NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, January 10th - Page Two
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San Jose Sharks at Edmonton Oilers
| San Jose Sharks | Edmonton Oilers | ||||||||
 | Martin Jones |  | Cam Talbot | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 24-14-2 | 21-14-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.58 | 2.25 | 16.40% | 83.00% | Team Stats | 2.81 | 2.62 | 21.20% | 80.60% |
The Sharks come into this one tied in a dead heat with the Anaheim Ducks at 50 points for the top spot in the Pacific Division while Edmonton is just one point away from both of them with 49 points. The good thing for the Sharks is that they have played two more games than both Anaheim and Edmonton so winning tonight would do wonders. Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton lead the team as Timo Meier joins them to complete the Sharks top line. Meier has only played in ten games so far this season and has just a goal and assist for his efforts. He is not afforded the extra time that both Pavelski and Thornton enjoy on the top power play unit so using Meier in this spot feels like more of a punt play than anything. Logan Couture makes for a decent one-off play here he does get the extra power play minutes from the second line that features Kevin Labanc and Joonas Donskoi. Couture has chipped in 25 points so far this season which is good enough for fourth on the team. If you are looking to pair someone with Couture other than a power play line mate maybe take a look at Leblanc. He has grabbed four of his 12 points over the last five games and should see a lot of room on the ice with Couture as there is no doubt Edmonton will have their top defensive line against Pavelski and Company. Patrick Marleau makes for a decent one-off play as well. Since his temporary demotion from the top power play unit Marleau has gone on to light the lamp three times and grab another three assists in the last five games. Brent Burns is always the choice on the back line as he leads the team in goals, assists, points and shots. It’s very rare that a defenseman leads a team in that many offensive categories, let alone one that leads the division. Then again, a defenseman like Burns doesn’t come along too often either.
Edmonton can take over the top spot in the Pacific Division with a win here and an Anaheim loss to the Dallas Stars. Much like the Kane line for Chicago, I expect to see a lot of ownership from Edmonton’s top line as well. Connor McDavid leads the league in scoring with 48 points while Patrick Maroon and Leon Draisaitl have been riding shotgun enjoying the ride. Maroon has registered five goals and six points over the last five games while Draisaitl is second on the tam in points with 15 goals and 20 assists. The Oilers still refuse to use this whole line as their top power play unit as Maroon is the one left out in the cold. Still, he makes a good enough play because of his price. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Milan Lucic and Zack Kassian skate as the team’s second line at even strength with Lucic making the better play of the three as he has scored 13 of his 26 points on the power play. Speaking of the power play, Mark Letestu continues to see time on the top unit from the fourth line. He has collected six of his 19 points via the power play but is really more of a defensive specialist as he has 3 short-handed points so far this year. Surely the Oilers could move Maroon or Nugent-Hopkins up but I guess it’s just their way of keeping everyone happy. Oscar Klefbom and Andrej Sekera are your defensive choices if you are looking for an Edmonton stack. Klefbom is the shooter while Sekera seems to find a way to find the score sheet on a more consistent basis. This game should be one of the better ones of the night, especially with first place on the line.
Elite Plays
SJ: Brent Burns, Joe Pavelski
EDM: Connor McDavid
Secondary Plays
SJ: Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture, Kevin Labanc
EDM: Leon Draisaitl, Patrick Maroon, Milan Lucic, Mark Letestu, Andrej Sekera
Dallas Stars at Anaheim Ducks
| Dallas Stars | Anaheim Ducks | ||||||||
 | Antti Niemi |  | John Gibson | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 16-16-8 | 21-13-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.58 | 3.03 | 17.20% | 75.20% | Team Stats | 2.64 | 2.67 | 22.20% | 81.30% |
It looks like Ryan Getzlaf may miss one more game as he was back skating, but not with the team. A lot of weird line changes happened in yesterday mornings practice as Rickard Rakell was centering Corey Perry and Joseph Cramarossa while Ryan Kesler was in his usual position centering Jakob Silfverberg and Andrew Cogliano. This of course is not big news especially with Getzlaf not in the lineup. What is interesting however is that the Ducks worked on the power play extensively yesterday with a whole new look. Rakell was on the first line with Kesler, Nick Ritchie along with defensemen Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen. The second unit features Perry, Silfverberg, Antoine Vermette and defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Montour. Kesler always makes for a decent one-off play as the other teams usually key on Perry and Rakell which leaves the second line a bit more free to control the ice. Kessler leads the team with 16 goals, 35 points and 15 power play points and has scored four of those 16 goals over the last five games. We can only assume that the Ducks switched up the power play units because they have no notched a goal with the man advantage in the last five games. Silfverberg is the candidate to pair with Kesler as he is fourth on the team in scoring with 11 goals and 15 assists. Perry and Rakell could almost be the chalk plays here as Dallas had given up 121 goals going into last night’s game at Los Angeles so there’s no doubt that the Ducks will score a few tonight. Fowler is the play on the back line as 11 of his 22 points have come with the man advantage. Vatanen has done him one better in terms of ratio as his two goals and eight assists on the power play represents almost two-thirds of the 16 points he has registered so far this season. Dallas has been struggling of late and could be in trouble on the second half of a back-to-back situation.
The Stars outlasted the Kings last night by a score of 6-4 in a game that saw four different goaltenders between the pipes. Jamie Benn did not suit up for this one as was tabbed as a ‘possibility’ for tonight’s game. Benn has been out since New Year’s Eve with a foot injury so even if he does return tonight it may just take him a game or two to get back to full strength. Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza and Jiri Hudler were the top line in last night’s game so even if Benn were to come back tonight the former two would make for a good tournament play. They both play on the top power play unit that has struck for three goals in the last four games. Anaheim has been having a hard time trying to kill penalties as they have given up four goals over the last five games while a man down. Cody Eakin and Patrick Eaves come up from the second line to play on the top power play line and could be considered as a decent pairing for your deeper tournament plays. There’s no doubt that Anaheim will put their best defensive line against the Seguin line which should leave more room on the ice for Eakin and Eaves along with Antoine Roussel to maneuver tonight. John Klingberg is the defensive choice here as he has recorded nine of his 22 points while quarterbacking the top power play unit. Dallas put up six last night so it’s highly unlikely that they will come up with zero tonight.
Elite Plays
DAL: Tyler Seguin
ANA: Ryan Kesler
Secondary Plays
DAL: Jason Spezza, John Klingberg, Patrick Eaves, Cody Eakin
ANA: Corey Perry, Rickard Rakell, Jakob Silfverberg, Cam Fowler