Chris Clegg
NPHL.com Writer
We can’t get a much more wilder night that Saturday last in the NPHL. Coupled with all the suspensions and penalties, not to mention other weird happenings, I was a perfect 0-3 against the line! Skunked! David Temple, former NPHL linesman and avid NPHL fan, sets the lines and is inching closer to .500 each week.
High Prairie at Grimshaw [Sat., Jan. 12]
LINE: Grimshaw by 1 1/2
Analysis
It’s the fifth of six meetings this season. GRIM won the first two games 9-8 in OT at HP and 10-5 at home; but HP won the two recent games 10-7 at home and 6-5 in OT in GRIM, the game was played at Peace River. As you can see, expect plenty of goals in this game, where GRIM retires the sweater of Terry Houlder. If HP wants to catch GRIM for third and avoid a meeting with FAL in the first round of the playoffs, they have to win this game. Going into the week, HP trailed GRIM by five points. A loss in OT or a SO is just as bad as a regular time loss for HP as they would lose any tiebreaker with GRIM at season’s end and trail GRIM by six points [pending the results earlier in the week GRIM vs MAN Thursday]. GRIM has a clear advantage in special teams. They rank second on the PP and third in PK while HP is ranked dead last in both. Hard to figure the PP ranking as HP does have some gifted scorers. HP ranks second to last in shots on goal for and shots on goal against, only ahead of MAN. GRIM is not much better ranking fourth and fifth respectively, and sliding fast in the grips of a 10-loss in 11-game losing streak. HP’s penalties for and against could be a key. They are a league worst -152 PIMs while GRIM is second best at +35. As a result, GRIM has had 82 PP chances this season to HP’s 64. For the most part, HP and GRIM rank fifth to seventh in most categories so both will want to clean things up for a possible playoff run. As I noted earlier, expect plenty of goals. How many goals? In the last nine games at GRIM, the teams have scored at least five goals 15 times. GRIM has scored more than five goals seven times, HP four times. The teams have split the last four games at GRIM but before that, GRIM had won six straight. GRIM has covered the current meager line in seven of the eight wins. The question is, do you go with HP’s recent two wins over GRIM, and consider that GRIM has lost 10 of 11 before Thursday’s game at MAN, or the history over the last eight games in GRIM? This is purely a guess. When in doubt, go with the home team. GRIM to win and cover.
The Season Series
1. Thu., Nov. 22 – Grimshaw 9 at High Prairie 8 (SO)
2. Thu., Nov. 29 – High Prairie 5 at Grimshaw 10
3. Thu., Dec. 27 – Grimshaw 7 at High Prairie 10
4. Sat., Dec. 29 – High Prairie 6 at Grimshaw 5 [OT]
5. Sat., Jan. 12 – High Prairie at Grimshaw
6. Thu., Jan. 17 – Grimshaw at High Prairie
The Stats Pack
[Ranking in Parenthesis]
Category High Prairie GrimshawRecord 2-12-2-1 [4-East] 5-9-2-0 [3-East]
Power Play 11-64, 17.19% [7] 27-82, 32.93% [2]
Penalty Kill 29-93, 68.82% [7] 15-60, 75.00% [3]
Shots For 34.76 per game [6] 40.44 per game [4]
Shots Vs 44.06 per game [6] 39.00 per game [5]
Shots Diff -158 [6] +23 [4]
PIM For 28.00 per game [5] 25.38 per game [4]
PIM Vs 19.06 per game [2] 27.56 per game [5]
PIM Diff -152 [7] +35 [2]
Scoring 1st 47.06% [5] 37.50% [7]
Record Scoring 1st Goal 0-8 [7] 2-4 [6]
Record Allow 1st Goal 2-7 [7} 3-7 [5]
Lead After 1 Period 2-5 [7] 4-2 {5]
Trail After 1 Period 0-9 [7] 1-8 [6]
Lead After 2 Periods 1-1 [7] 4-0 [4]
Trail After 2 Periods 0-14 [7] 1-10 [3]
Goals Scored in 1st 1.941 [2] 1.938 per game [3]
Goals Scored in 2nd 1.12 per game [7] 1.50 per game [5]
Goals Scored in 3rd 1.35 per game [6] 1.56 per game [5]
Goals Allowed in 1st 2.59 per game [7] 2.31 per game [6]
Goals Allowed in 2nd 3.59 per game [7] 2.63 per game [6]
Goals Allowed in 3rd 2.12 per game [5] 2.38 per game [7]
Goal Diff in 1 -11 [6] -6 [5]
Goal Diff in 2 -42 [7] -18 [6]
Goal Diff in 3 -13 [T5] -13 [T5]
Come From Behind Wins 11.76% [7] 18.75% [4]
Blown Leads 52.94% [7] 31.25% [T5]
Team Stick Fouls 3.94 PIM/Game [4] 3.38 PIM/Game [3]LAST WEEK’S RECORD STRAIGHT-UP: 6-0
LAST WEEK’S RECORD AGAINST THE LINE: 2-4
SEASON RECORD STRAIGHT-UP: 36-17
SEASON RECORD AGAINST THE LINE: 30-23