Between the Lines: Week 10

Chris Wassel

2014-12-09

PavelDatsyuk

The hottest lines in the NHL heading into Week 10.

Lead Us Forwards

Andrew Ladd–Bryan Little–Blake Wheeler (Winnipeg) – With Evander Kane headed toward the land of suspension, naturally this first line had another banner week with 10 points while together including a hat trick for Bryan Little. Overall, the three players had 14 points with Blake Wheeler being the main assist cog. This line has topped the charts now for two weeks in a row and it is one of the few lines that has pretty much remained the same the last few years. That's not too shabby. Winnipeg needs them!

Pavel Datsyuk–Tomas Tatar–Darren Helm (Detroit) – It was just another "Pleasant Valley Sunday" for Pavel Datsyuk but really it was that kind of week. Three goals and six assists is a hell of a seven-day period but the 10-point week for this line overall speaks volumes in Detroit. This line does not quite play all the time but Tomas Tatar ultimately is the real beneficiary here. Tatar is the one who figures to be a top line player when Datsyuk hangs up the skates. Darren Helm has been the wildcard and so far, so good.

Nazem Kadri–Joffrey Lupul-Mike Santorelli (Anaheim) – There was always a bit of a bias in my cold cold heart for Mike Santorelli. He just needed the second line minutes or something close. Santorelli and Joffrey Lupul both had five points while Kadri had four. The strange part is their line frequency. When a number one frequency does not even top 15%, that means there are injuries and quite a mix of lines because of said maladies. Is this sustainable? Something tells me it may not be but if Phil Kessel continues to suffer with ailments, then Week 10 could still be good.

Nick Bjugstad–Tomas Fleischmann–Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida) – Let's think about this for a second but Nick Bjugstad is a pretty damn good hockey player. In all the Bjugstad line had nine points on the week as the young player grows into an eventual first line role in Florida. He carried the line with three goals and two assists. Florida is going to need scoring like that going forward especially if Aleksander Barkov is going to go through one very nightmarish season. Aaron Ekblad has also helped this line a little as well.

Defend This

Andrei Markov–P.K. Subban (Montreal) – In between the typical Montreal tire fires of late, Markov and Subban had another vintage week with six points while both on the ice. P.K. Subban had four points while Andrei Markov had three. This usually means the power play was clicking pretty well in Week 9 and that was the case at times. Montreal is in one of their phases so a downturn may be a little bit more likely this week.

Aaron Ekblad–Brian Campbell (Florida) – Guess who led the fantasy hockey leagues among defensemen in points? That's right! It was number one overall draft pick, Aaron Ekblad. In all, he had six points and that is about the only reason why Brian Campbell is on this list. They had five points combined when paired on the ice. Ekblad is the real story, who had 17 points going into Monday night. Then he scored on iconic legend, Martin Brodeur, last night. The defenseman just continues to roll along as Ekblad starts to unleash that shot of his more, goaltenders should be quite aware.

Kris Russell–Dennis Wideman (Calgary) – Hey it wasn't Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie this week for once. It tends to be one or the other is either on the list or extremely close. This is power play two and every so often Calgary goes three defensemen on the power play. It is very rare and mostly during empty net situations when down one or two but it is quite a sight to behold. It's different. This duo had five points as a duo and could be in for a bullish week again as Calgary leads the lead by far and away in defensemen points (82 overall but 79 among the top four). It is a story that will be fun to continue following.

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As always you can follow me @ChrisWasselTHW and thanks for reading. See you next week with four more line combination and three pairings for "Between The Lines".

UPCOMING GAMES

	May 18 - 19:05	TOR	vs	FLA

Starting Goalies

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Top Skater Views

	Players	Team
	DANILA YUROV	MIN
	MIKKO RANTANEN	DAL
	MARK SCHEIFELE	WPG
	JASON ROBERTSON	DAL
	KASPER HALTTUNEN	S.J

Top Goalie Profile Views

	Players	Team
	CONNOR HELLEBUYCK	WPG
	KAREL VEJMELKA	UTA
	LUKAS DOSTAL	ANA
	JAKE OETTINGER	DAL
	FILIP GUSTAVSSON	MIN

LINE COMBOS

	Frequency	WPG Players
	25.2	GABRIEL VILARDI MARK SCHEIFELE KYLE CONNOR
	15.4	NINO NIEDERREITER ADAM LOWRY MASON APPLETON
	12.7	COLE PERFETTI VLADISLAV NAMESTNIKOV NIKOLAJ EHLERS

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