In a division that may boast three of the league’s top five
goaltenders, scoring has been at a premium this season. In fact, the Flames (4th), Wild (6th),
Canucks (7th), and Oilers (8th) all rank in the top ten
in fewest goals allowed per game. It
should come as a shock to nobody, then, that the best team in terms of goals
scored per game in the division ranks outside the top ten in the league.
|
Team
|
Wins
|
Losses
|
OTL
|
Points
|
GF
|
GA
|
Last 10
|
|
Minnesota
|
12
|
6
|
0
|
24
|
57
|
45
|
5-5-0
|
|
Edmonton
|
10
|
8
|
1
|
21
|
55
|
51
|
4-5-1
|
|
Calgary
|
8
|
7
|
2
|
18
|
46
|
42
|
6-3-1
|
|
Vancouver
|
8
|
10
|
1
|
17
|
44
|
50
|
3-7-0
|
|
Colorado
|
7
|
9
|
2
|
16
|
55
|
56
|
4-6-0
|
Minnesota
Wild
Hot: Pavol Demitra (2 G, 2 A in Last Two),
Mark Parrish (1 G, 3 A in Last Two), Nicklas Backstrom
(3-0-1, Has Allowed Three Goals or Less in All Four Appearances This Season)
Cold: Brian Rolston (1 G, 1 A in Last Six),
Manny Fernandez (0-1, 5.80 GAA, .833 Sv. % in Last Two Starts)
Injuries: Marian Gaborik (Indefinitely –
Strained Groin), Jason Morgan (Indefinitely – Thigh Surgery)
After a red hot start, the Wild have cooled considerably,
and are playing just .500 hockey since beginning the
year on a six game winning streak. Over
the past few nights, the thing that most people knew we could count on when looking at the Wild (their tremendous goaltending
and the defense in front of it) has let Minnesota
down. Nonetheless, they’ve had some
offensive struggles as well.
Prior to Thursday’s 7-6 shootout win over the Predators, the Wild had scored just twelve goals over their
past five games, meaning that Fernandez was seeing a measly 2.4 goals per game
of support. Of course, things like this
are going to tend to happen when your biggest superstar (Gaborik) is on the
shelf, but one of the other things
that Minnesota can boast about is the depth of their scoring lines. With Gaborik, Pavol Demitra, Mark Parrish,
Pierre-Marc Bouchard, and Brian Rolston, this team has five guys up front who
are capable of netting thirty goals, and they just haven’t been doing so
lately.
Though he’s probably among the least talked about of those
five players before the season started, Brian Rolston may be the key. Rolston carried the Wild early in the year,
netting nine goals and thirteen points in October. However, this hasn’t been a November to
remember for Rolston or his teammates
so far, as he has just two goals and two assists in seven November games. One of each came in Vancouver
on November 2, and he hasn’t done squat in the past six games (four of which
were losses).
However, if the Wild can continue to play .500 hockey and stay near the top of the division without Gaborik
(they’re still three points up on Edmonton
right now), they should be poised to make a serious run at a top three seed in
the West when he returns. With Gaborik
injured and the offense looking (with the exception of Thursday night’s game)
pedestrian, the Wild are going to have to rely more on their goaltending than
ever before.
This is why it’s been important that Nicklas Backstrom has stepped up to look like more than just an
adequate backup goaltender so far this season.
Early in his career, Manny Fernandez was always stuck in goaltending
platoons, teaming up with Dwayne Roloson to give the team a phenomenal 1-2
punch in net. However, with Roloson
gone, Fernandez isn’t finding much rest, and it’s showing (nine goals in his
last two games, including five Thursday before he got pulled late in the second
period). With Backstrom
playing well behind Fernandez, Manny might be able to take a few more nights
off, and that should serve Minnesota
well as the season wears on.
Next Five: vs. Colorado, at Ottawa, at Montreal, vs. Phoenix, at Columbus
On the positive side for the offense, they’ll get to play
outside of the division for almost this entire stretch. They’ll begin at home with a game against the
Northwest’s weakest defensive team (Colorado)
before taking a tough trip north of the border to Ottawa
and Montreal. All three teams are more than capable of
finding the net, and could give Minnesota
some problems defensively. However,
Fernandez is someone you have to start against virtually any opponent. Phoenix
and Columbus would both look like
soft opponents both offensively and defensively, though the ‘Yotes have shown
some signs of life, winning their past two games.
Edmonton
Oilers
Hot: Ryan Smyth
(9 G, 2 A in Last Ten… Back to back multi-goal games), Fernando Pisani (2 G, 1
A in Last Three), Dwayne Roloson (3-0-0, 1.33 GAA, .955 Sv. % in Last Three),
Shawn Horcoff (0 G, 4 A in Last Three), Daniel Tjarnqvist
(0 G, 3 A in Last Three), Marty Reasoner (2 G, 4 A in
Last Ten)
Cold: Raffi Torres (Scoreless in Last Six), Jason Smith (Scoreless,
-6 in Last Ten)
Injuries:
Ethan Moreau (3 Months – Shoulder Surgery)
It’s been an up and down November for the Oilers so far, as
they lost their first three games of the month, but have won three of their
last four since. Like Minnesota,
their scoring prowess lies more in depth than any true
superstars, though Ales Hemsky and Ryan Smyth are certainly up there in terms
of star power.
After a mediocre start to the season, Smyth has caught fire,
scoring multiple goals in three of his last four games, including the past
two. Smyth has the total package, as he
has good wheels, a nice shot, and he’s capable of creating space himself. However, when he’s at his best, he’s hovering
around the crease looking for garbage goals and using his size. He’s been doing so lately, and the Oilers
have plenty of talent around him to get the puck to the net to start with.
Though Hemsky disappeared for most of the team’s five-game
road trip, he looked like his old self at home against the Blues Thursday
night, setting up three power play goals.
He’s by far the most talented player on the Oilers, and they desperately
need to get him going if they’re going to try and repeat last year’s journey to
the Stanley Cup Finals. Shawn Horcoff
continues to look like an above-average pivot who
should push the seventy point barrier this season.
Among the other hot offensive players, neither Fernando
Pisani nor Marty Reasoner are
guys that should legitimately litter fantasy rosters. Despite the strong runs of both Pisani and
Raffi Torres in the playoffs last season, they’ve both fallen to earth in
2006-07. Pisani’s
capable of twenty goals, but neither should finish with more than 50 points. Reasoner, a
third-line center at best, falls in the same category. They function well together as a unit, and
sometimes they’re able to capitalize on some breakouts.
Roloson is as steady as it gets between the pipes, which is exactly what the Oilers have lacked during
the regular season for the past few years.
It would be nice to see Jussi Markkanen step
it up just a touch behind him (Markkanen allowed four
in a 5-3 loss to St. Louis in his only November start) so that Roloson, 36, can
stay fresh. However, Rolo
is a fine fantasy goaltender who is surrounded by young talent, and he should
win 35 games easily.
Next Five: vs. Detroit, vs. Calgary, vs. Chicago, vs. Anaheim, vs. Colorado
Scoring should be at a premium to start this stretch. Detroit
and Calgary rank second and fourth
respectively in GA/Game. The Ducks
(fifth) are no slouches themselves.
However, both the Blackhawks and Avalanche are in the middle of the
pack. On the positive side, starting
Roloson for all five of these games should make any owner feel safe. Only Anaheim
ranks in the top fifteen in goals scored.
Considering all five games are at home, you should feel safe starting
all of your Oilers over the next couple of weeks.
Calgary Flames
Hot: Jarome
Iginla (7 G, 7 A in Last Ten, Six Game Point Streak), Alex Tanguay (1 G, 8 A in
Last Seven), Dion Phaneuf (2 G, 3 A, +6, 13 PIM in Last Seven), Kristian
Huselius (3 G in Last Four), Miikka Kiprusoff (5-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .966 Sv. %, 2
SHO in Last Five)
Cold: Chuck Kobasew (Scoreless in Last Nine), Jeff Friesen (Scoreless
in Last Eleven)
Injuries:
Jeff Friesen (D2D – Flu), Stephane Yelle (Indefinitely – Fractured Leg)
Unlike the two teams ahead of them in the standings, the
Flames rely heavily on their top line.
When Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla are firing, Calgary
is rolling. If they’re struggling,
however, there’s not much else there to pick up the slack. Thankfully for the Flames, they’re just
scorching hot right now! Both are
absolute superstars, and went in the first few rounds of your draft. In short, if you have them, they’re in the
lineup every day regardless of the opponent.
If you were looking to buy low on either of them, your window seems to
have passed.
Phaneuf is a third-round (fantasy) talent defensively who is
capable of scoring in bunches, gets a ton of Power Play Points with the first
unit, and has a heck of a mean streak.
While all five of his points came in the Flames’ first four games of the
month (he’s scoreless in his past three), he’s still been a +3 with 11 PIMS in
the past three games despite not showing up on the scoresheet.
Huselius is always an intriguing fantasy player to consider when he’s hot! He’s extremely streaky, and is capable of
putting up ten goals in the course of a month before going cold and scoring
just two or three in the next couple of months combined. If he’s sitting out there on your waiver
wire, now’s a good time to grab him, as he’s rolling right now with a goal in
three of his last four games. Just be
ready to cut bait and bail on him when he cools off, because he’ll stay that
way for a while.
Those of you who have Kipper had a top three pick in your
league, so you’re finally reaping the benefits.
Neither he nor the Flames started out all that hot last season, and you saw
where they both ended up. Expect
Kiprusoff to continue to look like a demigod between the pipes the rest of the
way, though I’m not sure I’d get so giddy about him rolling along at quite his November pace. There’s a reason he was the top goaltender taken
in just about any fantasy draft, though.
Jeff Friesen, who has missed the past few games with the
flu, has been a colossal disappointment so far, and has just one assist in
thirteen games this season. He was
brought in to help provide a team that was too dependent on their top line with
some depth behind it. Chuck Kobasew isn’t someone that many people were looking for
more than fifty points or so from, but a nine-game scoreless streak just isn’t
going to cut it.
Next Five: vs. Detroit, at Edmonton, vs. Chicago, at Los Angeles, at Anaheim
The Red Wings are on fire lately, having won nine of their
last ten. They’ve been particularly
strong defensively, and are second in the league with just 1.94 goals allowed
per game. This does, however, figure to
be a strong stretch for the defense and goaltending of the Flames, as only Anaheim
ranks in the top fifteen in the league in goals per game. The first line trio of Iginla-Tanguay-Langkow
has to be played on a nightly basis, as does Dion Phaneuf. Asking for much out of anyone else might be a
mistake, though riding the hot hand (in this case, Huselius) is never a bad
idea.
Vancouver Canucks
Hot: Sami Salo (2 G, 5 A in Last Ten), Taylor Pyatt
(4 G, 3 A in Last Ten)
Cold: Markus Naslund (1 G, 1 A in Last Six), Brendan Morrison (0 G,
1 A in Last Six), Ryan Kesler (1 G, 0 A in Last Ten),
Roberto Luongo (3-7-0, 2.67 GAA,.891 Sv. % in Last Ten)
Injuries: Rory Fitzpatrick (4-6 Weeks – Broken Foot)
The Canucks are struggling both offensively and defensively
to start November, and have lost five of six to start the month. They’ve allowed 3.5 goals per game so far
this month, while they’ve yet to score more than twice in any of their six
games. The lack of depth surrounding
Markus Naslund and the Sedin twins has to be playing a part in this,
particularly since Naslund has struggled himself lately. Don’t fret too much if you’re a Naslund owner
(though now might be a time to try and buy him low if you don’t have him). He’s too talented and too proven to stay down
for long.
Sami Salo and Willie Mitchell both returned to the fold
along the blue line this past week after missing time with injury, which should
do wonders for improving the defense in front of Roberto Luongo. Salo has taken a big step forward with his
offense so far this season, and is worth a look in most league formats. He’s a solid PPP option who should maintain a
strong +/- on a team that is rarely outskated five on
five.
Roberto Luongo hasn’t exactly been ice cold, but those who drafted him can’t be too excited about the
seven losses in his last ten, or the fact that he got pulled against Anaheim
last week. Simply put, there will be no
goaltender in either conference that will be called upon to work as much as
Luongo, and though he’s proven in the past that he’s a workhorse, there are
times when it looks like he’d be better served by taking a few more nights off.
Next Five: vs. St. Louis, vs. Chicago, at Detroit, at Nashville, at Colorado
At first glance, the
Blues (coming off of a season that saw them finish last overall) would appear
to be an easy opponent. However, they
beat the Canucks in all four meetings last season, and the Canucks needed a
furious rally to win with less than a second to go in overtime in their first
meeting this year. Either way, they
should hopefully find a way to snap out of their scoring funk against the Blues
and Blackhawks. Detroit
has been extremely strong defensively, which means that a team that’s
struggling to score already should have a lot of trouble there. Luongo’s still a safe start, though, as the
Wings aren’t scoring much this season.
If you have a strong third goaltender, benching Luongo against the
Predators might not be that bad an idea.
They’re currently fifth in the league with 3.37 goals per game.
Colorado
Avalanche
Hot: Brett McLean (3 G, 3 A in Last Ten)
Cold: John-Michael Liles (0 G, 2 A, -2 in Last Seven), Wojtek Wolski (2 G, 2 A in Last
Ten), Brad Richardson (Scoreless in Last Seven), Jose Theodore (0-3-0, 3.33
GAA, .892 Sv. % in Last Four Starts)
Injuries: Jordan Leopold (Indefinitely – Hernia), Pierre Turgeon
(1-2 Weeks – Shoulder), Brad May (4-6 Months – Shoulder Surgery)
The Avs did their part to try and improve upon a horrendous
start to the month of November with a 3-0 win over the Blue Jackets Friday
night, but they still find themselves just 3-5 midway
through the month. The scoring has been
horribly inconsistent, while the goaltending has lacked some stability in its
own right. Joe Sakic and Milan Hejduk
are still carrying the offense, but the youngsters such as Wojtek
Wolski and Marek Svatos need to improve their
production for Colorado to
challenge for a playoff spot.
While they’re the only team that lacks an elite number one
goaltender in the division (Theodore’s performance over the past two seasons
has dropped him a touch), Peter Budaj is clearly the top backup in the
Northwest. While the fact that Budaj
will play a lot more often than most backups will make many fantasy owners cringe,
we can at least be sure that whoever plays will usually be fresh. Budaj still looks like the future in Colorado,
despite the fact that they shelled out a lot of money to re-sign Theo.
Liles remains a legitimate number two or three fantasy
defenseman depending upon your league’s size, however (as is the case with most
defensemen), he needs the guys in front of him to pick up the pace a little bit
if he’s going to re-find his scoring touch.
After scoring eleven points in eleven October games, he has just two
points in seven games in November (excluding Friday’s game).
On the injury front, Pierre Turgeon, who has yet to play a
game this season, is expected to be back within the next couple of weeks after
rotator cuff surgery this offseason.
Jordan Leopold, who the team acquired as part of the Alex Tanguay trade
this offseason, has begun practicing with the team, but there’s still not a
timetable for his return to the ice.
Turgeon should help the scoring depth up front by giving them a solid
second-line center, while Leopold has the potential to give them a solid Power
Play QB with the second unit.
Next Five: at Minnesota, at Dallas, vs. Anaheim, vs. Vancouver, at Calgary
For a team that’s struggling to find the net, this isn’t the
upcoming schedule you want to see. Their
next five games opponents all rank in the top seven in goals against per game,
including the Stars who lead the league.
Expect scoring to be at a premium for the next couple of weeks for Colorado,
which means they’re going to have to find ways to keep the puck out of their
own net. Thankfully, the schedule is
accommodating there, as Calgary, Dallas,
and Vancouver are all in the bottom
ten in scoring. It’s a good thing the
Avs were able to fatten up with a win against the Jackets Friday, because
there’s a good chance they’ll lose their next five. Feel safe starting Theo against the Stars,
Canucks, Flames, and probably even the Wild (who are struggling to find the net
lately themselves), but don’t necessarily expect wins… just strong numbers.
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