There are some mid-season big time pushes taking place right now in both the Eastern and Western Conferences. Philadelphia in the East is surging in the right direction right now with the Flyers 6-1-3 in their last ten games and only five points back of the Bruins; whom which have lost three straight. The Florida Panthers are only three points back of Boston, so the gap is tightening up in the East. The West is a war right now as seven teams are separated by eight points. Minnesota has been the hottest team in the NHL over the last ten games and holds a record of 8-0-2. Since acquiring Dubnyk they have been absolutely phenomenal, they are surely a team to beat right now, and a team to watch out for. Los Angeles quietly is grinding their way back into a threat with four consecutive victories. No team would want to face the defending Cup champs in the first round as they would likely be red hot going in.
HBSL:
Playoffs begin today!
If you had a good season and managed to make the playoffs, be sure to set your lineups accordingly. There are a massive amount of games this week with a number of teams playing four games, and even one team playing five! It’s vital to check for injuries before selecting your players, remember it’s playoffs and your opponent will surely be on the ball with their player choices.
To those who fell short of the playoffs in the HockeyBuzz SuperLeague, I hope you enjoyed the week to week match-ups and will come back next season to make a playoff run. Sometimes you just have bad luck with match-ups or key injuries that spoil not only your week, but your playoff hopes. Thanks for participating.
Good luck to everyone in this week’s matchup!
Injuries:
(VAN) Edler – upper body – DTD (TOR) Lupul – lower body – DTD (TOR) Phaneuf – upper body – DTD (STL) Shattenkirk – abdomen – April (PIT) Ehrhoff – concussion – DTD (PHI) Mason – knee – DTD (PHI) Timonen – leg – DTD (OTT) Anderson – hand – DTD (NYR) Lundqvist – neck – Indefinitely (NYI) Okposo – eye – late March (MTL) P.A. Parenteau – concussion – DTD (MTL) Gonchar – upper body – DTD (LA) Pearson – ankle – weeks (EDM) Hall – leg- late March (EDM) Scrivens – hamstring – Indefinitely (DET) Franzen – concussion – DTD (DAL) Seguin – knee – late March (DAL) Nichushkin – hip – late March (CLB) Bobrovsky – groin – Indefinitely (CLB) Ryan Murray – ankle – April (COL) Erik Johnson – lower body – weeks (BUF) Evander Kane – shoulder – season (ARI) Hanzal – back – Indefinitely (ARI) Boedker – upper body – Indefinitely (ANA) Vatanen – lower body – DTD (ANA) Beleskey – upper body – DTD (ANA) Andersen – upper body – DTD
Notes:
Here is a list of which teams have how many games going forward this week:
(2) Games: Arizona
(3) Games: Anaheim – Calgary – Chicago – Detroit – Los Angeles – New Jersey – Ottawa – St. Louis – San Jose – Toronto - Winnipeg
(4) Games: Boston – Buffalo – Carolina – Colorado – Columbus – Dallas – Edmonton – Florida – Minnesota – Montreal – Nashville – New York Rangers – Philadelphia – Pittsburgh – Tampa Bay – Vancouver - Washington
(5) Games: New York Islanders
Without a doubt, if you don’t have an Islanders player on your roster, take a look at picking one up. There should be one available from Strome, Grabovski, Bailey or even defenseman Hamonic. With the Islanders playing five games this week you can hopefully get some quality output.
Before selecting any players you should be looking at your matchups for the week, it’s likely going to be rammed so don’t pick up a forward if you are already full on nights, in which case grab a defenseman or spot start a goalie. The season is winding down so you want to get the most out of each week ensuring you make the playoffs or get a better seed for an easier matchup.
Starting Goalies:
(NYR)Talbot VS (NYI) Halak (CAR) Ward VS (OTT) Lehner (MTL) Price VS (DET) Howard (EDM) Fasth VS (WPG) Hutchinson (ARI) McKenna VS (COL) Varlamov (BOS) Rask VS (CLG) Ramo (MIN) Dubnyk VS (VAN) Lack (TBL) Vasilevskiy VS (LA) Quick
Bold is starting – Italics is probable…I will update throughout the day.
Best of luck going forward in your fantasy and enjoy the onslaught of hockey this week!
Thanks for reading.