This article is part of our Schedule Analysis series.
Trick or Treat
Not having a back-to-back occurrence (save for Muck 'em teams) usually means three starts from your No. 1 goaltender; or does it?
After starting the season with five of seven on the road, Dallas has three games left in their current four-game home stand. Considering they are still deploying a goaltender time share, a week without tilts on consecutive nights could theoretically push head coach Lindy Ruff in one direction or another. While Kari Lehtonen (.920 save-percentage) was a perfect 3-0 headed into Saturday's action, Antti Niemi's save-percentage (.944) suggests he's been slightly better in four (3-1) starts, especially after Ruff had to pull Lehtonen in Saturday's game against Florida. This is why Dallas brought in Niemi to push Lehtonen to his best while keeping him fresh, and for the most part it seems to be working well. Niemi revenge factor + Lehtonen's career numbers against San Jose = Niemi to start Saturday against the Sharks, but your guess is as good as mine on the other two. Jason Demers (suspended) could be back Thursday.
| Career Stats | |||
| Player | ANA | SJ | VAN |
| Lehtonen | 9-7-4 (2.39) | 5-8-3 (3.40) | 9-7-0 (2.61) |
| Niemi | 14-9-1 (2.51) | n/a | 11-9-1 (2.57) |
Edmonton's week brings another anxious few starts for Cam Talbot owners. Does he show he's capable of carrying an Edmonton blue line or
Trick or Treat
Not having a back-to-back occurrence (save for Muck 'em teams) usually means three starts from your No. 1 goaltender; or does it?
After starting the season with five of seven on the road, Dallas has three games left in their current four-game home stand. Considering they are still deploying a goaltender time share, a week without tilts on consecutive nights could theoretically push head coach Lindy Ruff in one direction or another. While Kari Lehtonen (.920 save-percentage) was a perfect 3-0 headed into Saturday's action, Antti Niemi's save-percentage (.944) suggests he's been slightly better in four (3-1) starts, especially after Ruff had to pull Lehtonen in Saturday's game against Florida. This is why Dallas brought in Niemi to push Lehtonen to his best while keeping him fresh, and for the most part it seems to be working well. Niemi revenge factor + Lehtonen's career numbers against San Jose = Niemi to start Saturday against the Sharks, but your guess is as good as mine on the other two. Jason Demers (suspended) could be back Thursday.
| Career Stats | |||
| Player | ANA | SJ | VAN |
| Lehtonen | 9-7-4 (2.39) | 5-8-3 (3.40) | 9-7-0 (2.61) |
| Niemi | 14-9-1 (2.51) | n/a | 11-9-1 (2.57) |
Edmonton's week brings another anxious few starts for Cam Talbot owners. Does he show he's capable of carrying an Edmonton blue line or become another brick in the wall (Ha, Nikolai Khabibulin) of what has seemingly been a haunted Oilers net the past few decades. I'm betting on Talbot being the exception, especially with Connor McDavid breaking out of his cocoon.
| Career Stats | |||
| Player | MIN | MON | CGY |
| Talbot | 1-1 (1.52) | 1-0-1 (0.49) | 2-0-0 (1.00) |
Had you asked last week, I would have shown little excitement for Cory Schneider owners, but New Jersey has won three in a row? Schneider has given up three or less in four of his five starts this season.
| Career Stats | |||
| Player | CLS | PHI | NYI |
| Schneider | 6-2-4 (2.04) | 2-2-0 (2.75) | 1-2-1 (1.49) |
Still recovering from the gut-wrenching news about Jaden Schwartz (ankle)? Much like Dallas, St. Louis is also splitting up their time in between the pipes. It's very likely we see a winner emerge this week and with Brian Elliott already been pulling away, Jake Allen owners might not like the results. Don't get me wrong, I invested a late goalie slot in Allen as well, but it looks like his fate will depend on whether the Ducks keep migrating south.
| Career Stats | |||
| Player | TB | ANA | MIN |
| Elliott | 5-2-1 (1.97) | 1-5-2 (3.10) | 7-2-0 (2.32) |
| Allen | n/a | 2-0-0 (0.50) | 1-1-0 (2.63) |
Four of a Kind
A handful of teams with four games on their schedule this week:
Hold
Montreal goes on a three-game road trip but end the week hosting Winnipeg, which begins a stretch of eight games of 10 at the Bell Centre to start November. As for their back-to-back occurrence, surprisingly Carey Price has allowed over three goals per game against Edmonton and Calgary, so Mike Condon should get a nod this week. Brendan Gallagher has quietly been a huge part of Montreal's surge to start the season.
After visiting the Blues, Tampa's remaining opponents this week bring a combined record of 7-11-2 as of Saturday. Ben Bishop is already overworked and while Kristers Gudlevskis made just one mistake against Chicago, it looks like Andrei Vasilevskiy (blood clot) could return for a start this week.
The Islanders have the most generous schedule, with their opponents holding a combined record of 9-18-1 headed into Saturday's action. UH-O...Steve Bernier played in favor of Ryan Strome on Saturday. I'm apparently alone in thinking Jaroslav Halak could lose a few more starts to Thomas Greiss.
Fold
To put Anaheim's struggles in perspective, Jamie Benn (eight) has two more goals than the entire Ducks roster. Compounding Anaheim's issues, they'll continue their five-game road trip against four Central division opponents.
Not only is Buffalo on the road for three of four, but all four should be tough tilts against the middle of the pack in the Metropolitan division. Zach Bogosian (upper body) missed practice Friday. Cody Franson made an appearance on the score sheet last Friday, while Evander Kane left Saturday's game with a lower-leg injury.
Including this week's trip through the Southeast corridor, Colorado (16-16-9 on the road last season) plays 18 of their next 25 on the road, a brutal stretch that will take them well into December. Could Reto Berra take over?
Winnipeg starts the week by hosting Los Angeles and Chicago and then they will travel on back-to-back nights to play the NHL's best and worst in the Canadiens and Jackets, respectively. In addition to working on back-to-back games, add in Ondrej Pavelec's (0-4-2, 4.50 GAA) career numbers against Chicago, two good starts might be all head coach Paul Maurice needs to change his goaltender depth chart. Nikolaj Ehlers continues to grab attention.
Muck 'em
Milan Lucic, Tyler Toffoli and Jeff Carter have had nice chemistry. While they play four games next week, Los Angeles will have a hard time keeping the reversed momentum (four-game win streak) with just two contests this week.
Thanks to fellow Rangers die-hard Andrew Fiorentino for filling in last week, who stole my thunder as the Rangers play just once this week. Henrik Lundqvist isn't complaining after a 46-save performance on Saturday. Worth mentioning they have a vanilla three-game schedule over the next two weeks. Three weeks into the season and 17 players on the roster have at least one point, but Ryan McDonagh is not one of them. The Tanner Glass saga is over and that's good news for Emerson Etem. Kevin Hayes continues to log third-line minutes. Fellow third liner, J.T. Miller has six points in nine games. Anyone else dying to see a more mature Miller paired up with Chris Kreider and ANYONE down the center?
Three of a Kind
In this week's Three of a Kind, we examine the team's playing three games this week and only two games next week.
Suggesting you avoid Arizona is the last thing I'm saying here. However, consider they have just five games over the next 14 days and temper your expectations of this bubbling team of top notch fantasy performers, at least for now. I've been waiting for these Max Domi days for several seasons now and it paid off to pick him up. Same goes for Anthony Duclair, who even seems to be available in most formats on multiple sites. Mike Smith hasn't been bad, but neither has Anders Lindback. Need I say more? Mikkel Boedker, Tobias Reider, now I'm done.
Rookies like Joonas Kemppainen and Ryan Spooner are helping Boston smooth out the wrinkles.
With John Tortorella behind the bench, perhaps the stage is set for an early season turnaround in Columbus, but their opponents combined record of 13-6-2 suggests differently.
Minnesota looks to stay competitive is an already tight Central division (six of seven teams playing above .500). Devan Dubnyk got a 15-shot shutout Saturday, perhaps that turns around his season.
Nashville is scoring more thanks to James Neal, but it came on the heals of a three game home stand in the Music City. Will a four-game road trip change their tune?
Pittsburgh squeezes in their three games in a four-day span, two of which will be on the road. Nick Bonino (upper body) and Paul Martin (lower body) practiced Friday, and Bonino played in Saturday's win. Phil Kessel had the game-winner Saturday. David Perron is off Evgeni Malkin's (two assists on Saturday) line and Sergei Plotnikov is back. Pascal Dupuis has returned as well.
Speaking of the Pens, Washington opens the week against Pittsburgh in what they hope will be a continuation of Evgeny Kuznetsov's breakout. John Carlson has 10 points through seven games.
Playing the Percentages*
Aside from the aforementioned Blue Jackets, who are ranked dead-last with a minus-22 goal differential, Montreal (second in shots per game) and the Islanders (sixth in shots per game) on the docket, things are looking bleak for Calgary (@NYI, @OTT, MTL,@EDM), who is minus-12 and is ranked 21st in shots allowed.
*Stats heading into Saturday's action
