NHL Grind Down: Tuesday, November 3rd - Page Two
Los Angeles Kings at St. Louis Blues – 08:00 PM EST
| Los Angeles Kings | St. Louis Blues | ||||||||
 | Jonathan Quick |  | Jake Allen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 7-3 | 8-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.40 | 2.10 | 18.20% | 82.90% | Team Stats | 2.73 | 2.09 | 10.50% | 83.30% |
In a potential Western Conference Finals preview, the surging Los Angeles Kings will head to St. Louis to take on the 8-2-1 St. Louis Blues. After an ugly 0-3-0 start to the season, the Kings had rattled off seven straight victories before finally being tamed in Chicago last night by the Stanley Cup champs. Things won’t be any easier for them tonight as they’ll head south down 1-55 (or fly in their luxury jet…. one or the other) to take on the St. Louis Blues. This will be a battle between two very strong teams by corsi standards and while I think very highly of the Los Angeles Kings this season, the NHL scheduling gods have not done them any favors here. Both of the Kings top two forward lines are obviously very capable of big offensive outputs, but with tired legs and a road matchup against one of the elite teams in the Western Conference, this just isn’t the time to have much exposure in cash games. Guys like Anze Kopitar, Marian Gaborik, Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli, Milan Lucic, Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin are all in play here, but i’d be we more content relegating them to GPP only use.
Despite being without star Vladimir Tarasenko, the Blues defeated the rival Minnesota Wild on Saturday and have now won three straight games. It was a big win for St. Louis, but the better news is that Tarasenko will be back in action for tonight’s game. The sniper has emerged as one of the game’s most explosive offensive talents and he hasn’t disappointed early on this season as he’s already tallied six goals and four assists in ten games. He teams up with Alex Steen and Jori Lehtera in the new version of the “STL” line and they’re easily the most reliable source of scoring for the Blues, even with a tough matchup opposite Anze Kopitar. David Backes scored twice in his last game and centers a bruising second line with Troy Brouwer and Scottie Upshall that could thrive in what’ll likely be a very physical battle between two teams aiming to make an early season statement. With St. Louis having the advantage of fresh legs, both forward lines look like fine plays. On the blue-line, the team is still missing the services of Kevin Shattenkirk, but the emergence of the physical imposing and offensively gifted Colton Parayko has softened the blow significantly. The rookie has utilized his booming slapshot to secure big minutes on the point of the #1 power-play unit and he’s already racked up four goals, three assists and 30 SOG in 11 games.
Elite Plays
LOS: Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko, Alexander Steen, Alex Pietrangelo, Colton Parayko
Secondary Plays
LOS: Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik, Milan Lucic, Tyler Toffoli, Jake Muzzin
STL: David Backes, Troy Brouwer, Jori Lehtera
Calgary Flames at Colorado Avalanche – 09:00 PM EST
| Calgary Flames | Colorado Avalanche | ||||||||
 | Karri Ramo |  | Semyon Varlamov | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 3-8 | 3-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.25 | 4.08 | 14.70% | 76.90% | Team Stats | 2.45 | 3.00 | 19.60% | 79.50% |
The Flames finally picked up a much need victory against the Oilers on Halloween night, but they’ve desperately got to keep things moving forwards before they find themselves too far behind in a very crowded Western Conference playoff picture. Tonight, they desperately need two points as they head to Denver to take on a Colorado team that has been atrocious this season by Corsi/Fenwick standards and lost six of their last seven contests. With Bob Hartley seemingly desperate for some secondary scoring, we’ve continued to see the Flames forward lines in a constant state of flux over the past week. All reports out of Calgary are that the once dynamic Hudler/Monahan/Gaudreau line will remain separated with Joel Colborne sliding up to play alongside Monahan and Hudler and Johnny Hockey lining up with Sam Bennett and David Jones. From a fantasy perspective, Sam Bennett is likely the biggest beneficiary as the 4th overall pick in the 2014 draft scored his first NHL goal last week and has now recorded points in three straight games. The biggest strength of this Calgary team is likely their depth on the blue-line, and Mark Giordano, Dennis Wideman, Dougie Hamilton and T.J. Brodie are all very fine options in this very solid matchup.
The Avalanche have lost six of their last seven games and just look overpowered at times this season, and while there aren’t many matchups that would inspire confidence in using some of their guys, tonight’s home matchup against the Flames just might be one. Not only is Calgary without it’s starting goalie (Jonas Hiller) but they’ve also allowed more goals against per game this season than any other team in the NHL. Patrick Roy recently split up the duo of Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog, but both players still find themselves playing alongside very talented players (Jarome Iginla and Matt Duchene, respectively). All four guys, and to some degree their third wheels of Alex Tanguay and Carl Soderberg are fine options this evening. Francois Beauchemin continues to take advantage of some extra offensive freedom and leads Colorado defensemen with seven points through his first eleven games in a Colorado uniform. While he’s intriguing to some degree, both Tyson Barrie and Erik Johnson are more naturally gifted with the puck on their stick and also see plenty of run with the man advantage. If you’re a fan of the narrative, give Jarome Iginla an extra long look as he takes on his long-time former team.
Elite Plays
CGY: Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Jiri Hudler, Mark Giordano, Dennis Wideman
COL: Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Jarome Iginla
Secondary Plays
CGY: San Bennett, Joel Colborne, David Jones, Dougie Hamilton, T.J. Brodie
COL: Alex Tanguay, Matt Duchene, Carl Soderberg, Francois Beauchemin, Erik Johnson, Tyson Barrie
Philadelphia Flyers at Edmonton Oilers – 09:00 PM EST
| Philadelphia Flyers | Edmonton Oilers | ||||||||
 | Steve Mason |  | Anders Nilsson | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 4-4 | 4-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.00 | 2.90 | 12.50% | 76.20% | Team Stats | 2.67 | 3.25 | 22.50% | 78.90% |
With neither of these teams looking overly interested in playing much defense, I’m expecting quite a few goals from this game. The Flyers look to be in quite the tail spin and will hit the ice after playing last night as the owners of a four game losing streak. We’ve seen Dave Hakstol experiment with his forward lines in recent games, but it does appear that Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek have been reunited on the top line for the Flyers. That’s obviously great news for that duo as they combined for points on the same goal 46 times last season and torched the Oilers for four goals and four assists in two meetings last season. While his brief run of playing alongside Claude Giroux may be over, don’t sleep on Wayne Simmonds here. He’s still slated to join both Giroux and Voracek (and Brayden Schenn) on the #1 power-play unit and should be eager to sink his teeth into Edmonton’s subpar penalty kill. With that same mediocre penalty kill in mind, Mark Streit is a very strong option on the blue-line. The veteran actually leads the Flyers with seven points this season and logs huge minutes both at even strength and on the point of the #1 power-play unit.
Edmonton has been wildly inconsistent this season, but with a team chalked full of young talent, I suppose that’s to be expected. While they’re definitely missing Jordan Eberle up-front, the presence of phenom Connor McDavid has drastically changed the complexion of this offense. Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins continue to put up big numbers on the team’s top line, but McDavid has racked up four goals and seven assists over the past eight games and has single-handedly given the Oilers a dangerous one-two punch. After three rather disappointing seasons, fellow former first overall pick Nail Yakupov has finally come alive now that he’s sharing the ice with McDavid. Both pairs of forwards are still very fairly priced and are top-tier options for both cash games and GPPs and former 3rd overall pick Leon Draisaitl comes in as one of the best bargains on the board after two very impressive games to begin his NHL career. The Oilers have always been rather thin on the blue-line, but with Justin Schultz now sidelined with a bad back, they could be really exposed. With Schultz out of commision, Andrej Sekera will likely slide onto the top power-play unit making the veteran defenseman a solid value play thanks to both the matchup and guaranteed heavy workload.
Elite Plays
PHI: Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Mark Streit
EDM: Connor McDavid, Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Secondary Plays
PHI: Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, Michael Del Zotto
EDM: Nail Yakupov, Benoit Pouliot, Leon Draisaitl, Andrej Sekera
Columbus Blue Jackets at San Jose Sharks – 10:30 PM EST
| Columbus Blue Jackets | San Jose Sharks | ||||||||
 | Sergei Bobrovsky |  | Martin Jones | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 2-10 | 6-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.08 | 3.83 | 17.00% | 71.00% | Team Stats | 2.73 | 2.55 | 15.60% | 76.90% |
It’s been an abysmal start for the Blue Jackets this season, and they’ll really need to get things turned around quickly before repeating their fate from last season. Unfortunately for them, they’ll open up a very tough west coast road trip in San Jose tonight and enter with just a 2-10-0 record on the young season. The line of Ryan Johansen, Nick Foligno and Brandon Saad started the season off on quite the tear, but after seemingly disappearing over the past few weeks, we’ve finally started to see things shook up as Ryan Johansen has been moved to play alongside Scott Hartnell and Cam Atkinson, while Brandon Dubinsky has inherited the role as the top line center. While both lines are certainly capable, playing inside the Shark Tank is never an easy task, and they’ve been a bit too inconsistent for my liking in cash games. Jack Johnson is perhaps the most well known defenseman on this team, but it’s been former 2nd overall draft pick Ryan Murray leading the defensive unit with five points.
The Sharks shot out of the gates this season with four straight wins, but they’re just 2-5-0 since. However, they picked up a win in Colorado on Sunday and tonight’s matchup against a Columbus team that has allowed 3.83 goals against per game this season is very appealing. The loss of Logan Couture is a massive blow for the Sharks, but they still have plenty of firepower up front to take full advantage of this excellent matchup. Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski team up on the top line (with Joonas Donskoi) but the “second” line of Patrick Marleau, Tomas Hertl and Joel Ward has been doing most of the damage lately. Joel Ward has flourished with his new team and after six goals over the past five games, he now leads this team with 11 points. The Blue Jacket’s 71.0% penalty kill is dead last in the NHL thus far in 2015-16, so you’ll want to give the Sharks power-play units a very long look. Brent Burns is one of my favorite plays on the board on the blue-line tonight as the defender has already racked up eight points on the young season and his 49 SOG actually lead the NHL.
Elite Plays
CBJ: None
SAN: Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, Joel Ward, Brent Burns
Secondary Plays
CBJ: Ryan Johansen, Brandon Dubinsky, Scott Hartnell, Brandon Saad, Nick Foligno, Ryan Murray
SAN: Tomas Hertl, Marc-Edouard Vlasic