NHL Grind Down: Thursday, January 21st - Page Two

by Tom Woollam (elctrceye) Last Updated 2016-01-21 20:14:20

Chicago Blackhawks at Tampa Bay Lightning – 07:30 PM EST

Chicago Blackhawks					Tampa Bay Lightning
			Corey Crawford
			Record					Record
			32-13-4					25-17-4
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.92	2.27	22.30%	82.10%	Team Stats	2.67	2.35	17.90%	80.40%

As with most teams that run off a number of wins in consecutive fashion the question always is ‘When will they finally lose a game?’ Such is the spot the Blackhawks are in tonight as they have won their last 12 games going into Tampa Bay tonight. The Lightning have been no slouches of late either as they have won their last six games by flip flopping goaltenders Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy every other game. There is not much more to say about Patrick Kane as he continues to dominate night in and night out with his right hand man Artemi Panarin with him almost every step of the way. Kane has an astronomical eight points in his last three games while Panarin has six over that same time period. Jonathan Toews has been hot of late as he skates on Chicago’s ‘other’ scoring line with Marian Hossa and Andrew Shaw. Toews has netted five goals and assisted on five others in his last seven games while both Hossa and Shaw have each tallied at least six points each in their last six games. Defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook man the point on the power play and both make decent plays tonight.

Nikita Kucherov has been a big part of the recent Lightning surge as he not only has four goals to go along with four assists in his last six games, he has also found the scoresheet in 13 of his last 14 games all while skating on the team’s second line. The top line that features Steven Stamkos and Vladislav Namestnikov have been producing right along with Kucherov with Stamkos scoring five goals and four assists over the last eight games and Namestnikov tallying ten points in his last ten games. Anton Stralman is the play on the back line by virtue of pointing the team’s top power play unit. Stralman has two goals to go along with three assists in his last five games. Jonathan Marchessault and Valtteri Filppula round out the top power play with Stamkos, Namestnikov and Stralman which makes them decent secondary plays just based on exposure alone.

Elite Plays

CHI: Patrick Kane
TB: Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos

Secondary Plays

CHI: Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Artemi Panarin, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook
TB: Anton Stralman, Vladislav Namestnikov, Valtteri Filppula, Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson

Nashville Predators at Winnipeg Jets – 08:00 PM EST

Nashville Predators					Winnipeg Jets
			Pekka Rinne					Connor Hellebuyck
			Record					Record
			20-18-8					21-22-3
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.50	2.74	20.00%	77.10%	Team Stats	2.59	2.80	15.50%	77.00%

Nashville has lost eight of their last nine games on the road including a 5-4 overtime loss to these same Winnipeg Jets a week ago. The Predators have not been scoring much of late either as their 17 goals in their last nine games can attest, but they do have a few guys that have been semi-consistent over that stretch. Ryan Johansen has to be the go to guy here as he has two goals and five assists in the six games that he has worn the Nashville jersey. If you recall Johansen was in the doghouse over in Columbus and then was traded to the Predators for defenseman Seth Jones and so far the trade has worked well for both teams. James Neal has been cold of late as just three points in his last ten games so although Johansen has been decent it has not yet affected Neal’s production on the top line. Filip Forsberg skates on the second line and has netted three goals in the last seven games but even those numbers aren’t much to write home about. This is the problem you have when a team has had problems finding the back of the net. To shed more light on the Predators scoring woes, the top two scorers on the team are Shea Weber and Roman Josi who both play defense and man the points on the top power play unit.

Winnipeg sits in last place just three points away from Nashville in the Central division standings with 45 points and for all intents and purposes are basically a one line team. The Jets play better on home ice as their 12-8-1 record would suggest while Nashville has the second least wins on the road in the league with only seven of them in 23 games. The top line of Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little and Andrew Ladd is the play here with Wheeler leading the pack with 13 goals and 31 goals in 44 games. Little is tied with power play line mates Wheeler and Mathieu Perreault with 11 points with the man advantage. Dustin Byfuglien rounds out the top power play unit and leads the team in shots from the point. Nikolaj Ehlers skates with Perreault on the team’s second line and has shown some signs of life lately by scoring two goals and assisting on another over the last four games.

Elite Plays

NAS: Ryan Johansen
WIN: Blake Wheeler

Secondary Plays

NAS: Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, Shea Weber, James Neal
WIN: Andrew Ladd, Mathieu Perreault, Bryan Little, Dustin Byfuglien

Edmonton Oilers at Dallas Stars – 08:30 PM EST

Edmonton Oilers					Dallas Stars
			Cam Talbot					Antti Niemi
			Record					Record
			19-24-5					29-13-5
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.40	2.94	16.50%	81.00%	Team Stats	3.28	2.66	21.90%	79.30%

First it was an injury to Connor McDavid that set the Oilers back a bit, but now the recent hand injury to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins may be the final blow to any playoff hopes that Edmonton may have entertained. Matt Hendricks will move up to center the second line with Jordan Eberle and Benoit Pouliot and could make a decent GPP play as they are on the road and Dallas hasn’t looked like the team they were a month ago. Taylor Hall leads the team in both goals and assists and would appear to make a decent cash game play tonight. Line mate Leon Draisaitl has made a few adjustments and seems like he is back to getting on the scoresheet as evidence of his four points over the last five games. Andrej Sekera is the choice on defense as he mans the point on the power play but even he has not registered a point in the last six games. It’s tough to take players on bad teams, especially when they are 6-15-4 on the road.

After a red hot start the Dallas Stars have seemed to cool down a bit as they have only won one game in their last eight tries. Not to make any excuses but all but two of those games were on the road with the only win coming at home on January 7th against the Winnipeg Jets. Despite only having a combined seven points in the team’s last eight games Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn are still well over scoring a point per game and are very much in play tonight. This is good for you especially against those DFS players that look at say a small sample size of the last eight games. That can always be part of the equation but common sense must tell you that both of these players have a great matchup at home tonight against Edmonton. Jason Spezza has two goals and six assists in the last eight games and should get plenty of opportunities skating with both Seguin and Benn on the both the top line and top power play unit. Normally I would have no interest in anybody skating on a line with Cody Eakin as the center but Patrick Sharp does see top power play minutes and has accumulated five points over the last eight games. John Klingberg has been taken off the team’s top power play line in favor of Jason Demers. Klingberg has still been shooting the puck of late but his lack of production has undoubtedly given Demers this golden opportunity to see what he can do.

UPDATE: According to Stars beat writer Mark Stepneski, head coach Lindy Ruff has swapped Spezza and Sharp. Both are still in play tonight with Sharp now a a notch above Spezza as he will get all the exposure to Benn and Seguin.

Elite Plays

EDM: Taylor Hall
DAL: Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn

Secondary Plays

EDM: Leon Draisaitl, Teddy Purcell, Jordan Eberle, Andrej Sekera
DAL: Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp, John Klingberg, Jason Demers

San Jose Sharks at Arizona Coyotes – 09:00 PM EST

San Jose Sharks					Arizona Coyotes
								Louis Domingue
			Record					Record
			23-18-3					22-18-5
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.84	2.73	21.20%	79.50%	Team Stats	2.73	2.98	18.60%	76.40%

The San Jose Sharks and the Arizona Coyotes come into this one deadlocked for second place in the Pacific division with 49 points apiece. Both teams have only lost three of their last ten games and look to continue their quest for making the playoffs. San Jose‘s power play unit is the way to go tonight that is led by Joe Pavelski and defenseman Brent Burns who are just a hair under being point-per-game players. Pavelski leads the team in goals with 22 and Burns has 19 points on the power play, which also leads the team. Meanwhile Joe Thornton has found the scoresheet in 14 of his last 15 games and his line mate Tomas Hertl has scored four goals to go along with two assists over his last six games. Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture make up the rest of the team’s top power play unit. It has taken Couture a little while to recover from his injury but looks to be back on track as he has two goals and two assists in his last five games. If you like going with the second lines of teams on the road then Joel Ward must be paired with Patrick Marleau but I would strongly urge you to stick with the power play unit as Arizona has given up two power play goals each in three of their last four games.

The Arizona Coyotes have fallen on hard times by only scoring three goals in their last three games and as a result have not won in the last three tries. The bright spot here may be the fact that the Coyotes have scored seven power play goals in their last seven games which would make Shane Doan and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson a few of the stronger plays for Arizona tonight. Doan has five points in his last seven games while Ekman-Larsson has tallied three goals to go along with four assists in his last six games. Antoine Vermette skates on the top power play line with the aforementioned duo and has scored two goals to go along with an assist in his last five games. Max Domi had a three goal game against Edmonton on the 12th but outside of that he only has registered one assist in the other seven games in the last eight he has played. Mikkel Boedker skates on the top line with Domi and Vermette and has been cold of late but still should have his opportunities against San Jose tonight. Tobias Rieder and Anthony Duclair have second line duties with Rider having the edge lately by grabbing two goals and assisting on five others in the last seven games. Second line center Martin Hanzal seems to be looking for his ‘hockey legs’ as he has tallied just one assist in the six games he has played in since his return from his injury.

Elite Plays

SJ: Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Brent Burns
ARZ: None

Secondary Plays

SJ: Tomas Hertl, Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture
ARZ: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Shane Doan, Mikkel Boedker, Antoine Vermette, Tobias Rieder

Minnesota Wild at Los Angeles Kings – 10:30 PM EST

Minnesota Wild					Los Angeles Kings
			Devan Dubnyk
			Record					Record
			22-15-8					29-13-3
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.51	2.33	16.90%	79.40%	Team Stats	2.64	2.20	21.50%	82.40%

Since we have been talking about teams not scoring much lately, the Minnesota Wild have scored six goals in as many games en route to dropping their last five decisions. It doesn’t look to get much better tonight as they continue their west coast swing to face one of the better defensive teams in the league, the Los Angeles Kings. To make matters worse, the Wild are 0-2016 on the power play and yes that is the year not the actual opportunities they have had. This is a total crapshoot here but the thought process is that the Kings will try to shut down the top line that features Zach Parise and in theory, should leave the second line with a bit more room. Thomas Vanek, Mikko Koivu and Jason Zucker can only be considered in GPPs tonight as they will surely be under owned against a tough LA kings team. Even Parise is a tough play for cash games tonight. Despite having a goal and two assists in his last six games defenseman Ryan Suter has been demoted to the team’s second power play unit with Jared Spurgeon getting the promotion. Don’t expect much from the wild tonight.

The Kings power play has tallied a goal in ten of their last 12 games so that makes a sensible place to start when looking at rostering some of their players for tonight’s contests. Anze Kopitar centers the top line with Milan Lucic and Tyler Toffoli, which also doubles as the team’s top power play unit up front. Kopitar has four goals and 17 assists in his past 13 games with opponents only keeping him in check once over that time frame. Lucic has become a bit productive as well be evidence of scoring a goal and adding five helpers over the last five games he has played in. Toffoli is right there with him by adding five points in his last four games. The only thing that will stop this line tonight would be goaltender Darcy Kuemper and I doubt that will happen as it has been Devan Dubnyk who has been the stellar of the two this season. Dubnyk played last night in a 3-1 loss in Anaheim last night so the Kings also have the ‘tired team factor’ working in their favor. Jeff Carter has been back for six games and has collected five points but the big surprise here is the play of the newly acquired Vincent Lecavalier. Vinny has posted goals in his last three games and should be considered in play, especially since he skates next to carter. Jake Muzzin has found the score sheet in seven of his last eight games and makes a decent play at the defensive position tonight. Drew Doughty skates with Muzzin on the team’s top power play unit but there are only so many points to go around on each goal, so it looks like it has been Muzzin’s turn in the last few games. Either is fine though for tonight’s matchup against the tired Wild.

Elite Plays

MIN: None
LAK: Anze Kopitar

Secondary Plays

MIN: Zach Parise, Thomas Vanek, Mikko Koivu
LAK: Tyler Toffoli, Milan Lucic, Jeff Carter, Vincent Lecavalier, Jake Muzzin, Drew Doughty

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