NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, March 1st - Page Two

by John Britt (jmbwngfn) Last Updated 2016-03-01 19:37:42

Pittsburgh Penguins at Washington Capitals – 08:00 PM EST

Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Pittsburgh Penguins					Washington Capitals
			Marc-Andre Fleury					Braden Holtby
			Record					Record
			31-21-8					45-12-4
Team Stats	2.62	2.55	18.30%	83.50%	Team Stats	3.26	2.31	23.70%	84.00%

In what could be a preview of a series from the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins will head to Washington tonight to make up their previously scheduled game against the Capitals that was postponed due to snow. They smoked the Arizona Coyotes 6-0 last night for their second straight win and have now posted a 11-4-1 record in their last 15 games. With Evgeni Malkin back in the lineup, Mike Sullivan once again has a two-headed monster as both top forward lines are major offensive threats. Sidney Crosby has turned things on after a slow start to the season, and after picking up three assists last night, just finished up a month of February that saw him tally eight goals and ten assists (and a +12) in just 13 games. He’s joined by the dangerous duo of Chris Kunitz and Patric Hornqvist (who had a hat trick last night) leaving Malkin to play alongside Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel. Kris Letang kept his heater going last night with a goal and an assist and has now posted ten goals and 24 assists in his last 26 games. Tonight’s matchup doesn’t get much harder, but this Pittsburgh team has the firepower to light up the scoreboard on any given night and are very intriguing GPP options in this one.

Washington fell short against the Blackhawks on Sunday but will return home tonight where they own a 24-5-2 record at the Verizon Center. Alex Ovechkin saw his five-game point streak come to an end in Chicago, but he still leads the NHL in both goals (40) and SOG (312) and has tallied 22 goals, 10 assists and a +18 in 29 home games this season. He’s once again joined by Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie on the top line with Evgeny Kuznetsov skating alongside Justin Williams and Andre Burakovsky on the second line. Kuznetsov actually leads the Capitals with 64 points and his +29 is the best mark in the entire NHL. On defense, John Carlson was shifted to the long-term IR over the weekend and will be out for the next 3-4 weeks. His absence opens the door for Matt Niskanen to take over as the point-man of the Capitals league best power-play. The former Penguin has flashed plenty of offensive upside throughout his career and looks like a very nice value play this evening.

Pittsburgh Penguins

CF%: 52, CP60: 109.8, 5×5 Differential: 5
Elite Options: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang
Secondary Options: Patric Hornqvist, Chris Kunitz, Phil Kessel, Carl Hagelin

Washington Capitals

CF%: 50.4, CP60: 109.9, 5×5 Differential: 36
Elite Options: Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov
Secondary Options: T.J. Oshie, Justin Williams, Matt Niskanen

Florida Panthers at Winnipeg Jets – 08:00 PM EST

Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Florida Panthers					Winnipeg Jets
			Roberto Luongo					Ondrej Pavelec
			Record					Record
			35-19-8					26-31-4
Team Stats	2.66	2.31	16.80%	81.30%	Team Stats	2.57	2.95	16.50%	77.10%

The re-tooled Panthers have seen their lead in the Atlantic Division shrink after two straight losses to open a tough five-game road trip. They’ll be anxious to get back on the winning track tonight as they head to Winnipeg to battle a Jets team who they just defeated 3-1 last week. They will once again be without Jonathan Huberdeau for at least one more game and shipped Brandon Pirri off to Anaheim, but with Teddy Purcell and Jiri Hudler both now in the mix, Gerard Gallant still has three solid forward lines to work with. With that said, the Jets not only own the 27 ranked penalty kill (77.1%) but are also the second most penalized team in the league, so I’ll be focusing most of my attention on the Florida power-play. Aleksander Barkov has picked up at least one point in each of the three games since returning to the lineup and centers the top power-play alongside Nick Bjugstad and Logan Shaw while Vincent Trocheck leads Jaromir Jagr and Jussi Jokinen on the second unit. Jagr may leads this team in scoring this season, but his home vs road splits are concerning enough to give me pause. On defense, the trio of Aaron Ekblad, Brian Campbell and Dmitry Kulikov soak up nearly all of the available time on the point of the power-play. Ekblad and Campbell are the preferred plays, but Kulikov has heated up with four assists in the last four games.

The Jets have dropped five of their last six games and shipped Andrew Ladd off to Chicago over the weekend and now find themselves firmly in the cellar of the Central Division. With a Florida Panthers team invading the MTS Center fighting for their division and allowing an Eastern Conference low 2.31 goals against per game this season, the fantasy options here are limited. With Bryan Little now lost for the season, Blake Wheeler is easily the top forward option. He’s tallied 57 points in 61 games this season and has scored goals in back-to-back games. He’ll now be joined by the talented Nikolaj Ehlers and Mark Scheifele on the top line. Dustin Byfuglien has picked up assists in each of his last five games and can rack up fantasy points in a variety of different ways. He’s picked up four goals and ten assists in his last 14 games and quarterbacks Winnipeg’s top power-play unit.

Florida Panthers

CF%: 47.5, CP60: 97.2, 5×5 Differential: 18
Elite Options: Aleksander Barkov, Jussi Jokinen
Secondary Options: Jaromir Jagr, Jiri Hudler, Vincent Trocheck, Nick Bjugstad, Aaron Ekblad

Winnipeg Jets

CF%: 51.7, CP60: 106.8, 5×5 Differential: -1
Elite Options: Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien
Secondary Options: Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Joel Armia

Colorado Avalanche at Minnesota Wild – 08:00 PM EST

Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Colorado Avalanche					Minnesota Wild
			Semyon Varlamov					Devan Dubnyk
			Record					Record
			32-28-4					28-25-10
Team Stats	2.64	2.83	19.10%	80.20%	Team Stats	2.60	2.49	18.60%	76.90%

Joe Sakic made some big moves before yesterday’s trade deadline, bringing the likes of Mikkel Boedker and Eric Gelinas, signaling that they’re expecting this team to secure a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Their main competition for the 8th and final playoff spot also just so happens to be their opponent tonight, the Minnesota Wild. They were disappointed to not pick up two points in the Stadium Series event at Coors Field over the weekend and Patrick Roy has stressed the importance of this game to his team for several days. With Boedker in the mix, Roy now has three strong forward lines at his disposal. Matt Duchene leads the team with 48 points and centers the top line alongside Jarome Iginla and Mikhail Grigorenko, with Nathan MacKinnon centering a dangerous looking line alongside Gabriel Landeskog and Mikkel Boedker. However, with Minnesota tending to lock Zach Parise up against Nathan MacKinnon in their previous meetings, the Duchene and Iginla combo will likely see the more favorable matchups in this one. Tyson Barrie has heated up offensively lately with three goals and six assists in his last eight games and now owning a goal and two assists against the Wild already this season. With Minnesota sporting the league’s 28th ranked penalty kill, he’s a fine option on the blue-line in all formats.

While the Avalanche were wheeling and dealing, the Wild stayed put at the trade deadline. After a stretch of the winter that saw them post a 1-11-2 record and subsequently get their coach fired, Minnesota seems to have recovered at least a little bit with a 5-3-0 record in their last eight games. A win tonight could pull them even with the Avalanche for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference and the importance of this hockey game can’t really be overstated. The top line of Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Charlie Coyle will draw the most attention, and for good reason. Koivu leads the team in scoring with 43 points and Coyle netted his 19th goal of the season against Florida on Sunday. Parise remains one of the best two-way forwards in the NHL and has posted four goals and an assist in the three prior meetings against Colorado. Alternatively, the duo of Erik Haula and Jason Pominville have really developed a nice rapport with one another and combined for nine goal sand 12 assists (and a +10) in 14 games since the All-Star break. On defense, Ryan Suter is still well underpriced on several sites for a guy logging nearly 29 minutes of ice-time per game and owning 41 points in 63 games. While he’s the top option, former first-round pick Matt Dumba just wrapped up a month of February that saw him score four goals and add five assists in 14 games and he already owns a goal and an assist against Colorado this season.

Colorado Avalanche

CF%: 43.8, CP60: 110.3, 5×5 Differential: -11
Elite Options: Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon, Tyson Barrie
Secondary Options: Jarome Iginla, Gabriel Landeskog, Mikkel Boedker, Blake Comeau

Minnesota Wild

CF%: 48.2, CP60: 106.2, 5×5 Differential: 11
Elite Options: Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, Ryan Suter
Secondary Options: Charlie Coyle, Erik Haula, Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, Matt Dumba

New York Islanders at Vancouver Canucks – 10:00 PM EST

Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
New York Islanders					Vancouver Canucks
			Jaroslav Halak					Ryan Miller
			Record					Record
			33-20-7					24-25-12
Team Stats	2.78	2.43	19.20%	87.40%	Team Stats	2.36	2.82	17.50%	81.40%

The Islanders couldn’t solve Cam Talbot in Edmonton on Sunday, have posted a solid 7-2-1 record over their last ten games to pull within striking distance of the New York Rangers for second place in the Metropolitan Division. They’ve reached the half way point of their seven game road trip as they’ll head to Vancouver to face the Canucks. John Tavares finished the month of February with seven goals and nine assists in 13 games and headlines the top line alongside Josh Bailey and Ryan Strome. While Tavares may be the top option, the duo of Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo provide some consistent complimentary scoring on the second line. All three players join Anders Lee and Nick Leddy on the top power-play unit where the team has posted an impressive 25% power-play since the All-Star break. Leddy has collected three goals and ten assists in his last 16 games and is averaging nearly 23 minutes of ice-time per game in the second half, making him a rock solid blue-liner to target.

The Canucks were easily pushed aside by the Sharks on Sunday and have now posted an unsightly 4-8-1 record in their last 13 games to fall out of playoff contention. They’ve averaged a Western Conference low 2.36 goals per game this season and there’s just not a ton to love her beyond the Sedin Twins. Daniel Sedin leads the charge with 23 goals and 30 assists in 61 games while his brother has chipped in ten goals and 37 assists in 55 games. Those two will be joined by Jannik Hansen on the top forward line while seeing time with Sven Baertschi and Linden Vey on the top power-play unit. However, with the Islanders owning the #1 penalty kill in the entire NHL, I’ll be looking elsewhere tonight in cash games. If you’re looking for some value, Ben Hutton is worth a mention. The 22 year-old has taken the reigns as the point-man on that top power-play unit and now only scored his only career goal against this Islanders team eariler this season, but has also dished out five assists in his last nine games.

New York Islanders

CF%: 50.5, CP60: 111.8, 5×5 Differential: 9
Elite Options: John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, Nick Leddy
Secondary Options: Frans Nielsen, Anders Lee, Johnny Boychuck

Vancouver Canucks

CF%: 47.2, CP60: 103.4, 5×5 Differential: -8
Elite Options: Daniel Sedin
Secondary Options: Henrik Sedin, Jannik Hansen, Ben Hutton