NHL Grind Down: Thursday, March 3rd - Page Two
Minnesota Wild at Toronto Maple Leafs – 07:30 PM EST
| Minnesota Wild | Toronto Maple Leafs | ||||||||
 | Devan Dubnyk |  | Jonathan Bernier | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 29-25-10 | 21-30-10 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.66 | 2.50 | 18.30% | 76.70% | Team Stats | 2.33 | 2.90 | 14.40% | 80.30% |
With a big win in Florida on Tuesday night the Minnesota Wild have now become very much a part of the Western conference playoff picture. Their 68 points is tied for eighth place and should be able to grab another two points tonight as they travel to Toronto to play the hapless Maple Leafs. Usually the line to target is the top line of Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Charlie Coyle and that is fine and dandy but based on the past two weeks, something else is going on here. The line of Nino Niederreiter, Jason Pominville and Erik Haula has taken on a life of its own as they have figured into nine of the Wild’s last 20 goals over the past six games. Pominville leads the way with three goals and six assists while both Haula and Niederreiter have six points over that same time frame. The top line with Parise also doubles as the top power play unit and with the Wild scoring eight power play goals in their last ten games it looks like both lines should be in play tonight against the worst team in the league. Ryan Suter and Matt Dumba play the point on the power play and either is fine to play tonight. There is no doubt Toronto will be tired from playing in Washington last night making Minnesota an even more lucrative play.
There is really not much to say about a Toronto team that has all but threw in the towel. Toronto is currently the worst team in the league with 52 points and probably does not want to win too many more games to ensure the best possibility of getting the number one overall pick. With that said, they still have to play the games but with the lines are being shuffled up of late, it’s going to be really tough for them to gain any sort of chemistry much less have us guess when or where that will happens, if it happens at all. We know that Nazem Kadri has six points in his last five games with defenseman Morgan Reilly grabbing three points in the last four games. Kadri will play alongside of early season phenom Leo Komarov and with this being a home game this is probably a good place to start and end all of your GPP conversation where Toronto is concerned. Why do you ask? The reason is simple really. The rest of the team is basically an AHL team and no matter what head coach Mike Babcock does it still doesn’t make up for the fact that they have no talent. Sure you can throw the second line in a GPP but who exactly is the second line. Is it Michael Grabner, William Nylander and Zach Hyman or is it Brad Boyes, Peter Holland or Kasperi Kapanen. Instead of splitting hairs on this it is probably best to leave this alone as its going to take a lot for this young team to get the puck past Devan Dubnyk, let alone try to play after coming in from Washington early this morning.
Elite Plays
MIN: Zach Parise
TOR: None
Secondary Plays
MIN: Charlie Coyle, Mikko Koivu, Nino Niederreiter, Jason Pominville, Ryan Suter, Matt Dumba
TOR: Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov, Morgan Rielly
New York Islanders at Winnipeg Jets – 08:00 PM EST
| New York Islanders | Winnipeg Jets | ||||||||
 | Jaroslav Halak |  | Ondrej Pavelec | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 34-20-7 | 26-32-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.79 | 2.43 | 19.10% | 87.00% | Team Stats | 2.56 | 2.95 | 16.20% | 77.00% |
The Islanders travel to Winnipeg to take on a Jets team that sits dead last in the Central division. The New Yorkers have done quite well in the first five games of this seven game road trip by winning four games with their only loss coming at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers last Sunday by a score of 3-1. They have made the most of the 11 goals they have scored in the last five games which prompted head coach Jack Capuano to continue to shuffle up the lines looking for more consistency. Andes Lee was finally put on the top line with John Tavares while the rest of the power play forwards came from the second line which features Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen. Defenseman Nick Leddy rounds out the team’s top power play unit and should get plenty of looks against a struggling Winnipeg team. Both Tavares and Lee have a goal and two assists each in their last four games while Okposo has assisted on three goals and Nielsen has found the back of the net twice over the same time period. Brock Nelson was skating on the top line last game but was ripped off of it halfway through the game in favor of Nikolay Kulemin. It is unclear at this time who sticks on the top line so it’s probably best to stick with just the pairs from the top two lines for tonight’s contests.
With all playoff hopes almost all but gone the Jets come into this one with just one win in their last six games. They are just one point away from being the worst team in the Western conference and with the injury to Bryan Little, they really only have one line to look to tonight. Blake Wheeler, Nikolaj Ehlers and Mark Scheifele are the team’s top line and make a decent GPP play for tonight’s contests. Over the last four games Scheifele leads the way with two goals and four assists with Ehlers and Wheeler right behind him by combining for two goals and five assists with all three getting top power play minutes. Winnipeg looks like it has abandoned using the two defensemen on the power play approach as we saw Matthieu Perreault back on the top unit while Tobias Enstrom is the odd man out with Dustin Byfuglien staying on the point to quarterback the team with the man advantage. Byfuglien has at least been productive in the last four games by scoring a goal and adding three assists. If you are looking for a one-off maybe Joel Armia is your guy as he has collected four points over the last four games and is most likely very cheap around the industry.
Elite Plays
NYI: John Tavares
WIN: Blake Wheeler
Secondary Plays
NYI: Anders Lee, Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen, Nick Leddy
WIN: Mark Scheifele, Dustin Byfuglien, Nikolaj Ehlers
New Jersey Devils at Nashville Predators – 08:00 PM EST
| New Jersey Devils | Nashville Predators | ||||||||
 |  | Pekka Rinne | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 30-27-7 | 32-21-11 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.16 | 2.34 | 20.40% | 82.70% | Team Stats | 2.64 | 2.50 | 19.70% | 79.70% |
The Devils continue their downward spiral with their recent three game losing streak and the playoffs seemingly getting further and further away. New Jersey can only rely on their goaltending for so long as the 140 goals they have scored this season is dead last in the league. To be fair, the injury to Mike Cammalleri has been a huge hit as it is not very often a team that is not known for scoring many goals can lose a player who has 38 points in 42 games. In the last 16 games the Devils have scored more than three goals only once so it is for these reasons that they can really only be used in tournament play. There were some line changes last game in hopes to shake things up and for all intents and purposes, they probably need a few games to gain the chemistry needed to score on a consistent basis. Reid Boucher, Adam Henrique and Joseph Blandisi will probably be targeted as the line to shut down which would mean that the second line of Travis Zajac, Kyle Palmeiri and Sergey Kalinen to have a bit more room to maneuver on the ice tonight. No Devil has registered more than two points in the last four games which makes it a lot tougher to see who’s hot and who’s not. The suggestion is to play either line in a GPP and hope for the best as I doubt you will find any Devils in your cash games tonight. Unless of course you have that errant New Jersey fan that is going to the game in Nashville but I doubt it.
Don’t look now but the Nashville Predators have gained at least a point in their last ten tries. Their 7-0-3 record in the last ten games has propelled them into a tie for sixth place in the Western conference. Filip Forsberg has been a big part of the resurrection by virtue of six goals and seven points over the last five games and has registered 16 points in the last 12 games. Line mates Mike Ribeiro and Craig Smith also get the top power play minutes with Forsberg and have five and six points respectively in the last five games. Is it a coincidence that the Predators recent resurgence is partly because head coach Peter Laviolette is using full lines for his power play units, thus creating more chemistry? If you have read any of my past grind downs, you know what I think on this subject. The top line of James Neal, Ryan Johansen and Calle Jarnkrok has gone a bit silent lately as they have combined for three goals and three assist in the last five games. Shea Weber has returned to the Nashville line up and has grabbed a goal and two assists in the last two games while power play partner Roman Josi has grabbed four assists in his last five games. Either makes for a decent play tonight but the hope here is that New Jersey goaltender Corey Schneider doesn’t stand on his head.
Elite Plays
NJ: None
NSH: Filip Forsberg
Secondary Plays
NJ: Adam Henrique, Joseph Blandisi, Travis Zajac, Kyle Palmieri
NSH: Mike Ribeiro, Craig Smith, James Neal, Ryan Johansen, Shea Weber, Roman Josi
Florida Panthers at Colorado Avalanche – 09:00 PM EST
| Florida Panthers | Colorado Avalanche | ||||||||
 | Roberto Luongo |  | Calvin Pickard | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 36-19-8 | 32-29-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.67 | 2.30 | 17.10% | 81.60% | Team Stats | 2.65 | 2.88 | 19.30% | 80.50% |
The top of the Atlantic division looks like it is going to come down to the ‘Battle of Florida’. The Panthers continue to hold on to the top spot over the Tampa Bay Lightning and look to increase their lead tonight with a win over Colorado. Newcomer Jiri Hudler has been placed on the top line with Aleksander Barkov and Jaromir Jagr and look to be the line to target tonight as they also have drawn the assignment of being the team’s first power play unit. Both Barkov and Jagr have found the scoresheet four times over the last four games so it will be interesting to see how long it takes Hudler to become accustomed to his new line mates. With Florida being on the road it also may be a good idea to look at the second line of Jussi Jokinen, Vincent Trocheck and Reilly Smith who all have four points in the last four games with the exception of Smith, who has scored two goals over that same time period. Brian Campbell continues to see the top power play minutes while Aaron Ekblad gets a few chances on the team’s second power play unit.
Mikkel Boedker will make his debut tonight in a Colorado sweater as the Avalanche take on the Florida Panthers. Colorado is in a dead heat with Minnesota for the last playoff spot in the western conference and they are hoping that Boedker can get them over the hump. Head coach Patrick Roy has placed him on the top line with Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon and for the first time in a while, that whole unit will stay together on the team’s top power play unit. Both McKinnon and Landeskog have four points in their last four games so much like the Florida situation with Hudler, it will be interesting to see how Boedker gels with his new mates. Jarome Iginla and Matt Duchene play on the team’s second line but it is Iginla who has two goals to go along with an assist in the last four games and gets the extra minutes on the top power play unit. Tyson Barrie has a goal and two assists in the last four games and makes a decent play here as he quarterbacks the team’s top power play unit.
Elite Plays
FLA: Aleksander Barkov
COL: None
Secondary Plays
FLA: Jaromir Jagr, Jiri Hudler, Vincent Trocheck, Reilly Smith, Brian Campbell
COL: Mikkel Boedker, Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Jarome Iginla, Matt Duchene, Tyson Barrie
Anaheim Ducks at Arizona Coyotes – 09:00 PM EST
| Anaheim Ducks | Arizona Coyotes | ||||||||
 | John Gibson |  | Louis Domingue | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 34-19-8 | 27-30-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.48 | 2.31 | 22.30% | 86.60% | Team Stats | 2.65 | 3.13 | 18.30% | 77.90% |
Anaheim ended their four game home stand last night as they faced the Montreal Canadiens and regardless of outcome, it would seem that all things point to a win here in the desert tonight. Funny things start to happen however when it looks like one team has a clear cut advantage over another. Now I am not saying that Arizona will win the game, all I am saying is that there may be more goals scored in this one than we anticipate. The ducks should stay with what’s been working and that would be great news if you like taking second lines on the road. Corey Perry is the choice here as he skates with Rickard Rakell and the newly acquired Jamie McGinn. Perry leads the team in goals with 26 and Rakell has been productive by registering six points in his last seven games. The top line of Ryan Getzlaf, David Perron and Mike Santorelli are also in play as they can easily find the back of the net against a team that has given up almost 200 goals so far this season. Sami Vatanen and Cam Fowler handle the points on the power play with Vatanen being the play here as he has found the scoresheet eight times in the last eight games.
The Coyotes have lost the last six games they have played and have only scored seven goals in the last five. Arizona will have to wait a while for the Mikkel Boedker trade to pay off as they received forward Connor Bleackley who was a 2014, defenseman Connor Wood and Alex Tanguay. It will be interesting to see where Tanguay will fit in but it’s probably best just to stick with defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson as he continues to lead the team in scoring and has three points in the last six games. The only bright spot in this game is the fact that Anaheim hosted the Montreal Canadiens last night and could be a bit tired, especially in the desert. However Tanguay fits into the lineup one would think that Martin Hanzal, Max Domi and Anthony Duclair should remain on the top power play line but again it’s tough to play any Coyotes in anything other than a GPP. Shane Doan is your one-off here as he has managed to find the scoresheet five times in the last six games.
Elite Plays
ANA: Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf
ARZ: Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Secondary Plays
ANA: Sami Vatanen, David Perron, Rickard Rakell, Cam Fowler
ARZ: Shane Doan, Michael Stone, Max Domi, Anthony Duclair