This article is part of our Schedule Analysis series.
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Four Aces
Ordinarily, playing four tilts is something we recommend to fantasy owners, but three (Arizona, Montreal, Tampa Bay) of the five organizations playing a full slate this week are dropped down to just two games next week, that leaves us with two teams playing four this week and at least three next week.
Rangers have a full schedule this week with Tampa to start, Montreal to end. Additionally they have a big rivalry match with Flyers on NBCS on Wednesday and Buffalo on Friday. Anthony Duclair has been playing healthy scratch as of late, but the team has lost four of five, so there's no telling if that sticks. Derek Stepan has a goal and three assists since returning to the lineup five games ago. While the team lacks a back-to-back occurrence, that doesn't mean Cam Talbot's services won't be needed. Also noteworthy, Hartford center Oscar Lindberg is fifth in AHL scoring with eight goals.
St. Louis plays all four on the road, including the Bruins and Canadiens to start the week before they head even further north for games against the Sens and Jets on back-to-back nights. Jake Allen should get one of those starts, hoo-ra! Jori Lehtera had another fantastic week with four goals and two assists last week. We see no reason for that to stop.
Three of a Kind
Hold 'Em
Here are six teams playing on the polar opposites of your average three-game schedule:
Washington has Arizona and Colorado on the road before
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Four Aces
Ordinarily, playing four tilts is something we recommend to fantasy owners, but three (Arizona, Montreal, Tampa Bay) of the five organizations playing a full slate this week are dropped down to just two games next week, that leaves us with two teams playing four this week and at least three next week.
Rangers have a full schedule this week with Tampa to start, Montreal to end. Additionally they have a big rivalry match with Flyers on NBCS on Wednesday and Buffalo on Friday. Anthony Duclair has been playing healthy scratch as of late, but the team has lost four of five, so there's no telling if that sticks. Derek Stepan has a goal and three assists since returning to the lineup five games ago. While the team lacks a back-to-back occurrence, that doesn't mean Cam Talbot's services won't be needed. Also noteworthy, Hartford center Oscar Lindberg is fifth in AHL scoring with eight goals.
St. Louis plays all four on the road, including the Bruins and Canadiens to start the week before they head even further north for games against the Sens and Jets on back-to-back nights. Jake Allen should get one of those starts, hoo-ra! Jori Lehtera had another fantastic week with four goals and two assists last week. We see no reason for that to stop.
Three of a Kind
Hold 'Em
Here are six teams playing on the polar opposites of your average three-game schedule:
Washington has Arizona and Colorado on the road before coming home to host the Sabres. Braden Holtby is gaining traction, having allowed two goals or less in each of his last three contests.
Detroit will also play on the road exclusively, and while Columbus (return of Sergei Bobrovsky, Brandon Dubinksy), Winnipeg and Toronto are all arguably trending upward, thanks to solid goaltending Detroit is hardly ever out of a game.
San Jose has the cakewalk for the week, facing Buffalo, Florida and Arizona, all bets, place your bets. Tommy Wingels has nine of his 10 points on the road where they start the week in Buffalo.
Fold 'Em
Choosing the Islanders for "fold 'em" this week could end up a mistake, but considering 33-percent of their losses have come against this week's opponents, the Lightning (5-2 loss) as well as the Pens (3-1 loss) who they will play in a traditional home-and-home, we're not exactly bending over backwards in confidence.
Save for their uninspiring 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh on Friday and Toronto has been fantastic as of late, scoring at nearly a five goal per game clip prior to Friday's loss. However, that trend is likely to dissolve with three of the NHL's top teams (Nashville, Lightning, Red Wings) in goals allowed coming into town.
Winnipeg (6-2-2 in last 10) is certainly looking better lately, but they're playing .500 hockey (3-3-1) at home. While their opponents (Devils, Red Wings, Blues) have nothing terrific to boast about their road records, we're giving them the edge.
Rivalry Night
Rivalries don't get much more entertaining than the Flyers and Rangers. While the Rangers are 16-10-1 over the past five seasons against the Flyers, because we were so wrong about the Rangers pending performance against the Pens last week, we'll refrain from any outlooks in this first matchup of the season between the two teams.
The Fever
With the mumps moving through the Western Conference, we thought it might be a good time to update you on the AHL leader boards.
Points by all skaters
1. Kris Newbury (nine goals in 14 games) - Philadelphia Flyers
2. Travis Morin (19 points in 13 games) - Dallas Stars
3. Chris Wideman (17 points, 16 PIM in 15 games) - Ottawa Senators
Goals by all skaters
1. Ty Rattie (10 goals in 15 games) - St Louis Blues
2. Kris Newbury (nine goals in 14 games) - Philadelphia Flyers
3. Mark McNeil (nine goals in 15 games) - Chicago Blackhawks
Points by defensemen
1. Chris Wideman (17 points, 16 PIM in 15 games) - Ottawa Senators
2. Austin Madaisky (14 points, 10 PIM in 16 games) - Columbus Blue Jackets
3. John Klingberg (12 points in 10 games) - Dallas Stars (has been called up)
Top goaltenders
1. Magnus Hellberg (5-0,.969 SV%, 0.78 GAA) - Anaheim Ducks
2. Jacob Markstrom (7-0-1, .955 SV%, 1.24 GAA) -Vancouver Canucks
3. Jeremy Smith (4-3, .948 SV%, 1.66 GAA) - Boston Bruins
Table Talk:
It was a decent move by Jim Nill shipping off Sergei Gonchar for Travis Moen. While it doesn't resolve their need for stay at home defensemen, it opens things up for a nice pick up card at the trade deadline. Meanwhile, looks like Valeri Nichuskin (hip) will be out four months. Daniel Carcillo (knee) is expected to return to the Hawks lineup on Sunday. Scott Darling is in and Antti Raanta is out. Jonathan Drouin served as a healthy scratch on Saturday. Zemgus Girgensons is picking up the pace. Taylor Hall (knee) should be back on Sunday, if not sometime this week. All signs point to Nathan MacKinnon remaining with the team's third line alongside Jamie McGinn and Daniel Briere. Alex Martinez (finger) is not expected to be out long. Tobias Rieder is seeing consistent ice time in the bottom six. Fedor Tyutin (knee) is likely to miss four-to-six weeks.
