |  | Pekka Rinne | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 20-18-8 | 23-18-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.24 | 2.61 | 17.40% | 77.70% | Team Stats | 2.55 | 2.63 | 20.30% | 78.50% |
The Flyers have been trying to make it up the Eastern conference ladder and their record of 6-3-1 in their last ten games has helped, a little. They still sit with 52 points, which is tied for 11th in the conference with two other teams. The problem is that they are still a one line team with Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds leading the way not only as the Flyers top three scorers but on the power play as well. The power play has produced eight goals over the last five games so adding Brayden Schenn and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere to the mix may not be a bad idea. The biggest problem the Flyers will have is that the Predators have been doing a pretty good job lately by not letting many goals in behind their goaltenders. For example, Nashville has only given up nine goals in their last seven games and four of them were to Chicago en route to a 5-2 record in those seven games. If the Flyers are going to win this game, look to these five guys to do the heavy lifting.
Defenseman Roman Josi and Shea Weber lead the Predators in scoring and that’s about all you need to know about how things have been going in Nashville. Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen and James Neal make up the team’s first line but only Forsberg can be found on the top power play unit. In fact, Craig Smith and Mike Fisher are the only other two forwards on the top unit and although they each have two goals and an assist in their last five games, they skate on the second and third lines respectively. I don’t know about you, but I think it would be more prudent to have at least a few guys who skate regularly together on the top power play unit as opposed to taking three different guys from three different lines. It would seem you may have less chemistry that way, but that’s just me, maybe. Besides Smith and Fisher being one-offs you can pair Johansen together with either Neal or Forsberg or just select the whole line for GPP purposes. Johansen has a goal and two assists in his last five games while Neal has two goals and an assist in his last six games.
Elite Plays
PHL: Claude Giroux
NSH: None
Secondary Plays
PHL: Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, Shayne Gostisbehere, Brayden Schenn
NSH: James Neal, Filip Forsberg, James Neal, Shea Weber, Roman Josi, Craig Smith, Mike Fisher, Mike Ribeiro
Dallas Stars at Colorado Avalanche – 09:00 PM EST
| Dallas Stars | Colorado Avalanche | ||||||||
 | Antti Niemi |  | Calvin Pickard | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 31-14-5 | 26-22-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.20 | 2.62 | 21.30% | 79.90% | Team Stats | 2.71 | 2.73 | 20.00% | 79.10% |
It appears that the All Star break came just in time for the Dallas Stars as they put up five goals en route to their two goal win over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night. Not only did they score five goals for the first time since January third Tyler Seguin seemed to get back on track as well as he scored his first two goals since January 16th. Jamie Benn skates on the top line and top power play unit with Seguin and make a formidable duo for tonight’s contests. Patrick Eaves also skates on the top power play unit but he hasn’t found the score sheet since December 31st. Keep an eye on this though as Lindy Ruff likes to bounce Patrick Sharp back and forth between the first and second power play units. Sharp does have value though as he takes his regular shifts with Seguin and Benn. John Klingberg seems to be back on track as evidence by the defenseman grabbing three points in his last two games. Klingberg mans the team’s top power play point along with fellow defenseman Alex Goligoski. Jason Spezza can be used as a one-off as he centers the second line and has gathered five points in his last eight games. As a side note, Colorado has given up 34 or more shots in four of their last six games.
Colorado is 6-4 in the last ten games and the problem is they have been having trouble scoring goals. Calvin Pickard and Semyon Varlamov have picked up the slack as the team has only scored 19 goals over that ten game stretch. With not many goals being scored lately it is probably best to stick to either the top line or the top power play unit. Matt Duchene plays on both units and would be the choice as he has scored a goal and added three assists in his last five games. Nathan MacKinnon is a good player to pair with him as he skates on the top line with Duchene and has scored three goals in his last five games. The second line features Gabriel Landeskog and Carl Soderberg have found some chemistry of late as Landeskog has four goals in the last four games while Soderberg has six points in his last eight games. Tyson barrie is the play on defense as he anchors the top power play unit and has tallied three assists in his last five games.
Elite Plays
DAL: Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn
COL: None
Secondary Plays
DAL: John Klingberg, Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp, Alex Goligoski
COL: Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Carl Soderberg, Tyson Barrie, Blake Comeau
Chicago Blackhawks at Arizona Coyotes – 09:00 PM EST
| Chicago Blackhawks | Arizona Coyotes | ||||||||
 | Corey Crawford |  | Louis Domingue | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 33-16-4 | 24-20-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.75 | 2.30 | 21.50% | 82.60% | Team Stats | 2.65 | 2.96 | 17.80% | 76.60% |
Chicago almost looked human before the break as they not only lost three of their last four games but were shut out in two of them, once by Carolina and once by Florida. Much like the Washington Capitals, the Blackhawks get Jonathan Toews back into their lineup tonight after missing the weekend festivities in Nashville. Toews will be back on a line with Andrew Shaw and Marian Hossa but the line that everyone will target is the other Chicago scoring line. Patrick Kane leads the league in points and is the choice here as he has 11 points in his last ten games. While you are at it you may as well roster Artemi Panarin to go with Kane as he skates on both the top line and top power play unit with the league’s leading scorer. Defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook both play the point on the power play and each have seven goals and 24 assists on the season. The only difference is Keith has played in 44 games while Seabrook has played in all 54 Blackhawk games this season.
It took a while but Louis Domingue is finally starting to show signs of the wear and tear of playing goaltender in front of a team that isn’t very good. The Coyotes have given up 152 goals so far this season but now it looks like can’t’ score any either as they have only lit the lamp 12 times in the last eight games. The only bright spot of late has been the play of Tobias Rieder as he has collected four assists in the last eight games. Outside of that, it’s anyone’s guess if Arizona can or even will score. Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson is tied for the team lead in points with Mikkel Boedker. They both have 34 points through 50 games which is closer to getting a point every other game than it is to scoring a point a game. Rieder and Boedker skate on the team’s top line so putting them with Ekman-Larsson in a GPP may be the way to go tonight. The second line also doubles as the team’s top power play unit with Max Domi, Anthony Duclair and Martin Hanzal combining for only a total of two goals and three assists in their last eight games. If the first line is considered a GPP play I am not sure what the second would be called. Again, with Arizona not scoring much of late they should only be considered for tournament play.
Elite Plays
CHI: Patrick Kane
ARZ: None
Secondary Plays
CHI: Artemi Panarin, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Marian Hossa, Brent Seabrook
ARZ: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Tobias Rieder, Mikkel Boedker, Anthony Duclair, Max Domi