NHL Grind Down: Thursday, November 12th - Page Two
Buffalo Sabres at Florida Panthers – 07:30 PM EST
| Buffalo Sabres | Florida Panthers | ||||||||
 | Chad Johnson |  | Roberto Luongo | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 7-8 | 6-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.33 | 2.80 | 23.50% | 76.30% | Team Stats | 2.73 | 2.47 | 22.60% | 75.50% |
Sixth place is on the line in the Atlantic division as these two teams take the ice tonight in Florida. After a 1-4 start, the Buffalo Sabres have been climbing the standings the standings by winning six of their last ten games. Newcomer Ryan O’Reilly and first round pick Jack Eichel are a big part of this, as although they do not skate on the same line, they do provide playmaking skills, which is what the Sabres desperately needed.
On the flip side, the Florida Panthers west coast swing was not kind, as they dropped all three games on the ‘left coast’. Much like Tampa Bay tonight, the Panthers came home to play a horrendous Calgary team and were able to break their five-game losing streak with a 4-3 home ice victory. They are 4-2-1 on home ice, so look for this game to be a close, unwatchable game.
Elite Plays
BUF: None
FLA: None
Secondary Plays
BUF: Jack Eichel, Ryan O’Reilly, Rasmus Ristolainen
FLA: Jaromir Jagr, Vincent Trocheck, Nick Bjugstad
Calgary Flames at Tampa Bay Lightning – 07:30 PM EST
| Calgary Flames | Tampa Bay Lightning | ||||||||
 | Karri Ramo |  | Ben Bishop | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 5-10 | 7-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.50 | 3.88 | 16.70% | 75.00% | Team Stats | 2.29 | 2.41 | 18.20% | 80.00% |
After all the hemming and hawing last year about how Calgary’s secondary statistics didn’t support the record they had, the bottom has seemed to indeed fall out so far this year. The Flames find themselves in last place with a record of 5-10-1, but are first in the league as they have given up 63 goals thus far this season. This does not bode well as they roll into Tampa tonight to face the Lightning. Yesterday, Calgary beat writer Kristen Odland reported that there was no changes to the Flames top two lines, which means all Tampa has to do is shut down the top line of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Jiri Hudler to put themselves in position for the victory.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been a bit of a surprise this season, as the goal production is down a bit, which in turn hinders their win-loss record. Some may even go as far to say that the Lightning are going the wrong direction as they are 3-6-1 in their last ten games, including losses to Buffalo, Minnesota and Colorado. This is the perfect game to get back on track, as I suspect we will see a lot of Tampa stacks out there tonight.
Elite Plays
CGY: None
TB: Steven Stamkos
Secondary Plays
CGY: Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Jiri Hudler, Mark Giordano
TB: Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman
Toronto Maple Leafs at Nashville Predators – 08:00 PM EST
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Nashville Predators | ||||||||
 | James Reimer |  | Pekka Rinne | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 3-8 | 9-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.13 | 2.93 | 16.30% | 78.80% | Team Stats | 2.86 | 2.57 | 19.60% | 76.70% |
The only teams the Toronto Maple Leafs have beaten this season are the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Dallas Stars, twice. Mired in a total rebuilding process, the Leafs are as expected, at the bottom of the heap in the Atlantic division with a 3-8-4 record. To their credit, they have played tough, but they remind me of the Buffalo Sabres last year where they just don’t have enough finishers to make a difference. It’s pretty bad when not one, but two defensemen lead your team in scoring, and one is named Dion Phaneuf.
Nashville sits in fourth place in the Central division with a 9-3-2 record. After jumping out to a 6-1 start, the Predators have gone 3-2-2, which includes overtime losses to both Pittsburgh and the Los Angeles Kings while being shut out at home against St. Louis by a score of 4-0. They did, however, bounce back last game to beat the Ottawa Senators on home ice by scoring seven goals en route to the win. The good thing is that any of the teams Nashville has lost to cannot be confused with the Maple Leafs and on home ice tonight, I expect to see a lot of Predators show up on a lot of lineups tonight.
Elite Plays
TOR: None
NSH: James Neal, Filip Forsberg, Shea Weber, Roman Josi
Secondary Plays
TOR: Morgan Rielly
NSH: Mike Fisher, Mike Ribeiro
New Jersey Devils at Chicago Blackhawks – 08:30 PM EST
| New Jersey Devils | Chicago Blackhawks | ||||||||
 | Cory Schneider |  | Corey Crawford | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 8-6 | 8-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.33 | 2.47 | 21.10% | 81.30% | Team Stats | 2.60 | 2.53 | 18.90% | 81.10% |
After losing their first five games, the Devils have turned the corner and are just now getting back to playing “Devils Hockey.” Nothing flashy, just good, old, hard-nosed hockey, which consists of executing your defensive assignments and being smart with the puck. 8-6-1 is good for fifth place in the Atlantic division, so if the Devils want to keep rising in the standings, they had better play a good game against the Blackhawks tonight.
Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville appears to be up to his old tricks. As reported by Chicago beat writer Mark Lazarus yesterday, Andrew Shaw was spotted taking line rushes with the top line of Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa. This move makes sense for two reasons. One is, the second line of the Hawks has been very productive while the other is, this move would enable Chicago to keep their top power play line together instead of pulling Shaw up from the third line to upset the lines. Shaw is very cheap around the industry and without a doubt makes him a decent play for tonight’s contests.
Elite Plays
NJ: None
CHI: Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane
Secondary Plays
NJ: Travis Zajac, Mike Cammalleri
CHI: Marian Hossa, Andrew Shaw, Artemi Panarin, Brent Seabrook
Winnipeg Jets at Dallas Stars – 08:30 PM EST
| Winnipeg Jets | Dallas Stars | ||||||||
 | Ondrej Pavelec |  | Kari Lehtonen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 8-6 | 12-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.81 | 2.81 | 19.60% | 84.10% | Team Stats | 3.50 | 2.63 | 28.60% | 76.60% |
The Jets seem to be hobbling a bit of late as they come into Dallas to take on their division rival. Winnipeg has slipped to 8-6-2 with their only win coming against the hapless Toronto Maple Leafs in their last five games. While they do have some young talent, the team still relies on the top line of Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little and Andrew Ladd to get the job done. Usually it’s not the scoring part that is the problem but rather the defensive part as the Jets have given up 46 goals in 16 games so far this season.
Here’s another team that will be heavily owned tonight as the Dallas Stars look more like the team they envisioned they had last year after the addition of Jason Spezza. It’s true that they did have to go out and acquire another piece this year in Patrick Sharp to get to where they are, but the fact of the matter is, it looks like it has worked. The Stars lead the Central division with a record of 12-4 with only two losses at home at the hands of the Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Look for a shootout in “Big D” tonight as the Winnipeg Jets lead the league in taking minor penalties (71), making the top power-play unit a very enticing play tonight.
Elite Plays
WPG: None
DAL: Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Patrick Sharp, John Klingberg
Secondary Plays
WPG: Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Andrew Ladd, Dustin Byfuglien
DAL: Jason Spezza, Alex Goligoski