It’s an extremely busy week in the National Hockey League with a number of teams playing four games. You should certainly be expecting some high point totals by weeks end in head to head matchups, and could run into some tricky decisions deciding who to bench on your roster. It’s always a bummer when you bench someone who has a good game, be sure to look at whose hot and cold on your roster and what team they are playing against, it often helps make your decision easier.
Number of games played this week:
(2) games: Calgary – Washington
(3) games: Boston – Buffalo – Chicago – Columbus – Dallas – Detroit – Los Angeles – Minnesota – Montreal – Nashville – Philadelphia – Pittsburgh – San Jose – St Louis – Tampa Bay – Winnipeg
(4) games: Anaheim – Arizona – Carolina – Colorado – Edmonton – Florida – New Jersey – New York Islanders – New York Rangers – Ottawa – Toronto – Vancouver
Starting Goalies:
(COL) Varlamov VS (NYI) Halak (CAR) Ward VS (NYR) Lundqvist (EDM) Talbot VS (TOR) Sparks (VAN) Miller VS (ANA) Gibson
*bold is starting, italics is probable*
Look for Garret Sparks to fortify the Leafs net as he get his first NHL start versus Edmonton. He has a 8-2-1 record with the Marlies and holds a .938 save percent with a 1.90 GAA and 2 shutouts.
Injury List:
Frederik Andersen (flu) – DTD Simon Despres (concussion) – DTD Shane Doan (lower body) – DTD Steve Downie (upper body) – DTD David Pastrnak (foot) – Indef. Tyler Ennis (upper body) – DTD Robin Lehner (ankle) – December James Wisniewski (knee) – April Alex Tanguay (knee) – DTD Kari Lehtonen (upper body) – DTD Nail Yakupov (ankle) – December Connor McDavid (clavicle) – January Carey Price (knee) – Late December Brendan Gallagher (hand) – Indef. Derek Stepan (ribs) – Indef. Andrew Hammond (concussion) – DTD Clarke MacArthur (concussion) – DTD Mark Streit (groin) – January Logan Couture (ankle) – Indef. Jaden Schwartz (ankle) – Late January Tyler Johnson (N/A) – DTD Ondrej Palat (lower body) – DTD Jonathan Drouin (N/A) – DTD Joffrey Lupul (N/A) – DTD James Reimer (N/A) – DTD Brandon Sutter (abdomen) – mid December Ondrej Pavelec (knee) – Indef.
Possible Free Agents:
Mikkel Boedker Frans Nielsen John Gibson Kevin Hayes Jason Demers Shayne Gostisbehere Aleksander Barkov Brandon Dubinsky Cody Eakin Justin Williams Artem Anisimov
Be sure to remember to set your HBSL rosters before today’s first game begins.
Any trade advice or fantasy questions don’t hesitate to ask in the comments section.
Thanks for reading, best of luck this week!