EDMONTON
Games this week
vs. Ottawa, vs. Chicago
Notes
Edmonton plays only twice this week so it may be wise to bench your Oilers this week with the exception of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall. The Oilers are rested on Saturday when they face Chicago who are in Calgary the night before. We still are amazed at the goaltending effort supplied by Nikolai Khabibulin who usually only has these type seasons in a contract year. He is 7-0-2 with a 0.98 GAA and a .964 save percentage with one more year left on his four year deal. Ryan Smyth leads the team with nine goals and 16 points, and his 27 penalty minutes trail only Andy Sutton on the Oilers. Ales Hemsky (shoulder) returned to action on Thursday and picked up a couple of assists.
FLORIDA
Games this week
@ Dallas, @ St. Louis, vs. Pittsburgh
Notes
The Panthers are getting tremendous production from their defensemen with nine goals and 46 points led by Brian Campbell with a goal and 14 assists. Erik Gudbranson has been a healthy scratch the last four games. Goaltender of the future Jacob Markstrom was sent back to the minors to get playing time in, with the return to action of Scott Clemmensen. Kris Versteeg has 16 points in 15 games thus far to lead the Panthers. Mikael Samuelsson could return this week. Scottie Upshall only has a goal and three points this season but is second in penalty minutes with 23 penalty minutes for the Panthers trailing only Gudbranson who has 26.
LOS ANGELES
Games this week
vs. Anaheim, @ Anaheim, vs. Detroit
Notes
Los Angeles plays three games in four nights so look for Jonathan Bernier to play once in place of Jonathan Quick. The Kings play a home-and-home series against Anaheim this week, so look for Dustin Penner, Kyle Clifford and possibly Kevin Westgarth to pick up some penalty minutes if there are fisticuffs. Colin Fraser (foot) has been activated from the injured list and will play on November 10. Scott Parse was placed on the injured reserve list with a lower body injury. Coach Terry Murray believes that Drew Doughty's struggles this season are due in part to his missing training camp due to contract negotiations. Anze Kopitar leads the Kings with eight goals and 20 points. After going minus-12 for the Lightning last season, Simon Gagne has turned it around in Los Angeles as he is plus-five thus far.
MINNESOTA
Games this week
@ Columbus, vs. Colorado, vs. St. Louis
Notes
The Wild finish up a five game road trip and then come home to play a couple this week. Brad Staubitz has no points but 27 penalty minutes in 10 games. Dany Heatley has seven points in his last eight games heading into action on Thursday. The Wild are getting outstanding goaltending from backup Josh Harding who was the first star of the week. Niklas Backstrom responded in spades as he had a 41 save shutout versus the Flames on Tuesday. Guillaume Latendresse had scored a goal in each of his last three games before Thursday’s clash against the Sharks.
MONTREAL
Games this week
vs. Buffalo, vs. Carolina, @ New York Islanders, vs. New York Rangers
Notes
Montreal plays four games this week including three in four nights so look for Peter Budaj to play once instead of Carey Price. The Canadiens will be tired on Thursday when they play the rested Islanders as the Habs play Carolina the previous night. Michael Cammalleri is currently out of action with a lower body injury. Yannick Weber has been moved up to forward as Montreal is hurting with injuries to Cammalleri, Andrei Kostitsyn and Scott Gomez. The Canadiens have been strong on the forecheck and having been forcing turnovers and scoring chances are up as a result.
NASHVILLE
Games this week
vs. Washington, vs. Toronto, vs. Columbus
Notes
The Predators play all three at home this week. Craig Smith has been unbelievable thus far this season as the rookie has seven goals and 14 points in 15 games. Patric Hornqvist thought he had a Nashville record when he scored in his seventh straight game Wednesday but the goal was taken away from him and has forced him to share the record with Alexander Radulov and J.P. Dumont. Hornqvist has 11 points in his last seven games after being held pointless in his first seven. David Legwand is out with an upper body injury that fans hope is not a concussion.
NEW JERSEY
Games this week
@ Boston, @ Buffalo, @ Tampa Bay
Notes
The Devils play all three on the road this week. They should be tired on Wednesday when they are in Buffalo after playing in Boston the previous night. Ilya Kovalchuk is out with a pulled muscle in his leg. He has missed the last two games and is still not practicing. Zach Parise only has eight points in 13 games this season after missing most of last year from knee surgery. Adam Henrique has four goals and five points with a plus-four rating in his last three games and should be considered off the waiver wire in deeper leagues.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
Games this week
vs. New York Rangers, vs. Montreal, vs. Boston
Notes
The Islanders play all three at home this week. They will be rested on Thursday when they face a tired Montreal squad who play Carolina the night before. The Islanders have three goalies on the roster in Rick DiPietro, Evgeni Nabokov and Al Montoya and that is a problem when all three are healthy. So far DiPietro has been hurt enough to make it work but New York is likely looking to deal Nabokov and his lowly $570,000 contract to a team that needs a netminder. The only bad part could be if (okay when) DiPietro gets hurt again. Nino Niederreiter should be back with the Islanders for the start of the week as he completes his two week conditioning stint in the minors. New York could still send him back to Portland of the WHL to avoid starting his entry contract. They have a couple of NHL games to decide as he has already played seven games in the big leagues this season.
NEW YORK RANGERS
Games this week
@ New York Islanders, @ Montreal
Notes
The Rangers only play twice this week for the second week in a row. so we recommend benching all your New York players with the exception of Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards. Gaborik is red hot of late with four goals and seven points in his last two games. Michael Rupp is projected to miss four to six weeks after undergoing successful surgery on his knee to repair a meniscus tear. Wojtek Wolski underwent hernia surgery Tuesday and is expected to miss the next four weeks. Brian Boyle is pointless in his last nine games and has only two points in 14 this season after a 21 goal, 35 point year in 2010-11.
OTTAWA
Games this week
@ Calgary, @ Edmonton, @ Vancouver
Notes
The Senators play all three in Western Canada this week. Daniel Alfredsson (concussion) could be back as early as November 11. Milan Michalek is off to the best start of his career as he has 10 goals in the first month of the season. Nikita Filatov was sent down to the minors once again and the Senators are hoping that he picks up his confidence there as he is a terrific AHL player but has struggled thus far in the NHL. Colin Greening has four goals and eight points but his minus-nine rating could be killing your fantasy squad.
We are now more than a month into the NHL season and there are definitely some early season surprises especially seeing the Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs leading their respective divisions after all missed the playoffs last season.
Phil Kessel continuing to lead the NHL in goals and points has shocked many while Sheldon Souray is tied for first heading into Friday’s action in plus-minus with plus-11 with teammate Loui Eriksson and second year pro Tyler Seguin.
Four goalies considered backups before the start of the season are leading the NHL in goals-against-average with Nikolai Khabibulin leading with a 0.98 GAA. Josh Harding is second at 1.18, Jhonas Enroth third with a 1.41, while Brian Elliott is fourth at 1.72.
James O’Brien has been writing a great column, The Daily Dose for a few weeks now. If you want it sent directly to you via e-mail, click on the NHL box in your profile.
And a Happy Birthday goes out to my nephew, Zachary!
Here is The Week Ahead.
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 14-20
4 Games - Carolina, Colorado, Detroit, Toronto
3 Games - Anaheim, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Florida, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Montreal, Nashville, New Jersey, New York Islanders, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Jose, Tampa Bay, Washington, Winnipeg
2 Games - Calgary, Edmonton, New York Rangers, Vancouver
Detroit plays all four games on the road.
Carolina, Montreal, Nashville, the New York Islanders and Winnipeg play three times at home.
Chicago, New Jersey, Ottawa, Phoenix and Washington play three games away from their home arena.
INJURIES
Tim Connolly is out 10-14 days with an upper body injury.
(Click here for all the NHL injuries)
ANAHEIM
Games this week
@ Los Angeles, vs. Los Angeles, vs. Detroit
Notes
Anaheim plays a home-and-home series against their cross-town rivals the Kings, so look for Sheldon Brookbank and Corey Perry to add to their penalty minute totals. George Parros would have been a likely participant in any fight but he’s out four weeks after corrective surgery to repair a torn retina in his eye. It may be a while longer than that before he is allowed to resume his enforcer duties. Lubomir Visnovsky has not garnered a point in his last eight games. Anaheim is last overall in the NHL in shots on goal per game at 24.8. Devin Pelly-Smith scored the first goal of his NHL career on Wednesday. If penalty minutes are a category in your pool you have to love the game Teemu Selanne had on Saturday with a minor and two misconducts for 22 minutes.
BOSTON
Games this week
vs. New Jersey, vs. Columbus, @ New York Islanders
Notes
The Bruins end a five game home stand this week before heading out on the road to Long Island. Tyler Seguin has been outstanding in the first month of the season and has given the Bruins a good second scoring line alongside Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, with Nathan Horton, David Krejci and Milan Lucic making up the top unit. Bergeron had a seven game scoring streak snapped on Thursday. He had three goals and six assists during the streak. Daniel Paille underwent facial surgery on Wednesday so the Bruins recalled Zach Hamill as Rich Peverley was also questionable.
BUFFALO
Games this week
@ Montreal, vs. New Jersey, @ Carolina, vs. Phoenix
Notes
The Sabres play four times this week including three games in four nights so look for
Jhonas Enroth to get at least one start in place of the struggling Ryan Miller. Buffalo will be rested on Wednesday when they take on New Jersey at home as the Devils are in Boston on Tuesday should be tired on Saturday when they are home to the rested Coyotes after playing at Carolina Friday. If you only go by the stats, Enroth is far superior to Miller this season as Enroth is 4-0 with a 1.41 GAA and a .952 save percentage while Miller is 5-5-0 with a 2.74 GAA and a .913 save percentage. Robyn Regehr has no points in 14 games.
CALGARY
Games this week
vs. Ottawa, vs. Chicago
Notes
Calgary only plays twice this week and although both games are at home we have a hard time recommending playing your Flames with the exception of Jarome Iginla. Mikael Backlund (broken finger) is expected back in the lineup for the first time this season on November 11. He is a candidate to line up on the first line with Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay when he is back at full strength. Right now Roman Horak is on the line and is getting his shot. Anton Babchuk is out with a broken hand. Brendan Morrison was thought to be a healthy scratch on Tuesday but was placed on the injured reserve list Thursday because of his knee.
CAROLINA
Games this week
vs. Philadelphia, @ Montreal, vs. Buffalo, vs. Toronto
Notes
The Hurricanes play four times this week but do not play three games in four nights. Carolina gets the benefit of being the rested team twice this week as they face the Flyers on Monday after Philadelphia takes on Florida the previous night while they play Toronto at home Sunday with the Maple Leafs facing Washington at home Saturday. Eric Staal is continuing to play in a funk and a lot of people seem to think that his hit on brother Marc last season which has kept Marc on the shelf this season with a concussion, is really bothering him. Jussi Jokinen could return to the lineup and join fellow Finnish native Tuomo Ruutu on a line with Jeff Skinner on the aptly named “Finns and Skins” line. First round draft pick Ryan Murphy suffered what is thought to be a fairly serious concussion in junior hockey this past week when he was leveled behind the net with his head down. Tomas Kuhnhackl received a 20 game suspension for the hit.
CHICAGO
Games this week
@ Vancouver, @ Calgary, @ Edmonton
Notes
The Blackhawks play three times in four nights so look for Ray Emery to play at least
once in place of Corey Crawford. They play all three in Western Canada this week and will be tired on Saturday when they are in Edmonton as they play Calgary the night before. Marcus Kruger will replace the injured Dave Bolland (foot) in the Chicago lineup. The Blackhawks power play has been less than stellar of late so they are putting Steve Montador on the point with the second unit. He responded on Thursday with a power play goal.
COLORADO
Games this week
@ Pittsburgh, @ Minnesota, vs. Dallas, vs. San Jose
Notes
The Avalanche play four times this week including three games in four nights so look for Jean-Sebastien Giguere to play at least once in place of Semyon Varlamov. The Avs will be rested when they face San Jose Saturday as the Sharks take on the Stars in Dallas on Saturday, but will be tired on Friday when they play the Stars as Colorado takes on Minnesota the previous night. Peter Mueller (head and possible concussion) could return to action this week as he has been practicing with the team. If so, he is worth putting back in your lineup as he has been practicing with Matt Duchene and David Jones. Varlamov started six straight games but Giguere was scheduled to get the start on Thursday.
COLUMBUS
Games this week
vs. Minnesota, @ Boston, @ Nashville
Notes
The Blue Jackets are reeling and it was a bit of a surprise that Scott Arniel was not the first coach fired this season. They picked up Mark Letestu on Tuesday from Pittsburgh and he practiced between Vaclav Prospal and Derick Brassard. He also should see some power play time so he is worth picking up in deep leagues as he actually scored on the pp Thursday. Mark Dekanich is healthy again and the Blue Jackets sent him to the minors for a couple of weeks for conditioning. Do not be surprised if he get the chance to become the starting netminder upon his return as Steve Mason is struggling once again this season. Jeff Carter is still not ready to return to action with a hairline fracture of his foot, an injury he suffered on October 15. Rumors have the Blue Jackets interested in Evgeni Nabokov to help with their goaltending woes.
DALLAS
Games this week
vs. Florida, @ Colorado, vs. San Jose
Notes
The Stars play three games this week and are a tired team in back-to-back nights on one occasion and rested on another. They are rested on Friday when they play Colorado who are in Minnesota Thursday but have the reverse situation the next night as the Sharks are sitting and waiting for them in Dallas. Look for Steve Ott (hip) to be back for Tuesday’s game against Florida. Kari Lehtonen has continued his outstanding netminding as he has won 11 of 12 starts this season. He has given up two or less goals in 10 of the 12 games. Loui Eriksson was the second star of the week with two goals and six points in two games. Alex Goligoski picked up his first two power play points of the season on Saturday.
DETROIT
Games this week
@ St. Louis, @ San Jose, @ Los Angeles, @ Anaheim
Notes
The Red Wings are out of town for all four games this week and also play three times in four nights so look for Ty Conklin to play once in place of Jimmy Howard. Forty-one-year-old defenseman Niklas Lidstrom continues to amaze as he leads all NHL blueliners in goals with six. Henrik Zetterberg finally picked up his first power play point of the season this past week. Johan Franzen has four goals and six points in his last two games. Fabian Brunnstrom was recalled from the minors earlier in the week.
EDMONTON
Games this week
vs. Ottawa, vs. Chicago
Notes
Edmonton plays only twice this week so it may be wise to bench your Oilers this week with the exception of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall. The Oilers are rested on Saturday when they face Chicago who are in Calgary the night before. We still are amazed at the goaltending effort supplied by Nikolai Khabibulin who usually only has these type seasons in a contract year. He is 7-0-2 with a 0.98 GAA and a .964 save percentage with one more year left on his four year deal. Ryan Smyth leads the team with nine goals and 16 points, and his 27 penalty minutes trail only Andy Sutton on the Oilers. Ales Hemsky (shoulder) returned to action on Thursday and picked up a couple of assists.
FLORIDA
Games this week
@ Dallas, @ St. Louis, vs. Pittsburgh
Notes
The Panthers are getting tremendous production from their defensemen with nine goals and 46 points led by Brian Campbell with a goal and 14 assists. Erik Gudbranson has been a healthy scratch the last four games. Goaltender of the future Jacob Markstrom was sent back to the minors to get playing time in, with the return to action of Scott Clemmensen. Kris Versteeg has 16 points in 15 games thus far to lead the Panthers. Mikael Samuelsson could return this week. Scottie Upshall only has a goal and three points this season but is second in penalty minutes with 23 penalty minutes for the Panthers trailing only Gudbranson who has 26.
LOS ANGELES
Games this week
vs. Anaheim, @ Anaheim, vs. Detroit
Notes
Los Angeles plays three games in four nights so look for Jonathan Bernier to play once in place of Jonathan Quick. The Kings play a home-and-home series against Anaheim this week, so look for Dustin Penner, Kyle Clifford and possibly Kevin Westgarth to pick up some penalty minutes if there are fisticuffs. Colin Fraser (foot) has been activated from the injured list and will play on November 10. Scott Parse was placed on the injured reserve list with a lower body injury. Coach Terry Murray believes that Drew Doughty's struggles this season are due in part to his missing training camp due to contract negotiations. Anze Kopitar leads the Kings with eight goals and 20 points. After going minus-12 for the Lightning last season, Simon Gagne has turned it around in Los Angeles as he is plus-five thus far.
MINNESOTA
Games this week
@ Columbus, vs. Colorado, vs. St. Louis
Notes
The Wild finish up a five game road trip and then come home to play a couple this week. Brad Staubitz has no points but 27 penalty minutes in 10 games. Dany Heatley has seven points in his last eight games heading into action on Thursday. The Wild are getting outstanding goaltending from backup Josh Harding who was the first star of the week. Niklas Backstrom responded in spades as he had a 41 save shutout versus the Flames on Tuesday. Guillaume Latendresse had scored a goal in each of his last three games before Thursday’s clash against the Sharks.
MONTREAL
Games this week
vs. Buffalo, vs. Carolina, @ New York Islanders, vs. New York Rangers
Notes
Montreal plays four games this week including three in four nights so look for Peter Budaj to play once instead of Carey Price. The Canadiens will be tired on Thursday when they play the rested Islanders as the Habs play Carolina the previous night. Michael Cammalleri is currently out of action with a lower body injury. Yannick Weber has been moved up to forward as Montreal is hurting with injuries to Cammalleri, Andrei Kostitsyn and Scott Gomez. The Canadiens have been strong on the forecheck and having been forcing turnovers and scoring chances are up as a result.
NASHVILLE
Games this week
vs. Washington, vs. Toronto, vs. Columbus
Notes
The Predators play all three at home this week. Craig Smith has been unbelievable thus far this season as the rookie has seven goals and 14 points in 15 games. Patric Hornqvist thought he had a Nashville record when he scored in his seventh straight game Wednesday but the goal was taken away from him and has forced him to share the record with Alexander Radulov and J.P. Dumont. Hornqvist has 11 points in his last seven games after being held pointless in his first seven. David Legwand is out with an upper body injury that fans hope is not a concussion.
NEW JERSEY
Games this week
@ Boston, @ Buffalo, @ Tampa Bay
Notes
The Devils play all three on the road this week. They should be tired on Wednesday when they are in Buffalo after playing in Boston the previous night. Ilya Kovalchuk is out with a pulled muscle in his leg. He has missed the last two games and is still not practicing. Zach Parise only has eight points in 13 games this season after missing most of last year from knee surgery. Adam Henrique has four goals and five points with a plus-four rating in his last three games and should be considered off the waiver wire in deeper leagues.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
Games this week
vs. New York Rangers, vs. Montreal, vs. Boston
Notes
The Islanders play all three at home this week. They will be rested on Thursday when they face a tired Montreal squad who play Carolina the night before. The Islanders have three goalies on the roster in Rick DiPietro, Evgeni Nabokov and Al Montoya and that is a problem when all three are healthy. So far DiPietro has been hurt enough to make it work but New York is likely looking to deal Nabokov and his lowly $570,000 contract to a team that needs a netminder. The only bad part could be if (okay when) DiPietro gets hurt again. Nino Niederreiter should be back with the Islanders for the start of the week as he completes his two week conditioning stint in the minors. New York could still send him back to Portland of the WHL to avoid starting his entry contract. They have a couple of NHL games to decide as he has already played seven games in the big leagues this season.
NEW YORK RANGERS
Games this week
@ New York Islanders, @ Montreal
Notes
The Rangers only play twice this week for the second week in a row. so we recommend benching all your New York players with the exception of Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards. Gaborik is red hot of late with four goals and seven points in his last two games. Michael Rupp is projected to miss four to six weeks after undergoing successful surgery on his knee to repair a meniscus tear. Wojtek Wolski underwent hernia surgery Tuesday and is expected to miss the next four weeks. Brian Boyle is pointless in his last nine games and has only two points in 14 this season after a 21 goal, 35 point year in 2010-11.
OTTAWA
Games this week
@ Calgary, @ Edmonton, @ Vancouver
Notes
The Senators play all three in Western Canada this week. Daniel Alfredsson (concussion) could be back as early as November 11. Milan Michalek is off to the best start of his career as he has 10 goals in the first month of the season. Nikita Filatov was sent down to the minors once again and the Senators are hoping that he picks up his confidence there as he is a terrific AHL player but has struggled thus far in the NHL. Colin Greening has four goals and eight points but his minus-nine rating could be killing your fantasy squad.
PHILADELPHIA
Games this week
@ Carolina, vs. Phoenix, @ Winnipeg
Notes
The Flyers will be tired on Monday when they face a rested Carolina team as Philadelphia plays the Panthers in Sunrise the previous night. Chris Pronger (eye) and Matt Read (upper body) returned to action on Wednesday. The Flyers signed defenseman Braydon Coburn to a four-year/$18 million contract giving Philadelphia four defensemen earning $4 million-plus dollars against the salary cap next season. Jaromir Jagr is having a great season at age 39. After spending the last three seasons in the KHL, he returned and has 15 points thus far, second on the Flyers and is tied for 19th in NHL scoring.
PHOENIX
Games this week
@ Toronto, @ Philadelphia, @ Buffalo
Notes
The Coyotes play all three on the road this week. They are rested Saturday when they wait for the Sabres, while Buffalo has to travel home after playing in Carolina the previous night. Michal Rozsival (face) finally skated on Tuesday for the first time since being injured on opening night. Martin Hanzal (lower body) returned to action on Thursday and was placed back at center between Ray Whitney and Radim Vrbata. Keith Yandle has only a goal and eight assists thus far and is minus-five. Boyd Gordon leads the team with a plus-seven rating while defenseman Derek Morris is minus-seven.
PITTSBURGH
Games this week
vs. Colorado, @ Tampa Bay, @ Florida
Notes
Sidney Crosby will not return before the weekend of Nov. 12 so the next question is: Will he play this week? Who knows but stay tuned to Rotoworld for the latest updates. The good news is that he is getting contact in practice and has not had any setbacks. Evgeni Malkin has 10 points in eight games. James Neal leads the NHL in shots on goal with 64. The Penguins sent Steve MacIntyre and Dustin Jeffrey to the minors for a conditioning stint. Tyler Kennedy is close to returning to the lineup after suffering a concussion on October 15.
ST. LOUIS
Games this week
vs. Detroit, vs. Florida, @ Minnesota
Notes
The Blues fired their coach Davis Payne and replaced him with Ken Hitchcock who always has done wonders for NHL teams in his first season coaching. It appears that Hitchcock will go with Jaroslav Halak as his starter with Brian Elliott as the backup, despite Elliott’s much better stats to start the season. Elliott is 5-1 with a 1.72 GAA and a .941 save percentage while Halak is 2-6-1 with a 2.77 GAA and a .882 save percentage. T.J. Oshie and Kevin Shattenkirk lead the Blues with 10 points each while Chris Stewart is tops in penalty minutes with 27.
SAN JOSE
Games this week
vs. Detroit, @ Dallas, @ Colorado
Notes
The Sharks end a six game home stand and head out on the road. They are rested Saturday when they face Dallas who are in Colorado Friday night but they are tired Sunday when facing a rested Avalanche team. The Sharks play three games in four nights so look for Thomas Greiss to play once in place of Antti Niemi. There is still no timetable for the return of James Sheppard to the lineup. Sheppard suffered a knee injury in September 2010 during an ATV accident and has not played in an NHL game since April 2010. Antti Niemi is 6-2-1 this season but his peripherals are weak as he has a 2.74 GAA and a .903 save percentage. Benn Ferriero has been sent down to Worcester of the AHL.
TAMPA BAY
Games this week
@ Winnipeg, vs. Pittsburgh, vs. New Jersey
Notes
Mattias Ritola passed through waivers and had his contract terminated by the Lightning, after he was suspended for not reporting to Norfolk when he was sent to the minors, so he should be headed back to Sweden to resume his career. Ryan Malone missed one game with an upper body injury but should be back by the weekend, regaining his spot on the Steve Stamkos and Teddy Purcell line from Steve Downie. Victor Hedman has missed the last two games with an upper body injury. The former second overall pick in the 2009 Entry Draft is in his third season in the NHL and has two goals this season. He is going to be a great blueliner but defensemen usually take a lot longer to develop so poolies should be patient with him in keeper leagues. Stamkos and Marc-Andre Bergeron lead the Lightning with 16 points.
TORONTO
Games this week
vs. Phoenix , @ Nashville, vs. Washington, @ Carolina
Notes
The Maple Leafs goaltending is in shambles at the present time as James Reimer is out with what is being called whiplash but is likely a concussion. Toronto plays four times this week including three in four nights so look for Ben Scrivens and Jonas Gustavsson to share the net. The Maple Leafs will be tired on Sunday when they travel to Carolina to take on the rested Hurricanes as Toronto is home to Washington Saturday. Phil Kessel continues to lead the NHL in scoring with 23 points. He is also tied for eighth in the NHL with a plus-nine rating. Luke Schenn was a healthy scratch on November 5 and is minus-five in his last three games but is getting more ice time as he played 16:57 minutes on Thursday after playing less than 10 minutes in the game before the benching.
VANCOUVER
Games this week
vs. Chicago, vs. Ottawa
Notes
The Canucks play only twice this week so we suggest benching most of your Vancouver players with the exception of Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin and Alexander Edler, if you are able to do so. It looks like Roberto Luongo is starting to regain his form as he has won three of four games in November, giving up only seven goals in four games and stopping 120 of 127 shots. He is worth owning in all formats of fantasy hockey that use goaltending in their pools. Sami Salo returned to action on Thursday after missing three games with a groin injury and potted his fourth goal of the season. Mason Raymond practiced with his teammates on Wednesday for the first time since suffering a broken vertebra last June in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals. Alex Burrows has been out a week with back spasms and a return date is unknown at this time.
WASHINGTON
Games this week
@ Nashville, @ Winnipeg, @ Toronto
Notes
The Capitals play all three on the road this week. Mike Green (ankle) should be back in the Washington lineup at the start of the week. Put the offensive defenseman back in your lineup. Alexander Semin has only three goals in 13 games this season but coach Bruce Boudreau is happy with the commitment that Semin has shown on and off the ice. Nicklas Backstrom was the NHL's third star of the week with six points in three games. He is the Capitals top scorer with 19 points and is tied for fourth in the NHL. In other news, D.J. King was sent to the minors after playing only once for the Capitals.
WINNIPEG
Games this week
vs. Tampa Bay, vs. Washington, vs. Philadelphia
Notes
The Jets are home for all three games this week. Evander Kane after a slow start now has nine points in his last 10 games. Zach Bogosian is starting to play more like a third overall pick and says he is much more comfortable in Winnipeg than he was in Atlanta. It is more likely to do with the coaching change as he is averaging 23:13 minutes per game. He has only five assists in 16 games but the blueliner is only 21 and should get more power play opportunities with Tobias Enstrom on the shelf. Nik Antropov returned to action this past week after missing a couple of games with a hand injury. Ondrej Pavelec has given up 10 goals in his last 60 shots, opening the door for back up Chris Mason to take the number one goaltending job away.