NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, November 15th - Page Three
Jump to Page 1 2 3
Los Angeles Kings at Colorado Avalanche
| Los Angeles Kings | Colorado Avalanche | ||||||||
 | Peter Budaj |  | Semyon Varlamov | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 7-8-1 | 6-8-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.38 | 2.50 | 9.80% | 78.20% | Team Stats | 1.93 | 2.93 | 18.40% | 80.30% |
The Kings fought the good fight in Winnipeg on Sunday afternoon but came up just a tad short in their 3-2 shootout loss to the Jets. The second line of Teddy Purcell, Trevor Lewis and Tanner Pearson go on the board while the top line of Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli and Dwight King managed eight shots without any luck. Anze Kopitar has been day-to-day with an upper body ailment and could come back tonight to reclaim his spot between Purcell and Pearson. Los Angeles has had enough problems over the last three games and having Kopitar out of the lineup surely doesn’t help the situation any. The Carter line is responsible for seven of the last 16 goals the Kings have scored and may have trouble tonight as Colorado has been tightening up their defense of late. Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin and Alec Martinez all saw significant power play time last game but until the Kings can prove that they can score on the road, maybe it’s best to stay away here.
The Colorado Avalanche have scored more than two goals just once over the last seven games and even then they needed an extra frame to accomplish that feat when they beat the Winnipeg Jets by a score of 3-2 last Friday night. With Matt Duchene out with an injury Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon are no more than GPP plays here tonight. They only have 15 combined points in the 14 games they have played and it’s very tough to win any contests with erratic scoring like that. Finally Tyson Barrie has moved to the top power unit and that could provide some extra punch as he is the most offensive defenseman the team has. Rene Bourque has fired 13 shots on goal and found the back of the net three times over the last five games but even he is tough to take as a one-off tonight. This team doesn’t score and with so many other games on the slate it’s best to look elsewhere.
Elite Plays
LAK: None
COL: None
Secondary Plays
LAK: Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli, Drew Doughty
COL: Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon
New York Rangers at Vancouver Canucks
| New York Rangers | Vancouver Canucks | ||||||||
 | Henrik Lundqvist |  | Ryan Miller | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 12-4-0 | 6-9-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 4.06 | 2.25 | 21.60% | 83.70% | Team Stats | 2.00 | 2.94 | 10.20% | 87.00% |
It’s going to be tough to figure out what the Rangers are going to do now as Chris Kreider sat out last game with an upper body injury and Pavel Buchnevich was a flat out scratch. One has to think that Buchnevich draws back in tonight but we need to prepare for the worst. As we know the Rangers have scored 65 goals which is the most in the league so the task at hand is to keep the pairs together. Mika Zibanejad and Mats Zuccarello usually play on a line together but the problem here is that they have just tallied a goal and an assist each over the last 20 goals the Rangers have scored. Derek Stepan and Rick Nash had Michael Grabner on their line last game and could be used as a decent pairing tonight against a Vancouver team that has given up 48 goals in 16 games. J.T. Miller and Kevin Hayes continue to lead the team in points and make decent one-off plays here, especially if you are playing a few GPP’s. Ryan McDonagh gets to quarterback the top power play unit that has just scored once over the last four games. Kevin Klein has the hot hand on the blue line by managing four assists over the last five games. New York should come out flying tonight as they try to avenge the 5-3 loss the Canucks gave them a week ago on home ice.
Vancouver came off the deck in the third period on Sunday to defeat the Dallas Stars in overtime by a score of 5-4. The Canucks had five different scorers in that game and only one player, Alexandre Burrows, was able to tally more than one point. He had two assists. They catch the Rangers tonight playing their third game in four days as they have already hit Calgary on Saturday and Edmonton on Sunday. Henrik and Daniel Sedin man the top line with Loui Eriksson and one would think that this is strictly a GPP only play. The Rangers come in looking to avenge a 5-3 loss a week ago to this same Vancouver team back east in the Madison Square Garden. If you feel like chasing a few hot players Bo Horvat and Alexandre Burrows skate on the third line and have grabbed five and four points respectively over the last five games. Troy Stecher is starting to make some noise on the blue line as he has a goal and two assists in the last four games Vancouver has played.
Elite Plays
NYR: None
Van: None
Secondary Plays
NYR: Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, Mika Zibanejad, Mats Zuccarello, J.T. Miller
Van: Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin
Edmonton Oilers at Anaheim Ducks
| Edmonton Oilers | Anaheim Ducks | ||||||||
 | Cam Talbot |  | John Gibson | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 9-6-1 | 7-6-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.81 | 2.56 | 17.80% | 88.90% | Team Stats | 2.56 | 2.50 | 21.80% | 84.50% |
The Oilers outshot the Rangers by a count of 39-27 but still ended up on the losing end by a score of 3-1 on home ice Sunday night. After starting out red hot by winning seven of their first eight games they have hit some rough patches as they have gone just 2-5-1 over their last eight games. Tonight they start a three game road trip in Anaheim as they look to get back to their winning ways. I still think it’s a mistake trying to spread out their talent over three lines, but that’s what they seem to be content on doing. Connor McDavid, Jordan Eberle and Patrick Maroon are the team’s top line and have been acting like it as each of them has at least five points over the last five games. If you are looking for a one-off on the road it is clearly McDavid as he has accumulated 19 points in the first 16 games. Here’s where it gets a bit hairy as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has one point over the last five games while his line mates in Benoit Pouliot and Jesse Puljujarvi have none. This is what I mean, just get Lucic on the second line and then at least you have a chance to score. I guess if you look at it Lucic is on a line with Leon Draisaitl and Tyler Pitlick which has scored four goals in the last five games, so maybe this is the line to target on the road tonight. Oscar Klefbom has taken over the point on the power play and although he has taken 12 shots in the last five games he has just one assist to show for his efforts. There are plenty of other options on the blue line tonight so passing here may be the way to go.
Anaheim did not fare well on their recent road trip as they lost to both Nashville and Columbus while being able to best Carolina by a score of 4-2. Now that they are back on home ice I have a feeling that we will see Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf in a few cash games tonight as they are tied with the team lead in scoring with 13 points apiece. They did fine on the road as they combined for seven assists over the last four games but now that they are home they should be able to go up against the weaker Edmonton lines. Anaheim has tallied nine power play goals in the six games they have played in front of the home crowd so adding Ryan Kesler as a one-off and either defenseman Cam Fowler or Sami Vatanen may increase your chances of scoring big tonight. Kesler can also be used with line mate Jakob Silfverberg as he has grabbed five of his nine points over the last four games. If you believe that the second lines are better off being played on the road, then it’s easier to see why Silfverberg did well over the past ten days. Look for the Ducks to score some goals tonight as they are 4-2 at the Honda Center.
Elite Plays
EDM: Connor McDavid
ANA: Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf
Secondary Plays
EDM: Jordan Eberle, Milan Lucic, Leon Draisaitl
ANA: Sami Vatanen, Cam Fowler, Ryan Kesler