Week 8 brings us another moderate week in the NHL schedule, allowing owners to choose from plenty of teams playing 3 games. With only 4 teams playing 4 games this week, owners in leagues that offer weekly roster changes will have to look at the best match ups available to maximize roster spots. 4 Game Week: Florida, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Tampa Bay
3 Game Week: Anaheim, Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Calgary, Carolina, Chicago, Colorado, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Nashville, Montreal, New Jersey, New York Islanders, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Toronto, Washington
2 Game Week: Minnesota, New York Rangers, St. Louis, Vancouver
Teams to watch:
Pittsburgh: Anaheim, @Ottawa, @ Atlanta
This schedule couldn’t have come at a better time for Malkin and Crosby owners. With Malkin just back in the line up and Crosby breaking his pointless streak, the Penguins now face three teams that just cant keep the puck of out the net. The Ducks currently rank 26th in total defence while Atlanta and Ottawa sit 18th and 19th respectively, so look for the Pens to capitalize.
Fantasy Spin: The Penguins have been banged up the last couple of weeks and are now slowly getting healthy. Look for Malkin and Crosby to lead the way with an extremely strong week.
Philadelphia: New Jersey, @Los Angeles, @San Jose, @Phoenix
The Flyers offer the best option for owners looking to take advantage of a team playing 4 games this week. Philadelphia has played 11 of its first 16 games at home and now embark on their first major road trip. They play 8 times in a 13 day stretch starting with New Jersey. Six of those 8 games are on the road.
Fantasy Spin: The strong Flyers offense will be tested in the upcoming week and Ray Emery should have a moderate week as he played extremely well over the past two weeks. Play all your Flyers this week but be weary of the long road trip ahead.
Atlanta: Boston, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay
The leagues #1 offence entering week 8 has three home tilts on tap this week. Kovalchuk is the only big name on the Thrashers team but they offer many lesser “name value” guys who contribute on a fantasy level. Pavelec continues to post decent first year numbers with a 3.02 GAA and a .924 SV% over the last two weeks.
Fantasy Spin: Kovalchuk is a must start this week, while Peverly and Antropov have been hot of late and should get some consideration.
New York Islanders: @Boston, @Minnesota, @St.Louis
This week has serious fantasy value written all over it for Long Island. The Wild, Bruins and Blues sit 25th, 26th and 28th in goals per game giving Roloson and Biron an apparent easy week between the pipes. With Dipietro’s return on the horizon, the Islanders will be shopping Biron and will likely showcase his talents against weaker offensive teams to maximize his value.
Fantasy Spin: If you are looking for a cheap, good play in a league that has 2 Goalie spots, Biron is your guy. He will likely get 2 of the 3 starts this week and has been strong of late, putting up better GAA and SV% than Roloson.
Buffalo: Florida, Boston, @ Ottawa
The Sabres have the NHL's second best GAA and face three teams in the bottom half of total offense. Ryan Miller has been hot all year and should get all three starts this week.
Fantasy Spin: Miller is a must play this week and should continue to put up stellar numbers against teams that just cant seem to light the lamp.
Brian
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