Week 5 Fantasy Hockey Planner

The Fantasy Hockey 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.

Teams with four games: Anaheim, Calgary, Carolina, Columbus, New Jersey, N.Y. Islanders, Phoenix, San Jose
Teams with three games: Atlanta, Buffalo, Colorado, Edmonton, Florida, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Nashville, N.Y. Rangers, Ottawa, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington
Teams with two games: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Montreal, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
Teams with one game: Detroit

Fantasy Week 5 (Nov. 3-9)

Week 5 brings us to the first time in 2008-09 a team will be playing just one game.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings are slated to play the New Jersey Devils at home Nov. 8 for their only contest Week 5.

Once again, Thursday and Saturday are the heavy scheduling days, as Nov. 6 will feature 11 games and Nov. 8 has 12 games.

The first game on Monday doesn't start until 7 p.m., so Fantasy owners have the luxury of tweaking their lineups for most of the day.

Editors Note: Projections are for Nov. 3-9 games and all stats are through Thursday

This week's news and notes for each team:

Anaheim Ducks: The Ducks have been red hot as of late and will look to remain that way Week 5 as they have four games -- three at the Honda Center where they are averaging 2.8 goals per game. Two of Anaheim's Week 5 opponents -- Dallas and Florida -- rank in the bottom 12 for GAA ... Speaking of sizzling, have you seen the recent runs Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne have been on? Perry is on a five-game points streak (2 G, 6 A), Getzlaf had a five-assist game Wednesday against Detroit and extended his points streak to four games (3 G, 7 A), and Selanne had his 21st career hat trick against the Red Wings and has scored in three straight games ... Scott Niedermayer broke the Ducks' assist record for a defenseman with two helpers against Detroit to give him 127 in an Anaheim uniform ... Surprisingly, defenseman Francois Beauchemin leads the team with four even-strength goals. He has never been an elite goal scorer, but has filled in offensively for the departed Mathieu Schneider, who was traded to Atlanta.

Atlanta Thrashers: Atlanta got a bit of bad news when rookie defenseman Zach Bogosian, the third overall pick in June's draft, had to leave Tuesday's game with a leg injury. It got even worse when he was diagnosed with a fractured fibula and is sidelined indefinitely. A typical recovery time is 6-8 weeks, but the Thrashers are hoping Bogosian can make it back in five. Nathan Oystrick is expected to fill Bogosian's spot in the lineup next to Mathieu Schneider ... Coach John Anderson opted to shake up his scoring lines. Erik Christensen will now center the team's top line with Ilya Kovalchuk and Jason Williams, while Todd White is centering the second line with Slava Kozlov and Bryan Little ... Defenseman Niclas Havelid doesn't have a point in his last eight games after getting four assists in his first two contests. He has also failed to score this season on 10 shots on goal.

Boston Bruins: Forward Chuck Kobasew, who has been out since breaking his ankle in the season opener Oct. 10, has been skating with the team and is nearing a return to action. He has two assists against the Avalanche before exiting the lineup ... Tim Thomas has been stellar in net lately and even picked up two straight shutouts on consecutive nights Monday and Tuesday against the Oilers and Canucks. He is starting to distance himself from Manny Fernandez in the race to be Boston's No. 1 goalie ... Boston has just a pair of home games Week 5 against Toronto and Buffalo. The Bruins have only scored eight goals in three games at the TD Banknorth Garden ... Top-line center Marc Savard has gone without a goal in eight games after managing five in the first three contests ... Defenseman Zdeno Chara is still in search of his first goal, as he is 0-for-26 with shots on goal this season ... Milan Lucic hasn't had a goal in two straight games after netting a hat trick Oct. 25. He still has a team-high 20 percent shot conversion.

Buffalo Sabres: Center Paul Gaustad made his season debut Thursday against the Lightning after missing the first few weeks of the season with a thumb injury ... Defenseman Craig Rivet was back on the ice Thursday just a week after having arthroscopic knee surgery. He told NHL.com that he was ahead of schedule as he was supposed to miss at least two weeks. Still, he is bit of an injury-risk start Week 5 ... Forwards Tim Connolly (back) and Jochen Hecht (finger) have both been practicing with the team, but no return dates have been set ... Forward Clarke Macarthur is second on the team with five goals and is also second with three power-play scores. He has definitely taken advantage of some extra PT with all the injuries Buffalo has suffered, but he is due to drop back down to the lower lines once Hecht and Connolly are back in action.

Calgary Flames: Calgary is up for four games Week 5 and two of their opponents rank in the bottom 10 for GAA -- Nashville (3.78) and Columbus (3.44) ... Right winger Jarome Iginla finally had his breakout run of 2008-09 and was named the NHL's First Star for Oct. 19-26. Iginla had five goals and two assists during that scoring period, which included a hat trick against Nashville -- a team on the docket Week 5 for Calgary ... Defenseman Dion Phaneuf is having a hard time finding the back of the net as he has managed to connect on just twice of 43 shots in 10 games ... The Flames have tweaked their scoring lines a bit, moving Dustin Boyd up to the top line with Todd Bertuzzi and Jarome Iginla. In the last week, they have moved Michael Cammalleri and Craig Conroy both off the top line.

Carolina Hurricanes: Rookie forward Brandon Sutter continues to recover from a concussion after a clean hit Oct. 25 from Islanders center Doug Weight knocked him out. Sutter still hasn't been cleared to fly, so he remains an injury-risk start Week 5 ... Defenseman Joni Pitkanen, picked up in an offseason trade from Edmonton, is sidelined 3-4 weeks after undergoing knee surgery to repair a tore meniscus ... The Hurricanes have four games Week 5 -- splitting two on the road and two at home. However, all four of their Week 5 opponents -- Toronto, Washington, Ottawa, Atlanta -- have a GAA of 2.80 or higher ... Goalie Cam Ward has responded well to Michael Leighton stealing a few more starts, but with one back-to-back on the schedule Week 5, Leighton is bound to be in net at least once.

Chicago Blackhawks: Chicago is up for two home games Week 5. They rank eighth in home GFA by averaging 3.6 goals per game at the United Center ... Second-line center Patrick Sharp is riding a seven-game points streak (6 G, 5 A) and has failed to record a point in just one of nine games ... Defenseman Aaron Johnson was recalled in mid-October to fill in for the injured Niklas Hjalmarsson. He has performed so well off the bat (2 G, 2 A) that when Hjalmarsson was finally healthy, they sent him back to the minors and kept Johnson ... Top-line center Jonathan Toews has been held without a goal in the team's first nine games and is 0-for-30 on shot attempts. Second-line winger Dustin Byfuglien isn't having a much better run as he is 0-for-18 on shots on goal.

Colorado Avalanche: Right winger Milan Hejduk doesn't have a goal in four straight games after opening with at least one goal in five of six games ... Right winger Marek Svatos continues to struggle as he comes off major knee surgery. He has just one goal in nine games and has even been dropped to the third line. He has taken just 14 shots ... Defenseman Brett Clark has also been slow out of the gate in 2008-09 following major shoulder surgery. He has just one point and a plus-1 rating in 10 games. However, he is still averaging 20 minutes per game ... Ben Guite and Cody McCormick continue to rotate as the Avalanche's fourth-line center ... Peter Budaj has won three of his last four starts to regain his stranglehold on the No. 1 goalie job.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Oft-injured goalie Pascal Leclaire is back on IR with an ankle injury this time. He managed to escape a serious wrist injury earlier this season, but it was only a matter of time before the injury bug caught up with him. Leclaire will resume practicing Monday, but still remains an injury-risk start Week 5. Fredrik Norrena has started in his absence ... Injured forward Raffi Torres (shoulder) has been skating for the last week and believes he could return to action within the week. Still, he remains too risky of a start for Week 5. He has yet to make his Columbus debut ... Columbus is slated to play four games Week 5 with three at home. The Blue Jackets are averaging 3.0 goals per game at Nationwide Arena. Three of the Blue Jackets' Week 5 opponents -- Edmonton, Montreal and Calgary -- rank in the top 17 for GAA ... Forward Rick Nash has been practicing at center, so we could see some game scenarios when Nash is playing in the middle of the ice.

Dallas Stars: Defenseman Sergei Zubov is eligible to return from long-term IR after Saturday's game against the Bruins. He has been out all season with a hip injury. It appears as though he is nearing a return, so Fantasy owners will want to scoop him up off waivers (owned 63 percent). Zubov has solid offensive skills when healthy ... Dallas has a pair of road games Week 5 that are back-to-back against Anaheim and San Jose. Despite a rough start to the season, Marty Turco could start both games since Dallas has five days off before playing the Ducks Nov. 7 ... The Stars recently moved Loui Eriksson to the team's top line with Mike Ribeiro and Brenden Morrow. The move has paid off as the trio has combined for six goals and 12 assists in the three games since the move ... General manager Brett Hull had to basically beg Mike Modano to come back for one more season, but it seems to have paid off. Modano is second on the team with 10 points and four goals.

Detroit Red Wings: There aren't many weeks you are going to bench the Red Wings' stars (i.e. Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Marian Hossa, Nicklas Lidstrom, etc.), but Detroit plays just one game against New Jersey Week 5 and will likely have to face one of the all-time great netminders in Martin Brodeur ... The Red Wings suffered their first major long-term injury of the season after Johan Franzen went down in Oct. 25's game against Chicago with a sprained knee. He will now miss 3-4 weeks while recovering from a damaged MCL ... Detroit avoided a major scare earlier in the season with Zetterberg, who was sidelined a week with a groin injury. Since returning to the lineup, he has a point in five of six games and six goals ... Hossa didn't score a goal in his first four games with Detroit, but now has at least one in five of seven games and six total. He is also on an nine-game points streak (6 G, 8 A) ... Forward Mikael Samuelsson has not had much luck putting the puck in the back of the net this season with just one goal on 34 attempts, but he does have seven assists to make up for it.

Edmonton Oilers: Defenseman Jason Strudwick remains day to day with a shoulder ailment ... The Oilers pack their bags for three road games Week 5. Edmonton has scored just 12 goals in six road games (2.00 GFA) ... The Oilers get to face Pittsburgh and New Jersey during the upcoming scoring period. The Penguins rank fourth in GAA (2.27) and the Devils rank ninth (2.56) ... With one back-to-back on the schedule, expect coach Craig MacTavish to throw either Dwayne Roloson or Jeff Drouin-Deslauire a start ... Shawn Horcoff is the only Edmonton player with more than two goals in the first eight games ... Edmonton has shifted Erik Cole from the left wing back to his more natural position on the right in hopes of sparking his offensive production. He has just one goal on 23 shots through nine games ... Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky doesn't have a goal in six games after scoring on consecutive games Oct. 15 and Oct. 17.

Florida Panthers: Florida, like Edmonton, is on the road for three games Week 5. The Panthers are averaging just 2.38 goals per game and rank 25th in road GFA (2.00). They have scored just eight times in four road games ... With one back-to-back on the schedule, coach Peter DeBoer could throw Craig Anderson a start ... The Panthers recalled rookie center Shawn Matthias from Rochester (AHL). He had just one goal and one assist with Rochester, but with injuries to Stephen Weiss (groin) and Gregory Campbell (hip) this was as good as any time to bring Matthias back. However, he could find himself back in the minors shortly if he fails to produce ... Injured defenseman Bryan McCabe (back) has just recently begun skating and hopes to be practicing full contact by early next week. McCabe, who has been out after getting injured in the opener, might return Week 5, but is still far too of a risky start in Fantasy ... Forward Cory Stillman is enjoying early success with Florida, totaling five goals and a team-high nine points in his first nine games.

Los Angeles Kings: Coach Terry Murray has returned Patrick O'Sullivan to the team's top line to skate with Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar. The move means Kyle Calder has been dropped to the second line with Jarrett Stoll and Oscar Moller ... Derek Armstrong has also returned to his natural position as a center on the fourth line ... John Zeiler, who has been on injured reserve all season since injuring his groin in training camp, has been skating with the team and is close to returning. He is expected to make a minimal impact in Fantasy ... The Kings are at home for three games Week 5 with no back-to-backs. However, with three games in five days, Murray could throw Erik Ersberg a start ... The Kings are averaging 2.67 goals per game at the Staples Center. They have 16 goals in six games ... Brown is the only player to reach 30 shots in nine games. The second closest is Kopitar with 20.

Minnesota Wild: Minnesota is one of six teams Week 5 to hit the road for three games. They will face the Sharks, Avalanche and Canucks in a matter of five days from Nov. 4-8. The could potentially face Evgeni Nabokov, Peter Budaj and Roberto Luongo. A very daunting task, but Minnesota has averaged 3.0 goals per game on the road ... The Marian Gaborik (lower body) saga continues and the Wild have given little word as to when to expect him back. Continue to treat him as a risky start Week 5 ... The Wild's top line of Mikko Koivu-Antti Miettinen-Andrew Brunette has been a smash hit for coach Jacques Lemaire. All three players lead the Wild in points and have combined for 31 points (11 goals) ... Minnesota is loaded with talented offensive defenseman such as Brent Burns, Marek Zidlicky and Marc-Andre Bergeron, but it is Kim Johnsson that is leading the blue liners with five points.

Montreal Canadiens: Montreal has a pair of back-to-back road games Week 5. They have five days off before playing Columbus Nov. 7, so depending how well Carey Price performs in net will dictate whether or not Jaroslav Halak gets in net Nov. 8 against Toronto. Halak is a risky of a start in leagues that use average points per game ... Montreal is second in road GFA, averaging 3.5 goals per game. They have lit the lamp 14 times in four road games ... Defenseman Andrei Markov is tied for first among all NHL defenseman with 11 points. Markov is currently deadlocked with Detroit's Brian Rafalski, Nashville's Shea Weber and Ottawa's Filip Kuba ... Forward Alex Tanguay, in his first season with Montreal, has five goals in his last five games. He is converting his shots at a 37.5 percent rate.

Nashville Predators: Nashville picked up forward Hugh Jessiman from the Rangers and defenseman Tim Ramholt from the Flyers in two separate trades Thursday. Jessiman is a first-round pick from 2003 and Ramholt is a second rounder from the same class. They are just expected to add organizational depth at this time ... Nashville is on the road for all three of their games Week 5. They rank 15th in road GFA (2.80), but have also allowed 21 goals in five road contests ... Starting goalie Dan Ellis has a sore back and was replaced Thursday against the Oilers by rookie Pekka Rinne. Coach Barry Trotz said it was a precautionary move and the injury is not serious. It appears safe to treat Ellis as a No. 2 Fantasy goalie Week 5 ... Forward J.P. Dumont has a team-high 13 points in 10 games and has failed to get on the stat sheet just once this season. He has two goals and six assists during a six-game points streak ... Nashville has three players with four more goals -- Martin Erat, Jason Arnott and Shea Weber.

New Jersey Devils: New Jersey was dealt a huge blow when defenseman Andy Greene broke his hand Wednesday against Toronto. He played through the injury, but will now miss 4-6 weeks. Greene had three assists against the Maple Leafs and has six points in his last five games. He began the season as a healthy scratch before becoming a regular addition to the lineup. He has never shown much offensive flair in the past, so he is still just a low-end Fantasy option when healthy ... The Devils are set for four games Week 5. Three of them are at the Prudential Center when New Jersey is averaging 3.75 goals per game ... Forward Zach Parise has scored a goal in five straight games and now has seven for the season. He is tied for third in the NHL with Simon Gagne, Brad Boyes and Henrik Zetterberg ... Brian Gionta has been taken off the checking line and has been out back on the top scoring line. He has one goal and four assists during a four-game points streak. However, he still has just one goal on 28 shots.

New York Islanders: Starting goalie Rick DiPietro has been put on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, but still remains just day-to-day. New York has no return date targeted and Joey MacDonald will continue to start in DiPietro's place ... Defenseman Freddy Meyer has missed a few games with an abdominal injury and is also day-to-day ... The Islanders get two different ends of the spectrum Week 5 as two of their games -- N.Y. Rangers and Pittsburgh -- come against top five defenses and the other two games -- Columbus and Atlanta -- come against the bottom six ... Defenseman Mark Streit has finally gotten his act together and has three goals and three assists during a four-game points streak. He had just a pair of assists in his first five games with New York ... Trent Hunterstill leads the team with four goals, but hasn't scored in five games.

New York Rangers: The Rangers have no back-to-backs Week 5, but play three games in five days. If Henrik Lundqvist, who has won four straight starts after Thursday's 3-2 victory against Atlanta, remains strong in net, he could start all three games ... Coach Tom Renney has opted to realign his scoring units again and has gone back to the way the season started. Scott Gomez is centering Markus Naslund and Chris Drury, while Brandon Dubinsky is between Aaron Voros and Nikolai Zherdev ... Speaking of Zherdev, who is in his first season with New York, he has been one of the hottest players in the NHL. He has three goals and four assists during a four-game points streak and is now tied with Dubinsky for a team-high 12 points ... Dubinsky has cooled off considerably in recent weeks as he has just one goal in his last eight games after getting three in his first five.

Ottawa Senators: Ottawa announced Thursday that they signed Daniel Alfredsson to a four-year extension, all but assuring he will finish his career with the team it began with in 1995 ... Alex Auld has started four straight games in place of the injured Martin Gerber (leg) and has won the last two. However, Brian Elliott was sent back down to the AHL Wednesday, so it appears as though Gerber is healthy enough to dress and could return to game action shortly ... Defenseman Filip Kuba, who was acquired in late September trade with Tampa Bay, doesn’t have an assist in his last two games after opening with at least one in eight straight games (11 total) ... Perhaps the Senators should allow Shean Donovan to shoot a bit more. He has converted three of his seven shots this season for a team-high 42.9 conversion rate.

Philadelphia Flyers: Goalie Martin Biron is finally getting his head on straight in net. He has won his last three starts and has allowed just seven goals in that span. He has had a save percentage of .935 or better in his last two games ... Believe it or not, but second-line center Jeff Carter leads Philadelphia with eight goals -- one better than Simon Gagne. Carter has scored in five of six games and has six total in that span. He has just one power-play tally while recording two short-handed goals and two overtime winners ... Mike Knuble has risen from the dead and has scored in four straight games (five total). He was in the doghouse earlier this season, but is back on the top line and producing. He even has two power-play scores ... The Flyers have six players with four or more goals -- Carter, Gagne, Knuble, Joffrey Lupul, Scott Hartnell and Mike Richards.

Phoenix Coyotes: Forward Steve Reinprecht was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career this season as he sat out a pair of games before getting back in the lineup Thursday against Pittsburgh. He had a pair of assists in the 4-1 win and now has six assists and a plus-5 rating in six games ... 2008 first-round pick Viktor Tikhonov had his first career point -- an assist -- during Thursday's game... Forward Shane Doan had a pair of goals Thursday and ran his season count to six in eight games. He has really gelled with center Olli Jokinen ... Defenseman Derek Morris missed Friday's practice with sore legs, but he is not expected to miss any time. Morris is without a point in eight games and Phoenix desperately needs to jump start his offensive game ... Phoenix has four games in six days Week 5, so expect to see Mikael Tellqvist to steal one of Ilya Bryzgalov's starts.

Pittsburgh Penguins: The biggest news to come out of Thursday's 4-1 loss to the Coyotes is that first-line center Sidney Crosby left the game with an undisclosed injury. Pittsburgh didn’t have much else to offer up Friday and his status for Saturday's game against St. Louis is in question. If Crosby is unavailable to play, then he has to be considered a risky start Week 5 ... The Crosby injury might come at the ideal time for Fantasy owners since Pittsburgh is up for just two games Week 5 ... Pascal Dupuis is also out with an undisclosed injury after getting hit with a puck in Wednesday's practice. He remains day-to-day ... Evgeni Malkin is tied with Alexander Semin for the league lead with 16 points and leads the NHL with 13 assists ... Miroslav Satan scored his team-leading fifth goal Thursday and Pittsburgh has just three players -- Satan, Crosby and Malkin -- with three or more goals.

San Jose Sharks: San Jose has four games Week 5, but starting Nov. 2, they play five times in a span of eight days. We are almost assured that Brian Boucher will get a start in net for Evgeni Nabokov ... Three of the Sharks' games in the upcoming scoring period are at home where San Jose is averaging 3.83 goals per game (4th in the NHL) ... Patrick Marleauleads the team with six goals, but in a surprising tie for second place it's Devin Setoguchi and Joe Pavelski with five. Even Ryane Clowe tied for third with four goals is shocking ... Jonathan Cheechoo is once again slumping. After scoring twice in the opener, he has just two goals in his last 10 games ... Defenseman Rob Blake is 0-for-37 with shots on goal this season ... Rookie Jamie McGinn scored his first NHL goal and also had his first assist in a 4-2 win Thursday against Detroit. He has impressed first-year coach Todd McLellan in his first two games and could stick around even when Marcel Goc (back) is ready to return.

St. Louis Blues: Goalie Chris Mason returned from an appendectomy Thursday and played well in a tough 1-0 loss to Carolina. He was filling in for the injured Manny Legace, who remains day-to-day with a hip pointer. St. Louis is still carrying three goalies, so Legace might still be a risky start Week 5 ... St. Louis is on the road for three games in the upcoming scoring period. The Blues have scored six goals in their only two road games ... After opening with 10 points in his first six games, forward Paul Kariya has just a goal and an assist in his last three contests ... Center Andy McDonald has a team-high 11 assists, but has only converted 1-of-29 shots attempts ... Keith Tkachuk leads the team with eight goals and Brad Boyes is close behind with seven. Both players are converting at 30 percent or better.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Welcome to the NHL Steven Stamkos. The No. 1 pick in June's draft struggled through the first few weeks before finally getting his first point Tuesday against Toronto. He bounced back with his first goal and first multi-goal outing Thursday against Buffalo. He now has four points in his last two games and is showing the type of potential he brings to the table ... Tampa Bay is on the road for all three of their games Week 5 and is averaging 3.0 goals per contest away from home. However, they are facing both the Rangers and Devils next week -- both teams rank in the top 10 for GAA ... First-line center Vincent Lecavalier is averaging less than 20 minutes of ice time per game, but despite the reduction in playing time, he is still averaging nearly a point-per-game. He has a team-high five goals. Four players are tied with two ... Martin St. Louis is having a hard time adjusting to Barry Melrose's system as he hasn't scored in his last eight games and still has just one goal on the season ... Radim Vrbata, a key offseason acquisition, remains day-to-day with a groin injury, but has begun skating.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Toronto has three games Week 5, but starting Nov. 1, they are playing five games in eight days. It's unlikely Vesa Toskala is in net for all five games, so Curtis Joseph should see at least one start ... The Maple Leafs have a tough schedule Week 5 with Carolina, Boston and Montreal on the docket. All three teams have a GAA of 2.67 or lower ... Coach Ron Wilson has lit a fire under Alexei Ponikarovsky. After Wilson demoted him off the first line earlier this season, Ponikarovsky has responded with a five-game points streak (2 G, 5 A) and leads Toronto with nine points ... Matt Stajan has also responded to a benching from Wilson as he now has three goals in his last two games and a four-game points streak (3 G, 3 A). He is converting goals at 30 percent ... Rookie defenseman Luke Schenn played in his 10th NHL game Wednesday against New Jersey and that means he will stay the year with Toronto and not head back to his junior team.

Vancouver Canucks: Free agent center Mats Sundin was in Los Angeles Thursday to watch the Canucks impressive 4-0 win against the Kings. Sundin is ready to come out of semi-retirement and it is believed Vancouver and the N.Y. Rangers are the frontrunners for his services ... Vancouver is looking at three home games Week 5. They are averaging 4.0 goals per game at General Motors Place, which is the second highest scoring rate in the NHL ... Henrik Sedin ended a three-game points drought with two assists Thursday. His brother Daniel Sedin also ended a nasty slump with a goal and an assist. He had just one point in his previous seven games ... Mason Raymond, who has been moved to the top scoring line with the Sedin twins, leads the team with four goals. Kyle Wellwood has a team-high three power-play scores.

Washington Capitals: Reigning MVP Alex Ovechkin is still away on a personal leave due to a death in the family, but coach Bruce Boudreau expects him back at practice Monday and in uniform Tuesday against the Senators. It appears safe to activate Ovechkin for Week 5 ... It also appears safe to get defenseman Tom Poti, who has missed a few weeks with a groin injury, back in lineups ... Defenseman Mike Green has just one goal in his last six games after getting three in his first three. He does have an assist in two straight games ... Center Michael Nylander has also been stuck in a bit of a slump with just two assists in five games after having two goals and four assists in his first four ... Center Nicklas Backstrom, on the other hand, seems to be heating up. He has an assist in three straight games and might only get better once Ovechkin is back.

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