NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, January 26th - Page Two
Columbus Blue Jackets at Montreal Canadiens – 07:30 PM EST
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Montreal Canadiens | ||||||||
 | Joonas Korpisalo |  | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 17-27-5 | |||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.47 | 3.20 | 17.20% | 81.10% | Team Stats | 2.69 | 2.56 | 17.20% | 85.10% |
Columbus succeeded in snapping a three-game losing streak last night in the home-and-home opener against Montreal, but still find themselves in the cellar of the Metropolitan Division. They’ve posted an unsightly 9-16-1 road record this season and Montreal has allowed just 2.22 goals per game at the Bell Centre this season. While I don’t trust them in cash games tonight, Cam Atkinson posted a hat trick against the Canadiens last night and fired seven shots at Mike Condon. He joins Brandon Dubinsky and Boone Jenner on the second line, with Brandon Saad and Scott Hartnell leading the charge with 32 points a piece on the top forward line. Seth Jones has dished out five assists in his first nine games with the Blue Jackets and logged nearly 23 minutes of ice-time last night. Both him and Jack Johnson soak up the majority of the playing time on the point of the Columbus power-play and are fine options where they’re still cheap. However, for all of Montreal’s struggles, they still own an impressive 85.1% penalty kill.
The Canadiens carried play for for large stretches of last night’s home-and-home opener against the Blue Jackets, but simply can’t seem to break out of their funk. While the scene shifting to the Bell Centre is a plus, Montreal is now just 5-17-1 over their last 23 games and now find themselves on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff race. Brendan Gallagher scored a power-play goal and added an assist in last night’s game and joins Tomas Plekanec and Max Pacioretty on both the top forward line and #1 power-play unit. With Columbus being the most penalized team in the NHL and also allowing a league worst 3.20 goals against per game, I may just take that bait once again with that trio. P.K. Subban scored his 4th goal of the season and added an assist last night as well and runs things from the point of the #1 power-play unit. With a career low 3.0% shooting percentage, he figures to find the back of the net with more regularity down the stretch this season.
Elite Options
CBJ: Scott Hartnell, Brandon Saad
MON: Max Pacioretty, Brendan Gallagher, Tomas Plekanec, P.K. Subban
Secondary Options
CBJ: Brandon Dubinsky, Cam Atkinson, Boone Jenner, Seth Jones, Jack Johnson
MON: David Desharnais, Alex Galchenyuk, Andrei Markov
Arizona Coyotes at Winnipeg Jets – 08:00 PM EST
| Arizona Coyotes | Winnipeg Jets | ||||||||
 | Louis Domingue |  | Connor Hellebuyck | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 23-19-5 | 21-24-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.70 | 2.96 | 18.60% | 76.40% | Team Stats | 2.52 | 2.83 | 15.60% | 76.60% |
After a shootout victory in Minnesota last night, Arizona will make the trip to Winnipeg to battle the Jets at the always raucous MTS Centre. Arizona is hanging tough in the Pacific Division (third place) and have posted a very respectable 6-3-1 record over their last ten games. While Arizona has not been the most consistent source for fantasy production this season, they are in play tonight as Winnipeg has allowed 2.83 goals against per game this season and sport the #28th ranked penalty kill at just 76.6%. With that poor penalty kill in mind, Mikkel Boedker emerges as a fine option. The talented winger has already picked up 16 power-play points on the young season and owns a pair of assists in two meetings against the Jets already this season. He’s joined on the top power-play unit by forwards Max Domi, Martin Hanzal and Anthony Duclair with stud blue-line Oliver Ekman-Larsson running things from the point. OEL is tied with Boedker for the team lead with 34 points in 48 games and is a top-tier play on the blue-line. He scored a goal against Winnipeg in their last meeting and is locked into 25+ minutes of ice-time per night.
The Jets have treaded water for most of the season thus far, but after dropping three straight games to fall to 21-24-3, they’re officially on life support in the very competitive Central Division. They draw a nice matchup tonight against a struggling Arizona team that was in action last night against the Wild and can simply no longer afford to leave any points on the table in these winnable games. These two teams have split their first two meetings this season but with Arizona allowing an ugly 2.96 goals per game, Winnipeg will likely be the far more popular play. With that said, Winnipeg has scored just one goal in each of the last four games and while they’ll be happy to welcome mark Scheifele bac into the lineup, his return will also coincide with Mathieu Perreault taking his spot in the press box. Blake Wheeler has flirted with a point-per-game pace in each of the last three seasons, and somehow flies a bit below the radar for a guy with 13 goals and 32 assists in 48 games this season. He’ll now find himself playing alongside Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers on the top line. Bryan Little is slated to center Andrew Ladd and Drew Stafford on the second line, but he reportedly was forced out of practice early yesterday and you’ll need to confirm his status before deploying him into your lineups. On defense, Dustin Byfuglien has scored a goal and added an assist against Arizona in their two meetings this season and scored his 12th goal of the season against New Jersey on Saturday. He logs huge minutes both at even strength and on the point of Winnipeg’s top power-play unit and should be salivating to get a crack at Arizona’s ugly 76.4% PK.
Elite Options
ARI: Mikkel Boedker, Max Domi, Oliver Ekman-Larsson
WPG: Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little (if healthy), Dustin Byfuglien
Secondary Options
ARI: Tobias Rieder, Martin Hanzal, Antoine Vermette
WPG: Andrew Ladd, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Drew Stafford, Tyler Myers
Nashville Predators at Vancouver Canucks – 10:00 PM EST
| Nashville Predators | Vancouver Canucks | ||||||||
 | Pekka Rinne |  | Ryan Miller | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 22-18-8 | 20-18-11 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.56 | 2.67 | 20.60% | 78.20% | Team Stats | 2.39 | 2.76 | 17.00% | 80.10% |
The Predators are in the midst of playing 11 of 14 games on the road and have free-fallen all the way to fifth place in the Central Division after going 7-9-3 over their last 19 games. However, they’ve posted back-to-back 4-1 victories and another road win tonight would position them nicely for the stretch run. Ryan Johansen has scored three goals and added nine assists since coming over from Columbus Blue-Jackets and forms a very dangerous alongside James Neal (and rookie Kevin Fiala) on the top scoring line. Filip Forsberg leads Nashville forwards with 31 points this season and joins forces with Mike Ribeiro and Craig Smith on the Predators’ second-line. With the Canucks being the second worst puck possession team in the NHL this season by Corsi standards, Nashville also figures to get several cracks on the power-play. Shea Weber and Roman Josi are both elite fantasy defenseman and live on the point of the #1 power-play. They’re not cheap, but sometimes you just get what you pay for. If you’re looking for some value on the blue-line Mattias Ekholm may looks like a nice target as well. He scored a pair of goals against the Oilers last night and has stepped up his game with Seth Jones no longer in the picture with four goals and six assists over the last 12 games.
The Canucks survived a grueling six game road trip and will be very pleased to return to the Rogers Center tonight to face the Nashville Predators for the first time this season. With Henrik Sedin still sidelined, his brother Daniel is easily the most dangerous weapon as he leads the team with 21 goals and 22 assists (and a +14) in 49 games this season. He’ll be joined by the talented young Jared McCann and Jannik Hansen on the top line which is an immediate fantasy boost for both players. Jannik Hansen exploded for a hat trick against Pittsburgh in their last game and is an intriguing value play. With Nashville sporting an uncharacteristically poor penalty kill (78.2%), it also solidifies the likes of Linden Vey, Radim Vrbata and Bo Horvat as fine GPP options. Horvat scored another goal on Saturday and has now posted points in nine of the last ten games and racked up seven goals and five assists during that stretch. Alex Edler runs things from the point of the #1 power-play and has picked up an assist in each of the last two games. He’s been quiet lately but is still in play where his price remains cheap.
Elite Options
NSH: Ryan Johansen, James Neal, Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, Shea Weber
VAN: Daniel Sedin
Secondary Options
NSH: Mike Fisher, Mike Ribeiro, Craig Smith, Kevin Fiala, Mattias Ekholm
VAN: Bo Horvat, Radim Vrbata, Jannik Hansen, Linden Vey, Alex Edler
Colorado Avalanche at San Jose Sharks – 10:30 PM EST
| Colorado Avalanche | San Jose Sharks | ||||||||
 | Calvin Pickard |  | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 26-21-3 | 25-18-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.74 | 2.66 | 20.00% | 80.40% | Team Stats | 2.85 | 2.70 | 21.30% | 79.30% |
The Avalanche will continue a tough three-game road trip tonight in San Jose, but despite being outshot 15-43 by Dallas on Saturday, they still managed to pick up a 3-1 win for their fourth straight victory. They lit up the Sharks for six goals in their last visit to the Shark Tank but haven’t bested three goals in any of their last eight games. With the Sharks oddly struggling on home ice this season (9-12-2 home record), there’s some appeal to this Avalanche lineup tonight. Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene have combined for 36 goals and 41 assists in 50 games this season and are a formidable duo on the ‘Avs top forward line. While they’re the most exciting options, Carl Soderberg has been widely overlooked this season but has posted three goals and five assists in his last nine games and has posted a goal and three assists in the two prior meetings with San Jose. He’s joined by the talented Gabriel Landeskog at even strength and also sees a healthy dose of playing time with Nathan Mackinnon and Jarome Iginla on the #2 power-play unit. Tyson Barrie has picked up assists in back-to-back games and has thrived as the quarterback on the top power-play unit. He’s dished out three assists already this season against the Sharks and sees a fantasy boost against the Sharks 79.3% penalty kill.
The Sharks saw some of the wind let out of their sails in an overtime loss against the Kings on Sunday, but they’ve posted an impressive 7-1-1 record over their last nine games to ascend to second place in the Pacific Division. Joe Pavelski has scored in back-to-back games and now leads the Sharks with 24 goals and 24 assists (with a +17) in 47 games. He headlines the top forward line alongside his partner-in-crime Joe Thornton and Tomas Hertl and is a rock solid option in all formats. Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture join Thornton and Pavelski on the top power-play unit that has clicked at an impressive 21.3% clip this season. Brent Burns has scored two goals and added an assist in the two meetings against the Avalanche this season and his 203 SOG trails only Alex Ovechkin in the NHL this season. He’s a force on the point of that top power-play unit and his limitless upside makes him a top tier defensive play in both cash games and GPP’s.
Elite Options
COL: Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Tyson Barrie
SAN: Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Brent Burns
Secondary Options
COL: Gabriel Landeskog, Carl Soderberg, Jarome Iginla, Erik Johnson
SAN: Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau, Tomas Hertl, Joel Ward, Marc-Edouard Vlasic