This article is part of our Schedule Analysis series.
Monthly Outlook
In the grid above, you'll notice a few new columns, namely GTM (Games This Month), Home/Away and B2BTM (Back-to-Back This Month). Santa comes early as we break down all 30 NHL teams' and their schedule for the month of December. Here's a few basic monthly outlooks with no discernible trends.
Boston plays seven of first nine on the road. David Krejci (groin) is not travelling with the team thus far. David Pastrnak (18 points 17 AHL games) has been shut out in his first two games, but we're eyeing his speed for our lineups.
Buffalo will play eight of their 14 tilts at home this month. After beating the Canadiens on back-to-back nights, someone get Jhonas Enroth a beer. Drew Stafford (lower body) did not play on Saturday.
Colorado plays 13 games this month and has two b2b occurences. While the team is being extra cautious with Semyon Varlamov (groin), it looks like he'll be back this week and by no stretch of the imagination, according to Adrian Dater of The Denver Post (http://goo.gl/IHmY6L), Calvin Pickard is likely the one to stay and backup Varlamov, not Reto Berra. Additionally, Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan Mackinnon seemed to be getting back up to speed while Tyson Barrie has pretty much been there all season long.
Edmonton's nine of first 11 at home, as they prepare to begin 2015 on a six game road trip and eight of 12 on the road in January. Justin Schultz served as
Monthly Outlook
In the grid above, you'll notice a few new columns, namely GTM (Games This Month), Home/Away and B2BTM (Back-to-Back This Month). Santa comes early as we break down all 30 NHL teams' and their schedule for the month of December. Here's a few basic monthly outlooks with no discernible trends.
Boston plays seven of first nine on the road. David Krejci (groin) is not travelling with the team thus far. David Pastrnak (18 points 17 AHL games) has been shut out in his first two games, but we're eyeing his speed for our lineups.
Buffalo will play eight of their 14 tilts at home this month. After beating the Canadiens on back-to-back nights, someone get Jhonas Enroth a beer. Drew Stafford (lower body) did not play on Saturday.
Colorado plays 13 games this month and has two b2b occurences. While the team is being extra cautious with Semyon Varlamov (groin), it looks like he'll be back this week and by no stretch of the imagination, according to Adrian Dater of The Denver Post (http://goo.gl/IHmY6L), Calvin Pickard is likely the one to stay and backup Varlamov, not Reto Berra. Additionally, Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan Mackinnon seemed to be getting back up to speed while Tyson Barrie has pretty much been there all season long.
Edmonton's nine of first 11 at home, as they prepare to begin 2015 on a six game road trip and eight of 12 on the road in January. Justin Schultz served as a heathly scratch last week. Neither Viktor Fasth nor Ben Scrivens have been great, but Fasth continues to see the bulk of opportunity.
After playing five of their first seven on the road in December, Los Angeles will play 11 of their next 14 at staples, including a 7 game home-stand in January. Alec Martinez (finger) did not play in Saturday's loss to Chicago.
Minnesota has just two of their 12 contests in December this week. Marco Scandella will play in both, we're sure of it.
Islanders play 13 tilts this month, but just one b2b occurrence, sorry Chad Johnson. Johnny Boychuk (upper body) missed his second straight game, opening up a spot for Brian Strait. Lubomir Visnovsky (upper body) did not play on Saturday.
Rangers have five of their first 7 games this month on the road, then a three game home-stand before travelling to Dallas and subsequently Florida for NYE. While the team will have two b2b occurrences as part of the paltry 12 contests this month that will almost certainly guarantee Cam Talbot (shutouts in consecutive games) a start, is it worth it to pick him up out of the FA pool? With Tanner Glass (mumps) out, it looks like J.T. Miller's stay with the team could be extended, we're just not sure it will be in Chris Kreider's spot where Miller logged two assists on Saturday. Jesper Fast scored his first NHL goal. The team's musical defensemen song continues. Because Dan Boyle (flu) missed Saturday's win, John Moore (Hunwick more careful? http://snyrangersblog.com/2014-15/2014-15-players/john-moore/read-why-john-moore-was-scratched-yesterday/) was back in the lineup after being healthy scratched due to Ryan McDonagh's return.
Washington One two game home-stand, otherwise on the road. The Nicklas Backstrom show continues. As does the medical watch of Mike Green (upper body).
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Back-to-Back Jacks
B2B occurrences are a good chance for owners to pick up rogue points by monitoring our Daily Goalie Grid (http://goo.gl/xDeoCa). Here are the teams with the most extreme occurrences of league games on back-to-back nights.
None
Columbus has a five game home-stand to end 2014, including a New Years Eve battle with the Wild. With no b2b occurences, Sergei Bobrovsky will need to rise from his funk and reward those owners who were patient with during finger injury. Here we go again, with Brandon Dubinsky (abdominal) nearing a return, Artem Anisimov (upper body) left Saturday's game.
Dallas has just 12 games this month and none of them will be on a b2b occurrence. Barring injury, looks like Kari Lehtonen owners will lose few perspective starts to backup goaltender Anders Lindback who has been less than thrilling anyway. We knew it was coming, John Klingberg is pointless in his last two, but we have hope he'll get it going again. Meanwhile Jordie Benn made an even return to the lineup on Saturday after serving as a healthy scratch for four straight. We DO NOT have hope that will continue.
Winnipeg (11 of their next 15 from home) has two two-game road trips but will otherwise be at home most of the month makes for a very intriguing situation. With Michael Hutchinson threatening to steal starts from Ondrej Pavelec, it should be interesting to see who comes out on top in the new year.
Three of a Kind
Anaheim has a 14-game schedule and three b2b occurrences this month, including four games (see more Four Aces below) this week. Looks like Frederik Andersen and Jason LaBarbera will be busy, but keep an eye out for John Gibson who could return at some point this month.
Chicago plays 13 games and six of them will come on consecutive nights. Corey Crawford won't be able to handle all of them, Anttii Raanta anyone? What's this? Brad Richards taking things up a notch, looks like Rotowire's Janet Eagleson will have to reconcile (http://goo.gl/vyoyP1). Kris Versteeg is certainly enjoying the Richards ride.
New Jersey has six of 8 on road to start, then five of seven from home to end the calendar year and is one of just three teams playing on average every other night. Up until this month Cory Schneider has been a wokaholic (including b2b starts this past weekend) and his numbers have suffered. With three b2b occurrences, something has to change and something tells us Scott Clemmensen is not the answer to that something. They sure could use Marty back (see St. Louis below). Keith Kinkaid would likely be the first called up from AHL Albany if Clemmensen falters. Michael Cammaelleri has been very decent for owners. Adam Henrique (upper body) and Travis Zajac (lower body) were out of the lineup on Saturday.
After two months of inconsistent play, Toronto fans get to find out what kind of team they have. The Leafs continue their five game home-stand then travel to Detroit. Then it's back home for four of five before a seven game road trip going well into the new year. After that 16 of next 20 on road. They'll need more than a hot Tyler Bozak. Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer must be good to keep this team in the thick of things.
Four Aces
Obviously players on two teams (Red Wings, Rangers) with just a pair of games have little chance of providing production with a punch. So lets breakdown some of the busiest teams this week.
After closing out a road trip Arizona will return home to begin their five game home-stand. Devan Dubnyk continues a better season, but his chances of taking over for Mike Smith aren't exactly widening.
Detroit, who has 10 of 14 in the Motor City this month, has three of four this week from home. Petr Mrazek has been decent while Jonas Gustavsson (shoulder) has been out and with two b2b occurrences, he'll get a few chances this month until Monster returns. Brendan Smith (hand) is reportedly a game-time decision headed into Sunday's contest.
Florida splits their 14 games down the middle, beginning with two of each variety, including Columbus twice this week. Roberto Luongo's (arm) injury is reportedly not serious, but Al Montoya has performed well since taking over for him. Is Jimmy Hayes making a play for your attention?
Montreal has a four game road trip, a five game home-stand, then five game road trip into 2015. Brendan Gallagher isn't going anywhere!
After a four game slate this week, Ottawa plays just two next week and nine total for the rest of the month. David Legwand is picking up the pace. Robin Lehner was burned for four goals on Saturday against the Lightning. Bobby Ryan (finger) did not play in the loss and the immediate future doesn't look good.
San Jose has seven of their first nine from home before a home and home with Ducks separated by a trip to Staples center, to be televised on NBCSN. Logan Couture (flu) not only played Saturday, but netted a pair of goals. Alex Stalock (knee) was not only activated but found himself in the middle of a goalie controversy upon return. Especially after Antti Niemi's showing against the Ducks on Saturday.
Tampa Bay also draws 15 contests this month. A four game home-stand, four game road trip up east coast, then another three game home-stand. Ben Bishop has been arguably one of the most dependable goalies in fantasy hockey, but he'll need some help this month. Another two point night from Ryan Callahan, can he stay healthy? Alex Killorn (playing with Steven Stamkos and Callahan) would sure like it if he did. Victor Hedman is hoping he can remain healthy as well.
Vancouver (11 games in December) has the slowest schedule this month of any NHL team. After this week's four games, they'll play just seven more contests before the calendar flips to 2015. Nick Bonino had another big night on Friday and Ryan Miller has posted goose eggs for his second consecutive start.
Three of a Kind
As usual, we examine three teams with a three-game schedule of the easier AND more difficult variety.
Hold 'Em
Calgary starts the month on three game home-stand, then 8 of 10 on the road before another six game home-stand goes through the new year. Ladislav Smid (personal) did not play on Saturday.
Nashville has home games sprinkled in between a mostly road warrior schedule this month. Even with their pedestrian 6-4-1 record away from the Music City, we're buying into their staying power and big match-ups with Central division rivals St. Louis and Chicago should provide a good gauge. Obviously Filip Forsberg and James Neal are a big part of that staying power but Mike Ribeiro is the poster boy for value signing of the summer. Calle Jarnkrok has a goal and four assists in his last seven tilts.
Pittsburgh (7-2-1 at home) has two three game home-stands, scattered in between road games, but no more than a two-game road trip.You still don't have Blake Comeau? What will it take? Christian Ehrhoff finally found the back of the net. Marcel Goc (foot) and Kris Letang (lower body) haven't found the ice.
Fold 'Em
Carolina has a four game home-stand, starting with three this week against the Preds, Capitals and Red Wings, then seven of the remaining 10 tilts this month/year on the road. Elias Lindholm snagged a power play last night, as did Justin Faulk. We're close to suggesting Victor Rask radar be enabled.
Considering their play of late, the continuance (@SJ, @ANA, @LOS) of Philadelphia's seven game road trip probably doesn't hurt anyone feelings in the City of Brotherly Love. They'll finally get four at home starting next week but another eight game road trip that takes them into second week of January will follow. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare served as a healthy scratch on Saturday and Andrej Meszaros did not play.
St. Louis has a frightening schedule with travel to Chicago, Nashville and Long Island all over the course of four days. Overall the Blues travel eight times in 13 games this month. It seems the sizzle of Jori Lehtera has cooled down (one assist in three games), who's still on board? We are. Drop him, we dare you. Steve Ott (groin) is not travelling with the team on their current road trip. More importantly Jake Allen is doing as well as expected while filling in for Brian Elliott (knee) and although Jordan Binnington is the next great hope, it appears Ken Hitchcock and company are thinking of someone a bit more experienced to backup Allen (http://goo.gl/Qw5gFa).
