Allan Fabrykant Welcome back to the Friday Night WinDaily NHL Between the Benches Article! The all-star game is now behind us and we are now looking forward to the Trade deadline! We already saw some big moves take place and I have a feeling there is still a surprise or two left to come! Tonight, we will have a small 4-game slate, with lots of interesting matchups to look at! Tonight’s 2/10 NHL slate begins at 7:00 pm ET. Don’t forget to lock your lines and check the discord for any updates! Let’s get right into it!
2/10 NHL Stack Report
1. Toronto Maple Leafs 1 (Bunting-Tavares-Marner)
— Today is Day 1 of a home and away back-to-back vs the Columbus Blue Jackets and right off the bat. Aside from the obvious fact that the fourth placed team in the league is going up against the team in dead last, the most glaring difference between these two teams is the statistics. Offensively, Toronto is in the top 10 in goals per game while the Blue Jackets find themselves tied for 3rd last in the league in goals and on the power play, the Leafs are converting power plays into goals at a 25% clip which lands them 6th in the league and on the other the side, the Blue Jackets have a 16.4% power play conversion rate, landing them at 4th-worst team in the league on the power play. Defensively, it’s even worse, despite the Leafs goalie struggles it doesn’t hold a candle to how badly the Jackets have been performing on their own end of the ice. They allow an average of 35 shots on goal per game and give up an average of 3.86 goals per game. Even without Matthews, the Blue Jackets don’t have much of a chance in this matchup. Mitch Marner is a top target for me here, as with Matthews staying sidelined for tonight’s game Marner will see an increased role alongside his linemates Tavares and Bunting. Marner already leads the Leafs in points and has been hot as of late as he is currently on a four game point streak. All three of the Leafs top liners will see power play time against the Blue Jackets weak penalty kill and I think there will be a lot of goals to go around for the Leafs top scorers tonight. Despite the odd vintage performance from Gaudreau or Laine, the Jackets are consistently disappointing. The Leafs on the other hand, have been consistently scoring lots of goals and have seen success on both sides of the ice. With an implied total of 4.1 goals in comparison to the Blue Jackets 2.6 goals, I would highly recommend having exposure to the Leafs top line in tonight’s matchup.
Ideal Defensive Partner(s): Morgan Rielly
2. Arizona Coyotes 1 (Keller-Hayton-Schmaltz)
— Usually, I wouldn’t give many players on the Coyotes a second look but against the Blackhawks tonight, they are actually coming in as the favourites. As divisional rivals, the Coyotes sit just ahead of the Blackhawks in the standings and offensively sit just above them as well. Arizona’s Nick Schmaltz has really been putting things together as of late. Over his last five games he has four goals and three assists and regularly sees over 20 minutes of ice time per game. Along with his linemates, Schmaltz also appears on the Coyotes’ top power play unit which is coming up against the 24th ranked penalty kill in the league. Arizona’s top line is a cheap play which allows you to squeeze in some of the higher end player while still picking a team that is favoured to win and picking a line that will see a good deal of ice-time tonight.
Ideal Defensive Partner(s): Jakob Chychrun
Honorable Mention(s): Pittsburgh Penguins 1 (Rakell-Crosby-Guentzel), New York Rangers 1 (Panarin-Zibanejad-Tarasenko)
2/10 NHL Goalie Tracker
Best (Goalies to Roster)
- Ilya Samsonov
- Karel Vejmelka
Honorable Mention(s): Igor Shesterkin, Tristan Jarry, DEEP GPP: Jaxson Stauber
Worst (Goalies to Target)
1. Joonas Korpisalo
Honorable Mention(s): Philipp Grubauer
2/10 NHL Wild Card Targets
Frank Vatrano
– I know that in the Pittsburgh v Anaheim matchup tonight most people would lean towards the Pens but it’s hard to ignore the success that Vatrano has had recently on the Ducks second line. Over his last five games, Vatrano has registered 5 goals and 2 assists and averaged around 16 minutes of ice time per game. Vatrano does see time on the second power play unit but has done most of his damage on even strength. With the Pens allowing over 3 goals per game and over 34 shots against per game, I think Vatrano can definitely get on the score sheet tonight and is worth a look.
Honorable Mention(s): Filip Chytil, Alexis Lafrenier, William Nylander
Core Four: (ALWAYS BE STACKIN’)
Center – Filip Chytil
Winger – Mitchell Marner (Honorable Mention: Vladimir Tarasenko)
Defenseman – Jakob Chychrun
Goalie – Ilya Samsonov
2/10 NHL Monkey Knife Fight NHL Prop Picks – Win With These Picks Here and Get a 100 Percent Bonus!
Goal Rush (7pm Start): TOR v CBJ
Honorable Mention(s): (7pm Start) NYR v SEA 2/2 Rapid Fire
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