NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, December 20th - Page Three
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Winnipeg Jets at Vancouver Canucks
| Winnipeg Jets | Vancouver Canucks | ||||||||
 | Connor Hellebuyck |  | Jacob Markstrom | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 15-16-3 | 13-16-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.59 | 2.91 | 14.70% | 75.40% | Team Stats | 2.41 | 3.09 | 14.70% | 80.20% |
I have heard of home-and home series before but an away-away series? Not too often, if ever but that’s what we have here as the Jets will take on the Canucks in Vancouver tonight and again on Thursday night. The Jets mixed up the lines a little for their game on Sunday and responded with a 4-1 win over the Avalanche. Nikolaj Ehlers, Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine will be the line that Vancouver tries to shut down but if they actually can remains to be seen. Scheifele keeps on plugging away as his six points in the last six games adds to his team lead of 30 points in the 31 games he has played in this season. Laine and Ehlers are right behind him with 29 and 24 points respectively as Laine leads the team with 18 goals. The second line of Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little and Mathieu Perreault should have a little room to skate as they make a decent line to target for tournament play. Little could also be used as a one-off here as he has garnered four of his eight points over the last five games. To be fair, he has just played in ten games so averaging eight points in ten games isn’t bad. Dustin Byfuglien is trying to break out as he leads the team in shots with 93 to go along with four goals and 17 assists so far this season. He also logs over 25 minutes of ice time per night. Vancouver is one of four teams to have given up over 99 goals going into last night’s contests.
Vancouver fought the good fight on Sunday night but came up just a bit short as the came off the deck to score three third period goals only to lose in overtime to a tough Columbus team by a final score of 4-3. Henrik Sedin, Jannik Hansen and Daniel Sedin should be the line to target here with Daniel being the o one-off as he leads the team with 21 points. Brandon Sutter and Sven Baertschi join the Sedin brothers on the team’s top power play unit. Moving Baertschi up to the top power play unit has done wonders for his confidence as he has registered five of his 15 points over the last five games. Alexandre Burrows and Bo Horvat skate with Baertschi at even strength and could win someone a GPP on any given night as they could be the streakiest line in the league. Defenseman troy Stecher is the play on the blue line as he logs most of the ice time when the Canucks go on the power play. Vancouver has scored 13 goals in their last three games so maybe trying to fit a few Canucks in your tournament plays may not be a bad idea.
Elite Plays
WIN: Mark Scheifele
VAN: Daniel Sedin
Secondary Plays
WIN: Nikolaj Ehlers, Patrik Laine, Bryan Little, Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien
VAN: Henrik Sedin, Troy Stecher, Sven Baertschi
Calgary Flames at San Jose Sharks
| Calgary Flames | San Jose Sharks | ||||||||
 | Chad Johnson |  | Martin Jones | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 17-15-2 | 19-12-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.56 | 2.85 | 18.80% | 79.40% | Team Stats | 2.44 | 2.25 | 17.50% | 82.10% |
The Flames went into last night’s game against the San Jose Sharks hanging on to the last playoff spot by a thread in the Western Conference with 33 points. Johnny Gaudreau has taken his rightful spot atop the team’s scoring chart with seven goals and 14 assists through 23 games while his line mates in Alex Chiasson and Sam Bennett continue to struggle. A lot of this is due to the fact that Gaudreau logs a ton of ice time on the team’s top power unit that has scored at least one goal in each of the last seven games. This has also helped Sean Monahan get back on track as well as all three of his points have come via the man advantage over the last five games. Monahan centers Kris Versteeg and Troy Brouwer while Mikael Backlund is in the middle of Matthew Tkachuk and Michael Frolik. Dougie Hamilton leads the defense with 17 points so far this season but always takes a back seat to either T.J. Brodie or Mark Giordano when it comes to skating with Gaudreau on the top power play unit. Given the fact that the Sharks are 10-4 on home ice and that Calgary played last night, it’s probably best to use some caution.
Besides the errant goal or assist by either Joonas Donskoi, Chris Tierney or Melker Karlsson San Jose is basically a one line team that can win games. They get the job done on home ice and have a nice 9-8-1 record on the road so far this year. Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau is the line to target as all three play on the top power play unit as well as have at least three points each over the last five games. Pavelski’s 28 points are second only to defenseman Brent Burns and his 13 goals and 17 assists on 133 shots. Burns is the anchor of the team and should be treated as a winger more than a defenseman which is why is salary is so high across the industry. Logan Couture is always the one-off here as he completes the top power play unit while centering Mikkel Boedker and Kevin Labanc. The only player that could possibly on the radar is defenseman David Schlemko as he has eight points on the season with three of them coming over the last three games. San Jose should take care of business here with the heavy hitters doing most of the grunt work.
Elite Plays
CGY: Johnny Gaudreau
SJ: Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns
Secondary Plays
CGY: Sean Monahan, Dougie Hamilton, T.J. Brodie, Troy Brouwer
SJ: Logan Couture, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau