The Fantasy Hockey Weekly Planner is the essential guide to setting your lineup for the upcoming week. Every Friday, we provide you with top matchups, the latest news and give you the scoop on injured players.

Projections are for Oct. 15-21 games.

Teams with three games (18): Anaheim, Atlanta, Buffalo, Calgary, Chicago, Colorado, Columbus, Detroit, Florida, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Montreal, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Toronto, Vancouver

Teams with two games (12): Boston, Carolina, Dallas, Edmonton, Nashville, N.Y. Islanders, N.Y. Rangers, Ottawa, Phoenix, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Washington

On tap: Week 3 brings us six televised nationally televised games in either the United States or Canada: Toronto at Buffalo in the United States on Monday; Atlanta at Philadelphia in the United States and Florida at Montreal in Canada on Tuesday; New Jersey at Pittsburgh in Canada on Wednesday; Chicago at Toronto and Edmonton and Calgary in Canada on Saturday.

Other prime matchups to watch: Joe Thornton, Jonathan Cheechoo and the Sharks will try and solve Roberto Luongo and the Canucks in Vancouver on Monday; the Flames and Avalanche get together in a key early season Northwest Division matchup on Tuesday; Dominik Hasek and Evgeni Nabokov hook up in a nice goaltending battle when the Red Wings visit the Sharks on Thursday; the defending champion Ducks roll into Big D to try and make the Stars fall on Saturday.

F A N T A S Y   S P I N S

You can tell that we're getting closer to Halloween, as strange things are afoot. First off, Roberto Luongo was bagged for four goals in the first period on Wednesday against Philadelphia and was pulled in favor of Curtis Sanford. ... Not that it's time to panic in any way, but Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby has failed to score a goal in his first three games. Here are a couple of players who have more goals than Sid the Kid: Detroit's Kris Draper (2 goals), Dallas' Niklas Hagman (4 goals), Joel Lundqvist of the Stars (2 goals), St. Louis' Jamal Mayers (2 goals), Fredrik Sjostrom of the Coyotes (2 goals) and Toronto's Ian White (2 goals). Don't expect it to last. In fact, Crosby might come close to tallying as many points total as all six of these players combined when the dust settles. ... Expect Jesse Boulerice of the Flyers to receive a hefty fine in addition to a lengthy suspension for cross-checking Vancouver's Ryan Kesler in the face on Wednesday night. With the game well decided, Boulerice just squared off on the forward with a stick to the head. With the NHL looking to crack down on shots to the head, expect the league to make an example of Boulerice. There might be more to the story, too, as Philadelphia's R.J. Umberger and Kesler both played their hockey at Ohio State and reportedly did not get along very well. Perhaps Boulerice stepped in on behalf of his teammate. Umberger also was drafted by the Canucks and refused to play there, sitting out an entire year, so perhaps words were said by Kesler. We'll never know the on-ice chatter, but there is more to it than Boulerice just blowing a gasket at the end of an 8-1 game for no reason. ... Could Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne decide if they are coming back or not already? I don't know about you, but I've enjoyed watching them throughout their outstanding careers. However, if you're going to call it a career and retire or comeback, why go through this whole production and take the focus away from your teammates on the ice playing for the Ducks? Either you're in or you're out. Decide already and stop trying to be the Roger Clemens of the NHL.

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 10/15 10/16 10/17 10/18 10/19 10/20 10/21
Buffalo Sabres (BUF) TOR -- -- -- CLB @MON --
The Sabres normally own the Maple Leafs and they also get the very beatable Blue Jackets at home on Friday. Of course, their offense will have to be on their toes against Pascal Leclaire. They’ll finish the week on the road against the Habs in another favorable game.
Colorado Avalanche (COL) -- CGY -- -- @CHI -- @MIN
The Avalanche have a pair of dominating lines and will skate in two favorable games before locking horns with the Wild and Niklas Backstrom, who has been on fire early on.
Minnesota Wild (MIN) -- @LA -- -- -- @STL COL
Minnesota's offense might have finally found themselves with Pavol Demitra and Marian Gaborik skating with Mikko Koivu. Backstrom has also had it on lockdown and faces two favorable matchups out of the three.
New York Rangers (NYR) -- -- -- @ATL -- @BOS --
The Rangers only have two games in the upcoming scoring period, so their big guns might not be as valuable in average points leagues. However, with the Thrashers and Bruins struggling, the offense might make up for the lack of a third game.
Ottawa Senators (OTT) -- -- -- MON -- FLA --
The only thing that can slow down the red-hot Ottawa offense is the lack of games in a scoring period. They have just two, although they should be favorable matchups against the Habs and Cats at home.
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 an alternative on your roster:
Team 10/15 10/16 10/17 10/18 10/19 10/20 10/21
Anaheim Ducks (ANA) DET -- NSH -- -- @DAL --
The Ducks might have their starting goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere back in Week 3, but games against three top Western Conference contenders might mean a power outage on offense.
Columbus Blue Jackets (CLB) -- -- DAL -- @BUF -- VAN
The Blue Jackets have gotten great goaltending from Leclaire, but that will be put to the test with visits from talents like Mike Modano and the Sedin twins this week.
Nashville Predators (NSH) -- -- @ANA -- -- @SJ --
Chris Mason got off to a tremendous start, but as expected, he struggled mightily in Week 2. We expect those struggles to continue on the upcoming road trip through the Golden State.
New York Islanders (NYI) -- -- -- @WAS -- NJ --
The Islanders were bagged for eight goals against a struggling Maple Leafs team, albeit with their backup in net. Imagine what Alex Ovechkin and the Caps offense can do against them?
San Jose Sharks (SJ) @VAN -- -- DET -- NSH --
The high-powered Sharks offense will have its hands full trying to break through against Luongo, Hasek and Mason. The big guns remain must-starts in all leagues, but consider reserving lesser players such as Steve Bernier, Joe Pavelski, etc ....

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