NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, January 3rd - Page Two
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Montréal Canadiens at Nashville Predators
| Montréal Canadiens | Nashville Predators | ||||||||
 | Carey Price |  | Pekka Rinne | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 22-9-6 | 16-14-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.03 | 2.30 | 19.80% | 80.90% | Team Stats | 2.81 | 2.69 | 20.30% | 81.30% |
The Canadiens have hit the skids over the last five games as they were only able to beat the Florida Panthers on this current seven game road trip. Tonight’s game will mark the first time that defenseman Shea Weber will return to play against the team that drafted him in the second round back in 2003. Weber and Jeff Petry will man the points when the team draws a penalty. Petry was hot early in the season and has rebounded nicely to score two goals and snare three assists in the last six games. Weber on the other hand has recorded 11 of his 21 points with the man advantage. The top line of Max Pacioretty, Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher should be the line that Nashville will try to shut down which will leave a bit more room on the ice for the team’s second line. Paul Byron and Alexander Radulov skate with Pacioretty on the top power play unit that has scored four times over the last six games. Radulov makes a decent one-off play here as he has lit the lamp eight times while assisting on 18 other goals for a total of 26 points on the season. Byron hasn’t been bad of late either as he leads the team with six points over the last six games. Montreal has only scored 13 goals in their last six road games so look for this to be a tight one.
Nashville will use the same lines the employed in their 4-0 win in St Louis on Friday night. Head coach Peter Laviolette has tried almost everything to get the team going but they are still mired in fifth place in the Central Division and find themselves just two points away from the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. The top line is the one to target here as Ryan Johansen, Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg have provided most of the recent scoring with a combined seven goals and nine assists over the last six games. Johansen leads the team with 27 points while Arvidsson is three points behind him and Forsberg has tallied eight goals and 15 assists so far this season. James Neal makes for a decent one-off play here as he leads the team with 14 goals from the second line. Colin Wilson and Mike Fisher skate with him at even strength but I wouldn’t mind Pairing Neal and Fisher as they join Johansen on the team’s top power play unit. Defensemen Mattias Ekholm and Roman Josi are the choices on eth back line as P.K. Subban will sit this one out due to an injury. Ekholm has racked up five of his 13 points over the last five games which is just two games shy of the Subban injury. Josi is the guy you want as he has nine of his 19 points on the power play and is second on the team is shots with 108 of them. Nashville will look to break their five game home losing streak tonight.
Elite Plays
MTL: Max Pacioretty
NSH: Ryan Johansen, James Neal
Secondary Plays
MTL: Alexander Radulov, Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, Paul Byron, Brendan Gallagher
NSH: Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, Viktor Arvidsson, Mike Fisher
Los Angeles Kings at San Jose Sharks
| Los Angeles Kings | San Jose Sharks | ||||||||
 | Peter Budaj |  | Martin Jones | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 18-15-4 | 23-13-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.46 | 2.38 | 15.60% | 83.20% | Team Stats | 2.49 | 2.16 | 17.20% | 83.80% |
The Kings won the first half of this home and home series on Saturday night by a score of 3-2 in front of the home crowd. As I wrote in Saturday’s Grind Down, these two teams rarely combine for over five goals which could mean that we see another low scoring game tonight. The top line of Jeff Carter, Tanner Pearson and Devin Setoguchi will probably be shadowed by the Kings top line. It’s tough to stay away from carter though as he not only leads the team with 31 points, he has lit the lamp six times while grabbing an assist over the last six games. Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik need to get things going if the Kings are to come out of here with a victory tonight. Both players have been a disappointment in the scoring department which is probably why the Kings are hanging onto the eighth spot in the Western Conference by a single point. Alec Martinez and drew Doughty man the points on a top power play unit that has tallied a goal just three times over the last ten games. Conversely the Sharks have given up two goals in the last eight games while a man short so don’t look for any help here where the scoring is concerned. Martinez has moved into second place of the Kings scoring chart with 21 points while Doughty is three behind him with 18. Look for this game to be a close, low scoring game just like the rest of them.
San Jose played a joke on us last game as they moved Patrick Marleau down to the third line but after having a hand in both goals against Philadelphia he was back skating with Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton. I guess it was just a move to get Marleau going as they lead the Pacific Division by one point over the Anaheim Ducks. I can’t think of any other reason you would do that especially when the team was 7-1 in their last eight games before the quick move. This is the line to target tonight on home ice as they also pull the double duty by playing at least 65% of every power play the Sharks earn. Thornton leads the team with 23 assists while defenseman Brent Burns takes the lead in goals, points and shots on goal. 151 shots is a lot to take in 37 games but it has paid off in spades for the offensive-minded defenseman as Burns has netted 15 goals while assisting on 20 other goals. Logan Couture is your one-off here as he skates with the four aforementioned players when the Sharks draw a penalty. Couture is another shooter who has seen his 104 shots produce 11 goals and 12 assist so far this season. If you feel a bit lucky you can use Kevin LeBlanc and Mikkel Boedker as they skate with Couture on the second line and could see a little more room on the ice than the top line. Again, this rivalry usually doesn’t create many goals so using caution here is probably the order of the night.
Elite Plays
LAK: Jeff Carter
SJ: Brent Burns, Joe Pavelski
Secondary Plays
LAK: Tanner Pearson, Alec Martinez, Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar
SJ: Logan Couture, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau