Defend This

T.J. Brodie–Mark Giordano (Calgary) – Truthfully, I had been gushing about Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie for some time. Giordano has proven everything and then some as Brodie and him piled up a whopping dozen points in Week 5. Giordano had nine points (3 G 6 A) and has now vaulted himself into the Norris Trophy lead. Brodie racked up five points and like I said they generate power play and even short-handed points. It is a fun pairing to watch and they are on the ice almost all the time. That 80% power play frequency (37.5% EV) translates to 96 seconds out of every two minute man advantage. That elevates their chances and at least slims the chance of major future regression.

Tim Erixon–James Wisniewski (Columbus) – The question mark may just be how long will they be together? For one game, Wisniewski and Erixon looked like world beaters, totaling five points as a pairing. Can they come close to that this week? Columbus has taken it on the chin and they may get Sergei Bobrovsky back by the weekend. They need something but at least they can still produce offensively. After all, things could be worse for fantasy owners of Blue Jackets, right?

Andrei Markov–P.K. Subban (Montreal) – In a slow week once you went down the list, we found P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov almost just sitting there. They had four points as a tandem and could have had more. They left at least several points on the table as Montreal struggles to find its form after a solid early season start. Their defensive lapses have also been a key reason why Montreal has had some glorious tire fires in the last few weeks. They have to get it together offensively and defensively to help balance the scoring pressure.

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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".