The Fantasy Hockey Weekly Planner is the essential guide to setting your lineup for the upcoming week. Every week, we provide you with top matchups, the latest news and give you the scoop on injured players.
Projections are for March 31-April 6 games and all stats are through Saturday.
Teams with four games: N.Y. Rangers, New Jersey, St. Louis, Tampa Bay
Teams with three games: Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Calgary, Carolina, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, Los Angeles, Montreal, Nashville, N.Y. Islanders, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington
Teams with two games: Anaheim, Colorado, Edmonton, Minnesota
Teams with three home games: Vancouver, Washington
Teams with three away games: Buffalo, Calgary, Florida, Tampa Bay
Teams with four away games: None
Teams with back-to-back games in the upcoming scoring period, which means that a backup goalie might start one of the two contests: Anaheim, Atlanta, Boston, Carolina, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, N.Y. Islanders, N.Y. Rangers, Nashville, New Jersey, Ottawa, Phoenix, St. Louis, Tampa Bay
On tap: Week 27 brings us eight nationally televised games in either the United States or Canada: Pittsburgh at N.Y. Rangers (U.S.) on Monday; Nashville at St. Louis (U.S.) on Tuesday; Colorado at Vancouver (U.S.) on Tuesday; Philadelphia at Pittsburgh (CAN) on Wednesday; Toronto at Montreal (CAN) on Saturday; Calgary at Vancouverr (CAN) on Saturday; Chicago at Detroit (U.S.) on Sunday; N.Y. Rangers at New Jersey (CAN) on Sunday.
| F A N T A S Y S P I N S |
It's the final week of the regular season and there are still some happenings going on, mostly teams jockeyeing for playoff positions. ... With the exception of one game, all games in the final week are divisional matchups. ... Alex Ovechkin, a dream player for any Fantasy owner, is trying everything he can to make his first playoff appearance. Ovechkin became the first player in 12 years to reach the 60-goal mark. He leads the league in goals, points, power-play goals and game-winning goals and is also an impressive plus-24, a major turnaround from last year's minus-19. The Capitals are two points behind Boston and Philadelphia for the final playoff spot. To touch a little more on Ovechkin's achievement this season, he is the fifth-youngest player in NHL history to score 60 goals in a season. He was 22 years, 186 days old when he did it. Wayne Gretzky did it in 1981-82 at 20 years, 359 days and again in 1982-83 at 22 years, 41 days. Pavel Bure reached 60 goals in 1992-93 at 22 years and 11 days; Mike Bossy did it in 1978-79 at 22 years, 62 days; and Mario Lemieux in 1987-88 at 22 years, 167 days. ... In some other injury related news down the stretch, the Canadiens will be without defenseman Mike Komisarek for the next two weeks because of a lower body injury. ... Panthers forward Ville Peltonen broke his toe and that opened the spot for Jozef Stumpel to return to the lineup. Stumpel had been out since February with a shoulder injury. ... Good news for the Red Wings who got forward Daniel Cleary back after he was out for more than two months with a broken jaw. ... Kris Draper was back in action recently after being sidelined for five games with a groin injury. ... Detroit is also close to getting back Valtteri Filppula (groin/knee) and Tomas Holmstrom (groin). Everything seems to be falling in place at the right time for the Red Wings heading into the playoffs. ... Gary Roberts was close to coming back for the Penguins from a broken leg before a bad fall during a skating session is delaying that for at least another week. ... San Jose hopes to get Ryan Clowe, who had knee surgery in October, back in time for the playoffs. ... Marc Savard of the Bruins suffered a cracked bone in his back when he was cross-checked by Montreal's Steve Begin on March 22. Savard is out at least until next week. ... In looking a little ahead to the future for some possible Fantasy keepers, a pair of goalies have to be given strong consideration; Jonas Hiller of the Ducks and Erik Ersberg of the Kings, both 26 years old. Hiller has had some solid games for Anaheim as a backup posting a 2.02 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage. With Los Angeles out of the playoff contention, Ersberg has been given the chance to get a few more games under his belt, and he has not disappointed. He has a 1.97 goals-against average and .942 save percentage in 11 NHL games which includes two shutouts already.
Three Stars of the Week
Peter Forsberg, C, Colorado: This is the type of offense the Avalanche expected from the big Swede, not to mention Fantasy owners who picked him up when he rejoined Colorado for a second stint on March 4. Although he still has not scored a goal (it will come soon enough), Forsberg had seven assists in games of March 24-26-28, with the last two games getting hat tricks of helpers. Forsberg closed the week at a plus-5 on the plus/minus category and throw in four penalty minutes for a total of 20 quality Fantasy points.
Dion Phaneuf, D, Calgary: We'll give the 23-year-old top grades among defensemen for this period. Phaneuf scored a highlight-reel power-play goal going end-to-end in a 5-4 win over the Wild on March 22, and he also had a short-handed tally in another win over the Canucks. Phaneuf also matched his goals with a pair of assists and spent four minutes in the penalty box, too. All in all, he took 15 shots on goal in the last three games and ended up with a massive 24 points that had to make all his Fantasy owners extremely happy.
Dan Ellis, G, Nashville: As a backup for the earlier part of the season, Ellis has seen a lot more time in the net in March due to struggles from Chris Mason. But no week has been more impressive than for this period when Ellis was solid as a brick wall with three wins in as many games, including two successive 3-0 and 2-0 shutouts against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Ellis made a career-high 43 saves in the 2-0 win after stopping 36 shots three nights earlier for the 3-0 win. His other victory was a 2-1 result over the Blackhawks. The only goal allowed on the 116 shots faced gave him a staggering 0.32 goals-against average. For those inspired to use Ellis last week, the goalie accumulated an unbelievable 53 Fantasy points. Simply put, he was excellent for the week.
| F I V E T E A M S W I T H F A V O R A B L E M A T C H U P S | |||||||
| The following five teams have the best matchups for the upcoming week. That doesn't necessarily mean they will post the best Fantasy stats, but if you're looking for a one-week start or are trying to make a difficult decision between two players to use, lean toward players from these teams: | |||||||
| Team | 3/30 | 4/1 | 4/2 | 4/3 | 4/4 | 4/5 | 4/6 |
| Vancouver Canucks | -- | COL | -- | EDM | -- | CGY | -- |
| The Canucks have been playing .500 hockey over the past 10 games, but this is a week they can't afford any mistakes. With three home games, players are going to have to step up on home ice where they have 20 wins this season. This also is as good a time for Roberto Luongo to snap out of his funk if Vancouver is to make the playoffs. That should make for a plus for Fantasy statistics. It's also notable to mention the positive record against teams from the Northwest Division (13-9-5). | |||||||
| Washington Capitals | -- | CAR | -- | TB | -- | FLA | -- |
| Think how exciting a playoffs would be with Alex Ovechkin in it, one he wants badly to make. The consesus is that Ovechkin and the Capitals could have everything riding on these three games, particularly the matchup with Carolina, whom they are battling not only for a playoff spot but for the Southeast Division title as well. | |||||||
| New York Rangers | PIT | -- | -- | @NYI | NYI | -- | @NJ |
| The Rangers will go for the season sweep of eight wins against the New Jersey Devils, a team that in past years has given the New York team nothing but trouble. The Rangers also have a winning record against the Penguins this season, while the Islanders are out of playoff contention and will play for pride. | |||||||
| Carolina Hurricanes | -- | @WAS | TB | -- | FLA | -- | -- |
| Look for the game at Washington to be pivotal and with a playoff-like atmosphere before the playoffs even start. Carolina leads the Southeast Division by two points over Washington. The Hurricanes also have winning records against the Lightning and the Panthers and own a 17-8-2 record in the division. | |||||||
| San Jose Sharks | -- | LA | -- | @LA | -- | -- | @DAL |
| San Jose has just been rolling as one of the hottest teams in the last 10 games (8-0-2). Dallas has been struggling recently, while Los Angeles has been somewhat better lately despite its worst record in the league. But the Kings are only playing out the season and perhaps for pride. The Sharks might be too much for them in this last week. | |||||||
| F I V E T E A M S W I T H P O O R M A T C H U P S | |||||||
| The following five teams have the worst matchups for the upcoming week. That doesn't necessarily mean you should reserve every player from these teams, but try to avoid less-heralded performers from these squads if you have a better alternative: | |||||||
| Team | 3/30 | 4/1 | 4/2 | 4/3 | 4/4 | 4/5 | 4/6 |
| Colorado Avalanche | -- | @VAN | -- | -- | -- | -- | MIN |
| A pair of games to close the week is not a booster from a Fantasy perspective even though there is a four-day rest between them. All three teams are in playoff positions right now, with Colorado and Vancouver holding the last two spots. The eighth place Canucks need the points more and they play at home. Minnesota leads the Northwest Division and will like to keep it that way. | |||||||
| Anaheim Ducks | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | @LA | PHO |
| The Ducks have already clinched a playoff berth and most likely will have the fourth seed in the Western Conference. It is very likely they will rest some of their high-caliber players for the playoffs which means bad news for Fantasy purposes. Anaheim have also beaten Los Angeles five times this season, although the record has been more balanced against Phoenix. | |||||||
| Buffalo Sabres | -- | @TOR | -- | @MON | -- | @BOS | -- |
| The Sabres are outside looking in for a playoff spot and these three road games against teams also battling for positions are not going to be easy at all. Buffalo also has struggled some recently going 4-3-3 in its last 10 games and in the division only owns a .500 record. | |||||||
| Tampa Bay Lightning | ATL | -- | @CAR | @WAS | -- | @ATL | -- |
| With one of the worst records in the league, the Bolts are pretty much playing out the season. Considering they play twice against Atlanta, another team with nothing much to play for, those two games are basically meaningless. Sure Tampa Bay can play spoiler, but Carolina and Washington have everything at stake, with both vying for playoff spots. | |||||||
| Florida Panthers | -- | @ATL | -- | -- | @CAR | @WAS | -- |
| The Panthers had a fine run down the stretch and came very close to making the playoffs, but were eliminated Saturday and that will likely affect the way of play on these three road games to conclude the regular season. Atlanta has already cost them two valuable points with a 3-2 win on March 27. There is not much left from a Fantasy point of view either. | |||||||
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