NHL Grind Down: Thursday, January 14th - Page Two
Detroit Red Wings at Arizona Coyotes – 09:00 PM EST
| Detroit Red Wings | Arizona Coyotes | ||||||||
 | Jimmy Howard |  | Mike Smith | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 22-14-7 | 22-16-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.47 | 2.56 | 17.20% | 79.10% | Team Stats | 2.86 | 3.02 | 19.50% | 77.80% |
After reeling off four straight wins to start the current six-game road trip Detroit dropped a game in Los Angeles Monday night to the Kings by a score of 4-2. The loss keeps them in second place in the Atlantic division as they are just six points behind the red hot Florida Panthers. They should find tonight’s game against the Coyotes a bit easier as Arizona has given up 33 more goals than the Kings this season. As you can imagine the Red Wings second line of Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Tatar and Darren Helm have been the most productive on the recent road trip. Of the 12 goals that they have scored Datsyuk and Tatar have been in on four of them while the top line of Henrik Zetterberg, Justin Abdelkader and Gustav Nyquist have just a point in each of the last five games. Rookie Dylan Larkin makes a nice one-off play tonight as he is tied with Tatar for most goals on the team with 14 and has pointed in four of his last five games. Niklas Kronwall gets the top power play minutes but he is not recommended as he only has 16 points in 43 games.
Backed by goaltender Louis Domingue, the Coyotes have won their last four games which is the longest winning streak for them this season. Mikkel Boedker and Oliver Ekman-Larsson lead the team in points but it the latter who has the hot hand by virtue of netting three goals and assisting on seven others in his last seven games. Max Domi skates on the top line and may be heavily owned tonight in light of his hat trick the other night against Edmonton on Tuesday night. Tobias Rieder, Martin Hanzal and Shane Doan join Boedker and OEL on the top power play line so selecting Rieder and Hanzal makes sense as they anchor the team’s second line.
Elite Plays
DET: None
ARZ: None
Secondary Plays
DET: Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Tatar, Henrik Zetterberg, Justin Abdelkader, Dylan Larkin
ARZ: Martin Hanzal, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Tobias Rieder, Max Domi
New Jersey Devils at Colorado Avalanche – 09:00 PM EST
| New Jersey Devils | Colorado Avalanche | ||||||||
 | Cory Schneider |  | Semyon Varlamov | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 21-18-5 | 21-20-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.20 | 2.34 | 18.30% | 82.00% | Team Stats | 2.84 | 2.89 | 21.20% | 79.40% |
Without the services of Mike Cammalleri the Devils have gone from a one line team to a no line team. The proof is in the pudding as the Devils have only scored 16 goals in their last nine games. The only bright spot on this team is the pairing of Adam Henrique and Lee Stempniak who are the only two players in the Devils top six that have two points in their last four games. Add in line mate Joseph Blandisi and you have the making of a GPP only play. They will be low owned and it is very likely they will see some room on the ice as the Avalanche will probably try to shut down the top line of Kyle Palmeiri, Travis Zajac and Sergey Kalinin. The Devils are pretty bad of late and I really can’t recommend any of these players for cash games tonight.
Colorado is one of the toughest teams to figure out this season. They win games they should lose and then they lose games that they should be able to win. Take their last home stand for instance where they were able to beat the Los Angeles Kings by a score of 4-1 right after losing to the Calgary Flames on that same home ice just two nights before. The Devils have given up four power play goals over their last four games which should play right into the hands of an Avalanche team that has scored power play goals in seven of their last 11 games. Matt Duchene is the hottest of the five man unit with five goals and four assists in his last eight games and is quickly followed by defensman Tyson Barrie who has five points on the power play over that same time frame. Gabriel Landeskog has four points in his last five games and could make a good pairing with fellow line mate Blake Comeau as they also see the extra minutes on the power play. Once again the folks over at FanDuel are asleep at the wheel as defenseman Nick Holden was placed on the top power play unit a few games back and has collected four assists in his last four games. Opportunity knocks. Answer the door. If you want to go with the top line and get some Duchene exposure, pair him with Nathan MacKinnon as both players lead the Avalanche in points with 37 of them through the first 44 games.
Elite Plays
NJ: None
COL: Matt Duchene
Secondary Plays
NJ: None
COL: Gabriel Landeskog, Tyson Barrie, Nathan MacKinnon, Nick Holden, Blake Comeau
Edmonton Oilers at San Jose Sharks – 10:30 PM EST
| Edmonton Oilers | San Jose Sharks | ||||||||
 | Ben Scrivens |  | Martin Jones | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 17-23-4 | 21-18-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.39 | 2.98 | 17.40% | 78.70% | Team Stats | 2.85 | 2.76 | 21.00% | 79.70% |
The Oilers come into this one winning only three games out of their last 13 and have only managed to score three or more goals in four of them. With all of the problems Edmonton has had scoring in recent weeks it’s no wonder the top line of Taylor Hall, Teddy Purcell and Leon Draisaitl have only combined for just eight points in their last nine games and that includes Draisaitl grabbing a goal and an assist in Tuesday night’s overtime loss to Arizona. The second line has fared much better in recent games which saw Benoit Pouliot grab five points in five games, Jordan Eberle net two goals to go with five assists in his last six games and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins assist on six goals in his last eight games. The Sharks will try to shut down the top line leaving this line as an easy GPP play for tonight’s contests. Defenseman Justin Schultz has awoken from his season long slumber to grab three of his seven points in the last three games.
I have this funny feeling that the Sharks ownership may be through the roof tonight, that’s if you can afford them. San Jose has scored 16 goals in the last three games and should make a solid play tonight in playing the defensively challenged Edmonton Oilers. Brent Burns has seen his salary skyrocket in recent weeks thanks to his eight goals and nine assists over the last eleven games a finding the scoresheet in all but one. Joe Pavelski is the team’s only point-per-game player and has been on fire of late by evidence of his eight goals and seven assists in the last 12 games he has played in. In keeping with the top power play theme Joe Thornton has registered a point in 11 of his last 12 games and is unfairly priced at $5,300 over on FanDuel tonight. The Sharks have finally put Logan Couture back on the top power play line so expect his production to get back to the levels we are used to seeing him at. Tomas Hertl has been placed on the top line with Pavelski and Thornton so expect more production from him as well as long as he is skating with that deadly pair. It would be almost never that I would recommend a fourth line center but I couldn’t help but see that Chris Tierney has a point in all three games since he has returned from a brief five day AHL stint. Demotions do some strange to players and although I am not recommending him it is at least amusing.
Elite Plays
EDM: Taylor Hall
SJ: Brent Burns, Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton
Secondary Plays
EDM: Leon Draisaitl, Jordan Eberle, Benoit Pouliot, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
SJ: Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau, Tomas Hertl, Joel Ward