NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, February 21st - Page Two
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New York Islanders at Detroit Red Wings
| New York Islanders | Detroit Red Wings | ||||||||
 | Thomas Greiss |  | Jared Coreau | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 27-21-10 | 24-25-10 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.98 | 2.95 | 16.00% | 80.00% | Team Stats | 2.41 | 2.97 | 12.00% | 81.30% |
The Islanders have been playing some inspired hockey of late. So much so that the team is now just one point out of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. New York is basically a one line team that tends to get shut down on the road. This is because John Tavares, Anders Lee and Josh Bailey get the decent matchups at home while on the road they usually draw the opponents best defensive line, as is the case tonight. To drive this point home the Islanders are 20-8-6 in front of the home crowd while their record is just 7-13- 4 on the road. Tavares can be used as a one-off here as he leads the team with 28 assists and 49 points. Ryan Strome and Brock Nelson will have to score tonight if the New Yorkers are to have any chance at victory. Strome has grabbed 11 of his 25 points over the last 11 games while Nelson is fourth on the team with 31 points. I said it Sunday and I will say it again today, Andrew Ladd looks to be a good one-off play as he has lit the lamp six times while registering eight points over the last 11 games. Nick Leddy is the play on the back line as he quarterbacks the team’s top power play unit. Leddy has recorded 12 of his 31 points while the Islanders had the extra attacker on the ice.
After losing five straight games the Red Wings have bounced back to beat both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals. Its games like those that have to make Detroit fans go crazy as they sit in last place in the Atlantic Division. Their 58 points has the team just seven points away from the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference but there are six other teams they’d have to jump over to get there. Henrik Zetterberg, Anthony Mantha and Tomas Tatar are the team’s top line and should be looked at here for both cash game and tournament play. Zetterberg has 12 of his team leading 45 points while Mantha has crept into the third position on the Red Wings scoring chart with 31 points. Thomas Vanek leads the team with 15 goals as he has been moved up to the second line over the last few weeks to skate with Andreas Athanasiou and Frans Nielsen. Dylan Larkin skates with Justin Abdelkader on the third line but their production this season is part of the reason the Red Wings are in the predicament they are in. Defenseman Mike Green missed his second game in a row on Sunday with an illness which meant that Niklas Kronwall took over the power play duties from the point. There are much better defensive plays out there than this so maybe it’s best to look elsewhere for your defensemen.
Elite Plays
NYI: John Tavares
DET: Henrik Zetterberg
Secondary Plays
NYI: Anders Lee, Ryan Strome, Brock Nelson, Nick Leddy
DET: Anthony Mantha, Frans Nielsen, Thomas Vanek
Calgary Flames at Nashville Predators
| Calgary Flames | Nashville Predators | ||||||||
 | Brian Elliott |  | Pekka Rinne | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 29-26-4 | 28-22-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.54 | 2.80 | 20.00% | 81.20% | Team Stats | 2.79 | 2.69 | 18.80% | 82.00% |
The Flames 2-1 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night is obviously a game they’d like to have back as they are hanging onto the last playoff spot in the Western Conference by a thread. Three teams are five points away from making the Flames playoff hopes a distant memory. Winnipeg is just one point behind them while the Los Angeles Kings are just a regulation win away from tying them for the eighth and final playoff spot. Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Kris Versteeg is probably the line that Nashville will try to shut down which leaves the second line wide open. Mikael Backlund and Matthew Tkachuk are the duo to target here as they not only have combined for 11 points in the last seven games they lead the team in scoring as well. Tkachuk’s 26 assists and 37 points are second only to Backlund’s 39 points. Michael Frolik completes the second line and admittedly, is a bit streaky as his 13 goals and 19 assists are good enough for sixth place where the Calgary scoring is concerned. T.J. Brodie is getting the top power play minutes from the back line and has responded with six points in the last seven games. Dougie Hamilton is also in play here as he leads all Calgary defensemen with 35 points while leading the team with 166 shots on goal.
Even though the Predators have won just three of their last seven games the teams around them have been doing the same thing which is keeping them in fourth place in the Central Division. Playing at home gives them the advantage tonight as they are sporting a nice 16-7-6 record in front of the home crowd. It’s probably safe to deploy the top line of Ryan Johansen, Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg into position as these three players are 1-2-3 on the team in scoring. Arvidsson leads the team with six goals and nine points over the last nine games while Johansen’s 31 assists and 40 points are tops on the team. Mike Fisher could be used as a one-off option here as his 34 points is okay but his linemates in Pontus Aberg and Craig Smith leave a bit to be desired. Instead of Fisher, take a look at James Neal as your one-off here as his 17 goals are just one shy of the team lead as he receives the extra minutes skating on the team’s top power play unit. Defensemen Roman Josi joins the top line and Neal to complete the top unit when the Predators have the extra attacker. P.K. Subban is another option on the point as both defensemen have found the score sheet seven times over the last nine games.
Elite Plays
CGY: Mikael Backlund
NSH: Ryan Johansen, Viktor Arvidsson
Secondary Plays
CGY: Matthew Tkachuk, Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Dougie Hamilton
NSH: Filip Forsberg, James Neal, Roman Josi
Chicago Blackhawks at Minnesota Wild
| Chicago Blackhawks | Minnesota Wild | ||||||||
 | Corey Crawford |  | Devan Dubnyk | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 36-18-5 | 39-13-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.88 | 2.54 | 19.00% | 77.10% | Team Stats | 3.31 | 2.26 | 21.90% | 82.90% |
Chicago mixed it up a little bit last game as they beat the Buffalo Sabres by a score of 3-1 on Sunday night. The win kept them solidly in second place in the Central Division as now they get a shot at the division leaders in their home building tonight. Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov is usually the line to target each and every night as they are the team leaders in scoring. Kane leads the way with 60 points while Panarin’s 19 goals and 42 assists has him just seven points away from the team lead. Meanwhile Anisimov leads the team with 21 goals which makes all of this easy to see why this line can be played on almost any night. They will also draw the most attention from the second best defensive team in the league which means that Richard Panik and Jonathan Toews need to be looked at here as well. Both players have been getting the top power play minutes along with Kane and Panarin and when that happens, there’s trouble! Toews has caught fire over the last two weeks as he has registered nine of his 37 points over the last eight games while Panik’s four goals and four assists over that same time frame puts him as a nice pairing with Toews for tonight’s game. Duncan Keith is the play from the back line as he also has tallied eight points over the last eight games. This gives the defenseman 41 points in 59 games and that’s good in anybody’s book. Minnesota has only given up 10 goals in the six games they have played on this eight game home stand so sit back and watch a good one tonight.
Even though Minnesota had won six of their last eight games they shuffled up their lines a bit for their 5-2 win over Nashville on Saturday night. The win has them just one point behind the Washington Capitals for the league lead in points which obviously has them in a good spot for the post season tournament. Eric Staal centers Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter on the top line while Mikko Koivu has Jason Zucker and Mikael Granlund as his wingmen on the second line. Granlund leads the team with 53 points while he and his linemates have collected 11 goals and 17 assists over the last 10 games. The move to put Coyle on the top line is an obvious effort to get Staal back on track as he has just five points over the last 14 games. Neiderrreiter has seem to be unaffected regardless of who his linemates are as he has found the score sheet 12 times in the last 14 games. Jason Pominville and Zach Parise have been, how do I say this, re-re-re-united. This is about the third time the Wild have gone back to the duo that scored a ton of points for them over the last few years. Pominville actually leads the team with 16 points in the last 14 games which isn’t bad when you consider he only has 37 points so far this season. Ryan Suter is the choice on the back line especially since the Wild have gone to a four forward system when it comes to having the man advantage. He has been a bit cold of late but still continues to get the opportunities and that’s all you can ask for.
Elite Plays
CHI: Patrick Kane
MIN: Mikael Granlund
Secondary Plays
CHI: Artemi Panarin, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Artem Anisimov, Richard Panik
MIN: Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter, Jason Zucker, Jason Pominville, Ryan Suter
Los Angeles Kings at Colorado Avalanche
| Los Angeles Kings | Colorado Avalanche | ||||||||
 | Peter Budaj |  | Calvin Pickard | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 28-26-4 | 16-38-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.45 | 2.45 | 16.90% | 84.30% | Team Stats | 1.98 | 3.32 | 14.30% | 78.30% |
The Kings have won just one game over the last six they have played which has promptly put an end to Adrian Kempe experiment of playing in the top six, for now anyways. As mentioned above the kings have to get things rolling if they want to be playing hockey after April 10th. They are just two points out the last playoff spot in the western Conference and could make some headway here against a bad Colorado team. Dwight King finds himself back in the top six as he will take Kempe’s spot and skate with Anze Kopitar and Tyler Toffoli while Jeff Carter, Tanner Pearson and Dustin Brown will be the line that Colorado tries to shut down. Carter leads the team with 29 goals and 53 points while Kopitar’s 27 assists is tops on the team. Toffoli seems to be struggling a bit as he has just one point to his credit since he returned from injury seven games ago. This is probably why the Kings have elected to go with Kopitar, Carter and Pearson on the top power play unit and go back to the conventional two defensemen set up. Speaking of which, Drew Doughty is usually the play on the back line as his 32 points is fourth on the team’s scoring chart. We can’t discount Jake Muzzin as he joins Doughty with the man advantage and should be in play tonight as they face the worst team in the league.
The Colorado Avalanche have only won seven games since Wednesday November 23rd. Let’s see, over that time frame we have eaten Thanksgiving Turkey, opened Christmas presents, got drunk on New Year’s Eve, gave our significant other a Valentine’s Day gift and celebrated President’s Day. This should give you some idea of how bad this team is. They have even gone as far as to try to make two scoring lines as Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog will now skate with the useless Matt Nieto while Matt Duchene will skate with Blake Comeau and the demoted Mikko Rantanen. To be honest the only players that can score on this team are MacKinnon, Duchene Rantanen and Landeskog. MacKinnon and Duchene have eclipsed the 30 point mark with 39 and 36 points respectively while Rantanen has held his own by registering nine of his 28 points over the last 11 games. Defensemen Tyson Barrie and Mark Barberio will man the points when the Avalanche have the extra attacker. Barrie has grabbed 25 points in the 49 games he has played in while Barberio has three points in the nine games he has played in since coming over from Montreal. With 17 other teams tonight it may be best to think that this team doesn’t even exist.
Elite Plays
LAK: Jeff Carter
COL: None
Secondary Plays
LAK: Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Tanner Pearson, Dustin Brown, Tyler Toffoli
COL: Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Tyson Barrie, Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog