30SecondHockey

Carolina vs New Jersey

The Hurricanes look to extend their winning streak agains the New Jersey Devils in an attempt at respectability.  Check before the game to see if Cam Ward is backing in the line-up if you own him.  Eric Cole has been hot for the Canes as of late and Eric Staal is always a safe bet due to his proficeincy for scoring and winning face-offs.  Joni Pitkanen and Jussi Jokinen have also been playing well with points in recent games.  If you’re looking for a defensemen Tim Gleason is looking to be a spot-on candidate.  This will be a tough game as Zach Parise and Travis Zajac are among the league leaders in plus-minus and can score to boot.  Niclas Bergfors shows no signs of fading like his fellow young contemporaries and Andy Greene is contributing and getting time on the PP.  This could be Martin Brodeurs recording breaking game for “you-know-whats” (don’t want to jinx the guy).  As long as he is healthy, never bench him not even in a bad streak.  Brian Rolston, Patrick Elias and Jamie Langenbrunner are more than capable of providing secondary scoring so don’t hesitate to start them.

Washington vs Buffalo

Nothing says I’m back like the 2 goals Alexander Ovechkin scored the first game after his suspension was complete.  He’s taking players along with him like Tomas Fleischmenn and Niklas Backstrom. Recent fantasy phenom Eric Fehr was able to score indepedently of Ovy giving this team a good third scoring option behined Alexander Semin. Brooks Laich should be marked in your draft book as a player to sneak away with next year in the draft. Mike Green will still continue to be one of the best offense options on the blue-line. It’s also safe to say that Simeon Varlamov is ready to be a numbe one goalie for good so think of that as well.  Brian Pothier has quieted down, but pay attention for a resurgance with Ovy back.  Buffalo was shutout last game, a trend I don’t expect to hold, but I wouldnt necessarily expect too much offense this game. Derek Roy, Tim Connolly, Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominiville are playing like good 2nd tier players as opposed to good top-tier players right now.  I’d even ease my expectations of Clarke MacArthur and Tyler Myers although both are still options in deeper leagues. Ryan Milleris a must start, even  in his losses he is posting great numbers for poolies.

NY Islanders vs Toronto

The Leafs will look to continue the performance they played for the Thrashers by mimicing a great team.  All sarcasm aside, Alexi Ponikarovsky, Matt Stajan and Lee Stempniak are starting to play like fantasy owners expected them to; however I remain skeptical about their consistency.  Phil Kessel, Tomas Kaberle and Niklas Hagman are still the top players on this team. If you’re looking for players that are increasing in value Mikhail Grabovskiand Francois Beauchemin are starting generating some offense.  Matt Moulson, Johnathan Tavares and Trent Hunter are still amongst the best players on this team, but hats off goes to Dwayne Rolson. The last time these two teams met he made 58 saves for the win!   Look for him to stand on his head, but the quesion is can Vesa Toskala match his performance?

Florida vs Columbus

Kristian Huselius has been the most consistent player on this Blue Jackets team currently outplaying Rick Nash. He plays against the team he was critisized for underplaying on.  The Panthers now have a consistent trio ofStephen Weiss, Nathan Horton and Stephen Reinprecht to put up points. However, Dominic Moore has been a force to reckon with the last few games putting in goals and winning face-offs.  On the defense Brian Mccabe is finding his offensive form; he wont put up the numbers he had in Toronto with Sundin, but he’s still  a decent option. Tomas Vokoun is a must start, but this Columbus team is not to be underestimated. Although they are trying to refind their chemistry, Derek Brassard, Jakub Voracek and Jason Chimera are trying to connect.  As for Anton Stralman his points, Kris Russells points or whomever on defense plays over 20 minutes tonight, are interchangable.  Antoine Vermette may be cooling down but if he’s still taking a lot of face-offs he’s worth hanging on to.  Remember to try and win in the unsexy categories in your league as well.

Edmonton vs Tampa Bay

Everyone thought that the early season performance of Dustin Penner would define the offense on this team; however Lubomir Visnovsky, Sheldon Surrey and Ladislav Smid have tried to change that by making contributionsn on the board the last few games. Gilbert Brule and Sam Gagner are frustrating me due to their potential and lack of consistent performance, but I’m willing to hang onto this for this week.  Shawn Horcoff scored last game and looks ready to strike.  If he starts seeing time with Penner, expect his value to increase.  Steve Stamkos along with Ryan Malone and Martin St.Louis have been solid for the Lightening, with the exception of the last game where they were shutout.  Yes, this team has Vincent Lecavalier, but there is a play maker missing in this group. I’ve always thought lossing Brad Richards was a mistake, but not replacing him was a bigger one.

St. Louis vs Detroit

The Red Wings looked ready to pick themselves up after a slew of injuries as key players are stepping up their game. Nicklas Lidstrom was quiet for far too long, but his play with fellow Swede Henrik Zetterberg last game was exactly what this team needed.  Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom should be able to put away a few hear and there. I think it’s still too early in the season to write-off the wings and thanks to Todd Bertuzzi, Dan Cleary andDarren Helm this team has a chance to move back into the play off picture.  Fortunately for the Red Wings, the Blues seem to lack chemistry. David Perron, David Backes and Brad Boyes are just on the fringe of the radar right now with a few good games here and there.  I think central to this story is the sudden slump of Andy McDonald.  Veterans Paul Kariya and Kiethc Tkachuk can only do so much, and with so much unperforming talent there is no real example for Eric Johnson to follow. This is a talented dteam, but maybe their in need of a shake-up or as owners seem to do too often a coaching change.

NY Rangers vs Chicago

Good luck Rangers.  Marian Gaborik may be a torrent of a player, but a one man team won’t cut it any more. We could say Vaclav Prospal provides secondary scoring or maybe even Sean Avery for that matter, but three deep is not enough against this group.  Johnathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Patrick Sharp, Kris Versteeg, Patrick Kane, Brian Campbell, Cameron Barker and Troy Brouwer are all capable of scoring any given night.  Most importantly they enjoy working together in order to win.  There is a whiff of Bowman around this team.  The scary part is Marian Hossa is still integrating with this team and finding the back of the net. Henrik Lundqvist will have his work cutout for him. His season has been mediocre, but his last 2 games great.  This is a test to see how far he can carry a team.  This is either going to be phenominal or quite ugly for the Rangers.  Start all your Blackhawks.

Minnesota vs Colorado

Many thought that Coloardos early season push wouldnt last. Although they are not holding the number 1 spot the youth and talent on this team makes them one of the most dangerous to play against in the West. Paul Stastny is going to give you a good number of points each night and win face-offs for you. But I think the story as of late has been Chris Stewart who has been putting put points up in torrents.  Milan Hejduk, Matt Duchene and Jon Michael Liles are all good starts in their respective positions. Ryan O’Reilly has really started slowing down, but may still get some residual points from those around him.  Craig Anderson is also playing great and had a shutout last game.  He squares off against Nicklas Backstrom who is probably haveing one of the worst seasons I’ve ever seen him have. In large part the new system he is playing in has opened up the defense. I think the biggeset challenge facing the Wild though is who is going to give some secondary scoring behined Mikko Koivu, Andre Brunette and Eric Belanger. Martin Havlat should be the number one candidate, but has not found his game with this team. Owen Nolan can play some nights as can Marek Zidlicky, but this team needs someone else to step up their game. They have done well as of late but are still in the basement of a tough Western Conference for a reason.

Atlanta vs Calgary

Calgary losing to Los Angeles was disappointing enough after their win with the Sharks, but if they lose against the Thrashers….let’s not even go there. Jarome Iginla now has some great secondary scoring in Olli Jokinen and Rene Bourque is back in the line-up. Dionne Phaneuf will deliver some punshing hits, but it is Miikka Kiprusoff that will keep this team in the game.  Despite their offensive talents there are some nights when 2 goals are a challenge.  The Thrashers are fighting their own demons after being blown out in Toronto their last game. I’d still start Rich Peverley, Maxim Afinogenov, Nik Antropov and Ilya Kovalchuck but I’d keep an eye on their play as their numbers are dropping. Perhaps it’s time for you to make a trade if you have one of these players.  To the contrary Bryan Little is actually playing better as of late, but is still not as threatening as he was towards the end of last season. Ondrej Pavelec seems to only have 2 types of games now, good ones and really bad ones.  He’s still a decent second goalie, but I’d only play him in weeks where I need to reach my minimum games started.

Los Angeles vs San Jose

On paper this game looks sexy because Anze Kopitar, Alexander Frolov and Dustin Brown get the square off against Danny Heatley, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. It is that sexy, but look for the Sharks to dominate this one.  Jarret Stoll will give the Kings some face-offs and the recent play of Scott Parse will do well, but once you start getting to Ryan Clowe, Joe Pavelski, Manny Malhotra and now Jamie Mcginn the Kings are going to find themselves out matched.  Drew Doughty is great to have but Dan Boyle and Rob Blake have the experience to shutdown a lot of offenses.  Evegeni Nabakov had better get the start this game. As an owner of him in a league watching Thomas Griess getting to play easy match-ups starts  to get frustrating.