What a big difference a month can make in not only the standings, but the overall confidence of a team. Yes, I am specifically talking about teams like Los Angeles who have pushed the panic button. Not only has the compete level gone up, but the outcome as you could imagine has following suit. Jonathan Quick is back, and he has shape shifted into a wall over the last couple weeks. After last night’s shutout that not only puts the Kings into the third place slot in the Pacific, but also gives them a solid eight wins in a row. Look out…the Kings are back, and they mean business. Calgary has been pushed out of a playoff spot for now and has now lost two in a row. The offense seems to be drying up a bit; or shall I say offense from the defensive end; which was a powerhouse most of the season. Calgary still has 22 games left on the season; so lots of time left to battle back into one of the wild card spots.
Continuing on the Western Conference breakdown you can see Nashville has begun to separate from the pack at the top. They are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games and just an absolute powerhouse at home. Seems all four lines are firing on all cylinders and Pekka Rinne has been the best goaltender in the NHL this season; even Carter Hutton who stepped in for Rinne has been solid. The battle intensifies for the final wild card spots in the West as it’s extremely tight right now as I would have expected. Vancouver (73), Los Angeles (70), Winnipeg (73), Minnesota (69) and San Jose and Calgary both sit at (68) points. The Edmonton Oilers look like they may just squeak out of the basement as they are only 1 point back from Arizona.
The beast of the East right now is still the Montreal Canadiens as they have won their last two games, but also hold a stable record of 7-1-2 over their last ten games. Price has been outstanding all season and is no doubt the backbone of the franchise. We shall see if the trade pushes them to be a stronger team overall or not; I thought it was a pretty even trade between Anaheim and Montreal. Time will tell! Over the last week things have really tightened up in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt. Boston has been shaky and just lost Krecji again. He has been a band-aid this season and that is certainly part of the problem for the Bruins, that and Chara slowing down as he ages. If they don’t pull it together soon, Florida, Philadelphia or possibly New Jersey could catch them. The Devils have won four games straight, which is surprising to me as they seem to be such a mediocre team.
Both conferences are tight and these last twenty games or so are going to make things very interesting…
Injuries:
It’s been the most injury based year for my fantasy teams; so I could only imagine others are having the same ‘issues’. It’s not always a problem…Personally, I don’t mind getting injuries at the start of the season; it opens up a roster spot for a player who is red hot. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t and you just cycle through a few different players until your player is back from the IR. A few excellent players were scooped up through the free agency that stayed on my roster, and others who were so hot I was able to trade before my player came back which gave me a boost in the long run. Moving a player I picked up for free plus one of my mediocre roster players for someone else’s all-star is a great way to improve your team.
As the season goes on and injuries pile up, it can get a bit hairy. You don’t want too many guys hurt as fantasy playoffs approach (which are usually a few weeks before the end of the regular season). Fill those voids with the best players possible and make sure you continue to keep an eye on who is hot and who is not. You never know when your next injury strikes; there hasn’t been a week that has gone by that I haven’t had at least one of my core roster players on the IR.
Patrick Kane – went head/shoulder first into the boards last night..he is day to day for now and I don’t want to speculate on the injury but it looked like a shoulder injury to me. This is obviously a player that you can’t replace since he leads the league in points. Perhaps one of the free agents I mention later will be of use to you…It’s not looking good for Kane; I can assure you that.
David Krecji – another day, another injury…he’s been banged up all season and his production shows it. A player who usually gets 60-70 points with a very high +- rating has been a big disappointment for fantasy owners and of course Bruins fans…he will be out a few weeks if not longer.
Rick Nash– day to day with a neck injury, but thankfully for his owners it doesn’t look too bad. Sounds to me like Nash has a stiff neck, and is likely popping a few ibuprofen to bring down any swelling.
Those are the three big name injuries, of course Miller is hurt for Vancouver, and if you need a goalie replacement Lack will be filling his void. Other than that you will find some spot start goalies available and just be wise with their matchups if you want to use them.
Free Agents:
There is not a fortune of players worth picking up right now, but it’s key to keep an eye on who is heating up. Here are a few names of players that may or may not be on the free agency list in your fantasy:
Anders Lee Darren Helm Milan Michalek Kyle Palmieri Zack Kassian Craig Smith Blake Comeau Hampus Lindholm Francois Beachemin (G) Cameron Talbot (G) Andrew Hammond (G) Eddie Lack
Hopefully you have all had less injuries than I have…I’m at a whopping 22 injuries on the year in my main fantasy pool and things are getting tricky at this point with the scraps that are left over at this time of the year. Losing Okposo, both Kane’s and Krecji have put a bit of a dent in my offensive production. I’ve added Palmieri, Lee and Craig Smith at this point and I am hoping they are able to help keep me afloat. Currently still in first place, but with all these injuries I have had to work hard to continue dominating each week in head to head matchups.
If you can think of a player that has stood out, or you have picked up and has done well for you, by all means feel free to share in the comments section!
Starting Goalies:
There are only three games scheduled for this evening:
(CLG) Ramo VS (NJ) Schneider (PIT) Fleury VS (WSH) Holtby (OTT) Hammond VS (ANA) Gibson
Each of the goalies listed is confirmed; so if you need a spot start Ramo may be available for Calgary as he and Hiller have gone back and forth with starts this season.
Thanks for reading; I will give an update on scores in the second round of the HBSL playoffs tomorrow.
Have a great night!