NHL Grind Down: Thursday, October 29th - Page Two
Chicago Blackhawks at Winnipeg Jets – 08:00 PM EDT
| Chicago Blackhawks | Winnipeg Jets | ||||||||
 | Corey Crawford |  | Ondrej Pavelec | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 48-28 | 43-26 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.68 | 2.27 | 17.60% | 83.40% | Team Stats | 2.72 | 2.49 | 17.80% | 81.80% |
The Chicago Blackhawks are in the midst of a four-game winning streak —- an accomplishment all the more impressive considering all four wins have come without stud defenseman Duncan Keith. Chicago won both of their last two games in overtime on goals by Jonathan Toews, who appears to thrive in the new 3 on 3 format. Patrick Kane has continued to light up the score sheet and now has 12 points in 9 games playing alongside Artemi Panarin. Corey Crawford is in the Vezina conversation to start the year, quietly establishing a 5-2-0 record to go with a 1.57 GAA and a .943 SV%. The match-up against Winnipeg on home ice is neutral. The Jets have gone 2-2-1 over their last 5 games (all at home) and are allowing 2.78 goals against per game. Chicago has a losing record on the road to start the season, but they are far and away the better team in this game and should continue their winning ways tonight in Winnipeg.
The Winnipeg Jets have been impressive en route to a 5-3-1 start to the season. Winnipeg is averaging over 3 goals scored per game and their power-play is converting at 23.1%. Perhaps what is most impressive about Winnipeg’s start is the balanced scoring they have seen from all three of their top lines. Blake Wheeler leads the team with 11 points in 9 games, Rookie Nikolaj Ehlers has 4 goals and 3 assists, and Drew Stafford leads the team with 5 goals from the 3rd line. Though it is hard to defend teams that present 3 capable scoring lines, particularly on the road, Chicago is one of the best teams in the league and I don’t like the match-up for the Jets tonight. The Hawks are elite at possessing the puck and Jonathan Toews will look to neutralize the Wheeler line. Though they make great contrarian plays, it would be prudent to limit your exposure to the Winnipeg offense against a defensively stout Blackhawks team.
Elite Plays
CHI: Patrick Kane, Brent Seabrook, Artemi Panarin
WPG: Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien
Secondary Plays
CHI: Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Trevor Daley, Corey Crawford
WPG: Nikolaj Ehlers, Bryan Little, Andrew Ladd
Vancouver Canucks at Dallas Stars – 08:30 PM EDT
| Vancouver Canucks | Dallas Stars | ||||||||
 | Ryan Miller |  | Kari Lehtonen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 48-29 | 41-31 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.88 | 2.68 | 19.30% | 85.70% | Team Stats | 3.13 | 3.13 | 19.00% | 80.70% |
The Vancouver Canucks handily defeated the previously undefeated Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday 5-1. Vancouver is off to a promising 4-2-3 start to the year, but face a tough task to get the win on the road tonight against the red-hot Dallas Stars. Though Dallas has been piling on the goals this year, they have been mediocre defensively and the Canucks are in a decent situation for fantasy purposes. The Vancouver offense flows through Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin, who will continue to have elite sniper Radim Vrbata on their wing tonight. Brandon Sutter surprisingly leads the Canucks in points and makes a solid value play, centering the 3rd line and seeing time on the second power-play unit. Yannick Weber will play the point on the top power-play unit and is priced very reasonably across the industry. It is worth noting that backup goaltender Richard Bachman is likely to start this game.
The Dallas Stars are top 5 in the league in goals per game right now and the attack is completely dominated by the leagues most elite duo: Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. This pair has combined for an astonishing 28 points in just 9 games. The Dallas power-play, anchored by John Klingberg, is converting at an insane 30%. It appears that coach Lindy Ruff has moved Patrick Sharp off the top line and placed Cody Eakin at center between Benn and Seguin. This move shouldn’t have a drastic impact on Benn and Seguin’s production as they have a lot of familiarity with Eakin, but it does make Eakin probably the best dollar-for-dollar play of the night. The match-up with Vancouver is neutral—-we saw that the Canucks can play a strong game against elite competition when they beat Montreal earlier this week. If Richard Bachman starts for Vancouver, however, the match-up is a lot better.
Elite Plays
VAN: Daniel Sedin, Radim Vrbata
DAL: Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, John Klingberg
Secondary Plays
VAN: Brandon Sutter, Henrik Sedin
DAL: Cody Eakin, Patrick Sharp, Jason Spezza
Montreal Canadiens at Edmonton Oilers – 09:00 PM EDT
| Montreal Canadiens | Edmonton Oilers | ||||||||
 | Carey Price |  | Ben Scrivens | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 50-22 | 24-44 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.61 | 2.24 | 16.50% | 83.70% | Team Stats | 2.35 | 3.37 | 17.70% | 76.70% |
The Montreal Canadiens were defeated by the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 on Tuesday to end their record winning streak to start the season. Montreal will face the Oilers tonight, in Edmonton, looking to avenge that first loss. Edmonton is a vastly improved team from last year but still struggles defensively, as their 3.10 goals against per game would indicate. Montreal is top-5 in the NHL with 3.60 goals scored per game and they have a great match-up tonight. The Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec, Brendan Gallagher line continues to pace the Canadiens, with the trio combining for an impressive 30 points over 10 games. Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban anchor the Montreal power-play, converting at over 21%, and each have 10 points in 10 games this year. Montreal should win this game handily and it wouldn’t be surprising if they light up the scoresheet in doing so.
The Edmonton Oilers lost to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday 4-3, bringing their record to 3-7-0 on the year. Despite the poor record, Edmonton is much improved from last year, particularly on the offensive side of the puck. Rookie phenom Connor McDavid continues to impress and brings a six-game point streak into tonight’s contest. McDavid leads the Oilers in scoring, but linemate Nail Yakupov isn’t far behind with 9 points in 10 games. Yakupov is still reasonably priced across the industry and makes for an interesting contrarian value play tonight. The match-up is about as bad as they come against Carey Price and the Canadiens, but the Oilers do have the advantage of playing on home ice.
Elite Plays
MON: Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec, P.K. Subban
EDM: Connor McDavid
Secondary Plays
MON: Brendan Gallagher, Andrei Markov, Alex Galchenyuk
EDM: Nail Yakupov, Taylor Hall