This article is part of our Schedule Analysis series.
If you're reading this, you've survived some sort of hardship over the long winter. Whether having been snowed in or survived the flu, you're likely preparing for the end of the fantasy regular season with playoffs just around the corner. With just five weeks remaining in the season, there's no shortage of trends to play on.
Back-to-Back Jacks
It's rare for a team to have one back-to-back occurrences, much less two.
The Islanders will play three of their four games this week at home (23-9) and on two back-to-back sets. Michael Neuvirth anyone? Yikes! Kyle Okposo (eye) and Tyler Kennedy (upper body) resumed skating with the team on Saturday and Matt Martin returned to the lineup.
Meanwhile, the Rangers will play three of four on the road (18-10-2). One way or another, Henrik Lundqvist is still strengthening and taking shots off team practices, so it's very possible Cam Talbot could play two or three of these games, leaving fantasy owners with a chance to pick up rogue points with Mackenzie Skapski.
Four Aces
As usual, you'll want to avoid those organizations (Buffalo, Chicago) with just two tilts this week. However, there are 12 teams who have four games. Here's a few with an interesting week ahead:
Carolina is already packing some gear and halfway to the golf course, but this week's schedule has them facing off with fellow disappointment Columbus twice, who they have already enjoyed (2-0, 7:4 GF:GA) playing this season. The timeshare hasn't helped Cam Ward or
If you're reading this, you've survived some sort of hardship over the long winter. Whether having been snowed in or survived the flu, you're likely preparing for the end of the fantasy regular season with playoffs just around the corner. With just five weeks remaining in the season, there's no shortage of trends to play on.
Back-to-Back Jacks
It's rare for a team to have one back-to-back occurrences, much less two.
The Islanders will play three of their four games this week at home (23-9) and on two back-to-back sets. Michael Neuvirth anyone? Yikes! Kyle Okposo (eye) and Tyler Kennedy (upper body) resumed skating with the team on Saturday and Matt Martin returned to the lineup.
Meanwhile, the Rangers will play three of four on the road (18-10-2). One way or another, Henrik Lundqvist is still strengthening and taking shots off team practices, so it's very possible Cam Talbot could play two or three of these games, leaving fantasy owners with a chance to pick up rogue points with Mackenzie Skapski.
Four Aces
As usual, you'll want to avoid those organizations (Buffalo, Chicago) with just two tilts this week. However, there are 12 teams who have four games. Here's a few with an interesting week ahead:
Carolina is already packing some gear and halfway to the golf course, but this week's schedule has them facing off with fellow disappointment Columbus twice, who they have already enjoyed (2-0, 7:4 GF:GA) playing this season. The timeshare hasn't helped Cam Ward or Anton Khudobin's mindset.
Detroit starts off with the Oilers and then a skidding Jackets squad a few days later before facing off for two games in as many nights in the Keystone state. Should be a week of Jekyl & Hyde for Babcock and Company. Justin Abdelkader has four points in his last three contests. Recently-acquired Erik Cole has joined Adbelkader on a line with the great Henrik Zetterberg. Look to the monster (Jonas Gustavsson) to get a start this week. Darren Helm (oblique) should be back in the lineup by the weekend. He's baaaack, Teemu Pulkkinen.
Ottawa is playing some very fine hockey of late, but comes into this week's four-game docket with a pedestrian 4-3-2 combined record against this week's opponents.
Three of a Kind
Hold 'Em
Calgary is holding on despite missing Mark Giordano. No, the Flames don't usually play well against the Ducks (1-3 this season), but their backs are against the wall. Then they play the hapless Leafs and Avs on back-to-back nights. All three games will come on a four-night stretch, so it should be a very telling week for Flames fans. Jonas Hiller appears to be taking favor with head coach Bob Hartley after Karri Ramo did in the previous five contests. Jiri Hudler and Sean Monahan have really helped keep the Flames in this thing.
New Jersey is a solid case for too-little-too-late, but that doesn't mean they won't provide some fantasy fodder in the closing weeks. The Devils outscored Minnesota and Arizona by a combined scored of 6-1 in their previous appearances against them this season.
Washington is 0-2 against the Rangers and Stars, but is brimming with confidence and so is newly-acquired Curtis Glencross. Andre Burakovsky's future is very much in the air. Alex Ovechkin (lower body) returned to action without fail on Saturday.
Fold 'Em
Minnesota (won five in a row) is the closest thing the NHL has to Kentucky's dirty 30 right now, but things are not looking good as they head into the week with a combined 0-3-1 record against this week's opponents.
San Jose plays a bit better on the road than at the Shark Tank and they don't exactly have a trio of pushovers headed their way this week. Matt Irwin (upper body) missed Saturday's game, Taylor Fedun was called up but did not play.
Winnipeg will visit St. Louis, Florida and Tampa Bay. Mark Stuart (face) returned Saturday and Mark Scheifele has been solid while Drew Stafford finally arrived Saturday.
Other RotoWire Reports:Tyler Seguin knows how to return, while John Klingberg left Saturday's loss with a lower-body injury. With Nathan MacKinnon (foot) out, Freddie Hamilton has been recalled from AHL Lake Erie. Marcel Goc and Olli Jokinen are entangled in the city of Blues. Alec Martinez (concussion) is not nearing a return. Mikhail Grigorenko was reassigned to AHL Rochester. Frederik Anderson is attempting to hand the reigns back over to John Gibson. Richard Bachman will do his best Sunday to play for next year's minor league contract. Tyson Barrie continues his career season. Dave Bolland (upper body) is expected back on Thursday. Zach Bogosian left Saturday's loss with a lower-body injury. David Booth is quietly kicking things up a notch. Rene Bourque was called up from AHL Springfield. Jay Bouwmeester (illness) did not play on Saturday. Aaron Ekblad (illness) did not play on Saturday. Patric Hornqvist has been fantastic as of late. Willie Mitchell (illness) was activated from IR on Saturday. Trevor van Riemsdyk (knee) begins his rehab assignment with AHL Rockford this week.
