NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, January 12th - Page Two
Nashville Predators at Chicago Blackhawks – 08:30 PM EST
| Nashville Predators | Chicago Blackhawks | ||||||||
 | Pekka Rinne |  | Corey Crawford | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 19-16-7 | 27-13-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.50 | 2.71 | 19.60% | 75.40% | Team Stats | 2.84 | 2.36 | 22.90% | 81.70% |
Nashville made plenty of noise by trading away Seth Jones for Ryan Johansen, but that hasn’t changed things on the ice just yet as they’ve enter tonight’s game in the Windy City having lost three straight games (and five of their last six). These two teams split a home-and-home series earlier this season, with both teams picking up wins on their home ice. Unfortunately for Nashville, not only are the Blackhawks 18-5-1 at the United Center but they also happen to be playing their best hockey of the young season as evidenced by their seven game winning streak. This is certainly not an ideal spot to over-expose yourself to the Predators and to make matters worse, they’ll likely be without the services on Colin Wilson tonight as well. While the top line of Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen and James Neal has the offensive potential to be one of the most dangerous forward lines in the NHL this season, it’s almost guaranteed that they’ll be shadowed by defensive stalwarts Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews every time they hop over the boards. On defense, Shea Weber and Roman Josi are dangerous weapons on the point of the #1 power-play unit and have proven to be somewhat matchup proof. With Seth Jones no longer in the picture, Ryan Ellis also sees a fantasy boost and as his role with the offense is destined to grow.
After seemingly just going through the motions during the first one/third of the season, Chicago’s recent play has sent a message to the rest of the NHL that this team will no relinquish the title easily. Not only have they rattled off seven straight wins, but they’ve now posted a 14-4-0 record over their last 18 games and have made it look fairly easy in the process. With Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa (and Andrew Shaw) tasked with lockdown duty on the Johansen line, Coach Queneville will once again lean on the destructive line of Patrick Kane, Artem Anisimov and Artemi Panarin to carry the load offensively at even strength. That trio also resides on the ‘Hawks #1 power-play unit and, with Nashville owning an atrocious 75.4% penalty kill and Chicago sitting with the third best power-play in the league (22.9%), that’s the mismatch I’m looking to exploit. Both Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook run things on the point of that #1 power-play unit and should be well worth their big-ticket asking prices on the blue-line.
Elite Options
NSH: Shea Weber, Roman Josi
CHI: Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin, Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith
Secondary Options
NSH: Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg, James Neal, Ryan Ellis
CHI: Jonathan Toews, Artem Anisimov, Marian Hossa
Edmonton Oilers at Arizona Coyotes – 09:00 PM EST
| Edmonton Oilers | Arizona Coyotes | ||||||||
 | Ben Scrivens |  | Mike Smith | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 17-23-3 | 21-16-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.37 | 2.95 | 16.30% | 80.50% | Team Stats | 2.83 | 3.02 | 18.00% | 78.80% |
Edmonton has flashed several signs that they’re a team on the rise this season, but they now know they’ll be without Connor McDavid through the All-Star break and have posted just a 3-8-1 record since ripping off six straight games to open the month of December. It’s been a bit tough to roster too many Edmonton players on sites that consider plus/minus lately, but that fear is at least slightly mitigated in tonight’s decent matchup against the Arizona Coyotes. Breaking down Edmonton has been fairly easy from a fantasy perspective this season as they possess two very dangerous forward lines but haven’t seen much of any offensive production from the blue-line. Jordan Eberle scored a pair of goals against the Coyotes just last week and teams up with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Benoit Pouliot on the second line. However, Taylor Hall leads the team with 41 points and is the most dangerous offensive weapon alongside Leon Draisaitl and Teddy Purcell on the top line.
It’s a bit hard to believe, but the Arizona Coyotes will take the ice tonight sitting in second place in the Pacific Division. They’re fresh off of an impressive 4-0 shutout victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday and have now picked up three straight victories. Arizona is not usually a team I put too much faith behind in cash games, but a home matchup against an Oilers team that has allowed 2.95 goals against per game might change that. Arizona has seen both of it’s top two lines produce fairly well lately, and while the Domi/Vermette/Boedker line definitely deserves your attention, I’m expecting a big evening from Rieder, Hanzal and Duclair on the second line. Tobias Rieder has flown completely under the radar this season but owns eight goals and nine assists in 19 home games this season and is fresh off of a two goal, one assist performance against the Predators. Martin Hanzal brings a two game point streak of his own into tonight’s game and has picked up 22 points in 28 games on the season. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the face of this franchise and commands your attention on the blue-line. The overly talented Swede owns 11 goals and 17 assists and quarterbacks the ‘Yotes #1 power-play.
Elite Options
EDM: Taylor Hall, Leon Draisaitl, Jordan Eberle
ARI: Martin Hanzal, Tobias Rieder, Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Secondary Options
EDM: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Teddy Purcell, Andrej Sekera
ARI: Max Domi, Shane Doan, Mikkel Boedker, Anthony Duclair
Tampa Bay Lightning at Colorado Avalanche – 09:00 PM EST
| Tampa Bay Lightning | Colorado Avalanche | ||||||||
 | Ben Bishop |  | Semyon Varlamov | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 21-17-4 | 21-19-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.50 | 2.36 | 18.20% | 78.90% | Team Stats | 2.91 | 2.86 | 21.50% | 78.80% |
The Lightning will wrap up a four-game road trip tonight in Colorado and look to be finally gaining some momentum after picking up two points in each of the last two games. This team was at it’s best when it was receiving consistent secondary scoring behind Steven Stamkos, and with both Palat and Johnson finally back to full health, John Cooper finally has his wish. Stamkos is slated to be joined by Ondrej Palat and Vladislav Namestnikov on the top line with Tyler Johnson leading Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn on the second line. With Colorado being the worst puck possession team in the NHL this season (44.2 CF%), both lines should have no trouble creating an abundance of scoring chances. The Avalanche were torched in their last outing for six goals against the Blackhawks and have allowed at least one power-play goal in six straight games, so getting some exposure to the Lightning power-play has plenty of merit. With that in mind, both Anton Stralman and Victor Hedman shoot up my rankings on the blue-line as both have already eclipsed the 20 point barrier and log substantial minutes with the man advantage.
Despite beating knocked around by the Blackhawks in their last outing, don’t simply overlook Colorado here as they had posted three straight very impressive victories in a row prior to Sunday’s game. Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene headline the top line alongside Alex Tanguay, but both Gabriel Landeskog and Jarome Iginla see a healthy dose of playing time with the man advantage, making all four fine options up front against Tampa’s mediocre (78.9%) penalty kill. With that said, the one player from Colorado on my cash game radar is defenseman Tyson Barrie. Barrie has racked up 20 points in 18 home games this season and has posted three goals and three assists over the last four games. With Erik Johnson watching from the press box, he’s locked into 25+ minutes of ice-time per game and is certainly not shy about unloading his blistering slapshot from the point of the #1 power-play unit.
Elite Options
TAM: Steven Stamkos, Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman
COL: Tyson Barrie
Secondary Options
TAM: Alex Killorn, Vladislav Namestnikov, Valtteri Filppula
COL: Nathan Mackinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Matt Duchene, Jarome Iginla