NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, December 29th - Page Two
Nashville Predators at St. Louis Blues – 08:00 PM EST
| Nashville Predators | St. Louis Blues | ||||||||
 | Pekka Rinne |  | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 17-12-6 | 22-12-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.57 | 2.51 | 20.30% | 75.70% | Team Stats | 2.45 | 2.34 | 20.90% | 86.10% |
Nashville picked up an important win last night at home agains the New York Rangers, but will be tested once again tonight as they head to St. Louis to battle the division rival St. Louis Blues. St. Louis has had their way with Nashville in each of their previous two meetings this season and the Predators own just a 6-7-3 record on the road this season. Peter Laviolette’s forward combinations have been in a constant state of fluxation lately, but both James Neal and Filip Forsberg remain the two most dangerous goal scorers on this Predators roster. Neal potted a pair of goals last night to take the team lead with 15 while both Forsberg and Mike Ribeiro have picked up 12 points in 13 games this month. The Predators are as stacked on the blue-line as any squad in the NHL, and despite the tough matchup, both Roman Josi and Shea Weber cannot be ignored as they find themselves atop this team in scoring. Alternatively, both Seth Jones and Ryan Ellis see a healthy dose of playing time on the point of the #2 power-play and are fine options where they’re still cheap. If Nashville wants to pick up two points tonight, it’s absolutely imperative that they keep themselves out of the penalty box, but unfortunately tired legs tend to take more penalties.
The Blues have been as up-and-down as any team in the league over the last month. After an ugly performance in a 3-0 shutout defeat to the Dallas Stars on Sunday, they’ll head home to host the Nashville Predators tonight at the Scottrade Center. They have defeated Nashville in both prior meetings and own a strong 12-6-2 record on home ice. While Nashville has a reputation for a bruising defensive style of play, they’ve uncharacteristically been dreadful on the penalty kill this season (75.7%). With that in mind, I’ll be looking for a healthy dose of exposure to St. Louis’ very dangerous #1 power-play unit. Vladimir Tarasenko is easily the most talented offensive player on this team and he’s not only posted 8 goals and 7 assists in 14 games this month, but has also tallied a goal and an assist in the two previous meetings against Nashville. Joining him on that top power-play unit are Alex Steen, Paul Stastny and David Backes up front, with Kevin Shattenkirk running things from the point. Alternatively, rookie Robby Fabbri has heated up offensively with three goals over the last four games and has earned some run on the wing of the second power-play unit.
Elite Options
NSH: James Neal, Filip Forsberg, Shea Weber, Roman Josi
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko, Alexander Steen, Kevin Shattenkirk
Secondary Options
NSH: Mike Fisher, Mike Ribeiro, Colin Wilson, Seth Jones
STL: David Backes, Paul Stastny, Robby Fabbri, Troy Brouwer, Alex Pietrangelo, Colton Parayko
Detroit Red Wings at Winnipeg Jets – 08:00 PM EST
| Detroit Red Wings | Winnipeg Jets | ||||||||
 | Jimmy Howard |  | Ondrej Pavelec | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 18-10-7 | 16-17-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.60 | 2.54 | 18.60% | 82.00% | Team Stats | 2.66 | 2.94 | 13.60% | 77.70% |
The Red Wings came up short in Minnesota last night and will make the trip to Winnipeg for tonight’s battle with the Jets. All-in-all, the Wings have played pretty well for new coach Jeff Blashill, but they’ve stumbled a bit lately and own just a 2-3-2 record over their last seven games. The Wings have proven to have three different forward lines capable of carrying the offensive load on any given night, but with Winnipeg being one of the most penalized teams in the NHL this season, I’ll be focusing in on their power-play that has clicked at a 23.1% clip during the month of December. Their top line of Henrik Zetterberg, Justin Adbelkader and Dylan Larkin is joined by Gustav Nyquist and Niklas Kronwall on the #1 power-play unit, with Pavel Datsyuk headlining the second unit alongside Tomas Tatar, Brad Richards, Riley Sheahan and Mike Green. While the trio of Abdelkader, Zetterberg and Larkin may be the safer (and more popular) selections, Pavel Datsyuk looks to be heating up as he’s posted two goals and four assists over the last six games.
While Detroit battled Minnesota last night, the Winnipeg Jets sat at home enjoying some game-tape of their 1-0 shutout victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday night. The Jets enter tonight’s game sitting in the cellar of the Central Division and really need to take advantage of catching Detroit on the tail end of a back-to-back before embarking on a tough five game road trip on Thursday. While the Jets had been relying on it’s top two forward lines to carry the load offensively, the loss of Mark Scheifele to a concussion has caused Paul Maurice to shuffle up his lines. Drew Stafford is slated to join Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler on the Jets top (and most dangerous) forward line. Both Andrew Ladd and Mathieu Perreault see their fantasy outlooks take a small dent with slightly less talented linemates around them. Dustin Byfuglien presents a matchup nightmare for a potentially tired and undersized Detroit team. Byfuglien posted a goal and two assists in their two meetings last season and is an elite option on the blue-line if you can find a way to afford him.
Elite Options
DET: Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Mike Green
WGP: Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Dustin Byfuglien
Secondary Options
DET: Justin Abdelkader, Dylan Larkin, Gustav Nyquist, Niklas Kronwall
WGP: Drew Stafford, Mathieu Perreault, Nikolaj Ehlers, Tyler Myers
Los Angeles Kings at Edmonton Oilers – 09:00 PM EST
| Los Angeles Kings | Edmonton Oilers | ||||||||
 | Jonathan Quick |  | Ben Scrivens | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 21-11-2 | 15-19-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.53 | 2.29 | 18.00% | 82.10% | Team Stats | 2.51 | 3.05 | 17.00% | 80.30% |
Even with Jeff Carter sidelined, the Kings absolutely dominated the Canucks last night as they skated to a 5-0 victory in Vancouver. They’ll make the short trip to Edmonton tonight to battle an very much improved Oilers team expecting to once again be without their star center. With Carter out of action, Anze Kopitar will be counted on shifting some of his defensive prowess back into the offensive end of the ice. He picked up four assist last night and is joined by Tyler Toffoli (who posted a hat trick last night) and Milan Lucic on the top forward line. All three looks like tremendous plays tonight against an Oilers team that has allowed 3.05 goals per game this season. On the blue-line, both Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin share time on the point of the #1 power-play unit and are terrific at both moving the puck and jumping into the play offensively. They’re both top-tier defensive options this evening.
After a terrific start to the month of December, the Oilers have regressed a bit and have now dropped five of their last six games. They’ll face a stiff test once again tonight as they battle a Pacific Division leading Los Angeles team that has already defeated them twice this season. Only the Washington Captials have allowed fewer than Los Angeles’ 2.23 GA/G this season and the Kings remain the most dominant puck possession team in the league by Corsi standards. With that said, Taylor Hall, Leon Draisaitl and Teddy Purcell have formed a dynamic offensive trio on the Oilers top line. They’ve combined for 12 goals and 27 assists in just 12 games this month and are easily the top options from Edmonton. However, the matchup opposite Anze Kopitar is a daunting one and I’ll be reserving my ownership to them for GPP use. Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (with Benoit Poiliot) will likely have some more favorable matchups in this one, but they’ve been a bit too inconsistent for cash game consideration. Justin Schultz is the top option on the blue-line, but this simply doesn’t look like the best matchup for him.
Elite Options
LAK: Anze Kopitar, Tyler Toffoli, Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin
EDM: Taylor Hall
Secondary Options
LAK: Milan Lucic, Tanner Pearson, Alec Martinez
EDM: Leon Draisaitl, Teddy Purcell, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle
Anaheim Ducks at Calgary Flames – 09:00 PM EST
| Anaheim Ducks | Calgary Flames | ||||||||
 | Frederik Andersen |  | Jonas Hiller | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 13-15-6 | 17-16-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 1.91 | 2.53 | 17.40% | 87.40% | Team Stats | 2.71 | 3.29 | 13.00% | 74.20% |
In a flat-out war against Philadelphia on Sunday, Anaheim picked up two very important points in a 4-2 home victory. However, Cam Fowler was injured in the game and it looks like their workhorse blue-liner will miss some extended playing. While his loss stings, Anaheim will look to build upon their first four goal outing of the month as they head to play the NHL’s worst defensive team, the Calgary Flames. The Ducks torched the Flames for five goals in their only previous meeting, behind a five assist night from Ryan Getzlaf and two goals a piece from Corey Perry and Rickard Rackell. All three players are still slated to play alongside each other on the top line, and considering that Calgary simply had no answer for them in that first meeting, they’re all terrific options once again tonight. Along with owning the league’s worst defense (3.29 GA/G) the Flames also own an NHL worst 74.2% penalty kill. Perry, Getzlaf and Rakell are joined by Patrick Maroon up front on the top power-play unit and, with Fowler out of the picture, Sami Vatanen will likely inherit the gig as the point-man.
The Flames really struggled out of the gates this season, and while they’re still working on shoring up their defense, they’ve really turned things around and now own a 9-2-0 record during the month of November. They’ve been a completely different team on home ice this season (12-5-0 record at home versus just 5-11-2 on the road) and luckily for them tonight’s game will take place at the Scotiabank Saddledome. After tinkering with his lines almost all season Bob Hartley has finally reunited the dynamic threesome of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Jiri Hudler. While the Ducks pure size advantage is a small concern, all three forwards are all fine plays in all formats tonight. It’s also worth noting that both Gaudreau and Monahan have put up some drastic home vs. road splits. The Anaheim Ducks do enter action tonight owning the best penalty kill in the NHL this season (87.4%), but defenders like Mark Giordano, Dennis Wideman, T.J. Brodie and Dougie Hamilton are all fine plays regardless.
Elite Options
ANA: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Sami Vatanen
CGY: Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Jiri Hudler, Mark Giordano
Secondary Options
ANA: Richard Rakell, Patrick Maroon, Ryan Kesler, Hampus Lindholm
CGY: Joe Colborne, Sam Bennett, Dougie Hamilton, Dennis Wideman, T.J. Brodie
Chicago Blackhawks at Arizona Coyotes – 09:00 PM EST
| Chicago Blackhawks | Arizona Coyotes | ||||||||
 | Corey Crawford |  | Mike Smith | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 20-13-4 | 17-15-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.59 | 2.41 | 21.40% | 82.00% | Team Stats | 2.71 | 3.11 | 15.70% | 80.30% |
With the Coyotes allowing a league worst 3.67 goals against per game during the month of December, this looks like a great spot to roll with some Blackhawks. Patrick Kane leads the entire NHL in scoring and is one of the premier plays on the board tonight and his linemates Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov reap some of the benefits. WIth Arizona lacking a true “sniper” requiring his attention, Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa should be able to concentrate more heavily on their offensive game this evening, and that’s bad news for Anders Lindback between the pipes. Both Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook have put up terrific offensive numbers this season and reside on the point of the ‘Hawk’s lethal #1 power-play unit, which solidifies them both as elite options on the blue-line.
Arizona has played surprising well for the most part this season, and thanks to an absolutely putrid Pacific Division, they’re still still very much in the playoff picture as they take the ice tonight. However, they’ve posted just a 4-6-2 record during the month of December and there’s simply not much to like from them tonight as they host the Chicago Blackhawks. Mikkel Boedker has led the charge offensively for the Coyotes and will be joined by Antoine Vermette and Tobias Rieder on a fairly dangerous top forward line. However, with that line likely being matched with the Toews/Hossa line at every opportunity, they are way better served for GPP use. Max Domi and Anthony Duclair surround Viktor Tikhonov but all three have been fairly quiet lately and this does not look like the matchup to expect them to snap out of their funk. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the face of this franchise and really the only player I’d even consider for cash games. He’s posted 22 points in 35 games and leads the team with 103 SOG.
Elite Options
CHI: Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook
ARI: Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Secondary Options
CHI: Marian Hossa, Artem Anisimov, Andrew Shaw, Teuvo Teravainen
ARI: Mikkel Boedker, Antoine Vermette, Max Domi, Anthony Duclair