Why is it so important to note back-to-back games? For starters coaches rarely play the same goalie in back-to-back games. So don’t count on Roberto Luongo playing against the Chicago Blackhawks and then suiting up the next night for the Dallas Stars. However over in Boston with Tuukka Rask injured it is likely that Tim Thomas will start both. Check the trends of your teams to make sure you dress the goalie that gives you the potential for more starts.
Secondly being so deep into the season teams start to rest their veteran or star players to prevent fatigue heading into playoffs. Coaches sometimes use the second night of a back-to-back to rest some players.
Here are the games to be played in week 25:
| GP | MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN | |
| ANAHEIM | 3 | @SJ | STL | BOS | ||||
| BOSTON | 4 | TOR | @SJ | @LA | @ANA | |||
| BUFFALO | 4 | @TB | MON | @NYR | MIN | |||
| CALGARY | 3 | @COL | @MIN | @DAL | ||||
| CAROLINA | 3 | FLA | @CBJ | @DET | ||||
| CHICAGO | 3 | @CBJ | VAN | NAS | ||||
| COLORADO | 3 | CGY | @PHO | VAN | ||||
| COLUMBUS | 3 | CHI | CAR | EDM | ||||
| DALLAS | 3 | PHO | VAN | CGY | ||||
| DETROIT | 3 | WAS | @NYR | CAR | ||||
| EDMONTON | 4 | @NAS | @TB | @FLA | @CBJ | |||
| FLORIDA | 4 | @PHI | @CAR | EDM | NYI | |||
| LOS ANGELES | 3 | SJ | STL | BOS | ||||
| MINNESOTA | 4 | VAN | CGY | @BUF | @WAS | |||
| MONTREAL | 3 | @BUF | OTT | @PHI | ||||
| NASHVILLE | 4 | EDM | @PIT | WPG | @CHI | |||
| NEW JERSEY | 4 | @NYR | @OTT | TOR | @PIT | |||
| NY ISLANDERS | 3 | @TOR | @TB | @FLA | ||||
| NY RANGERS | 4 | NJ | DET | BUF | @TOR | |||
| OTTAWA | 3 | NJ | @MON | PIT | ||||
| PHILADELPHIA | 3 | FLA | WAS | MON | ||||
| PHOENIX | 4 | @DAL | COL | @SJ | STL | |||
| PITTSBURGH | 4 | WPG | NAS | @OTT | NJ | |||
| SAN JOSE | 4 | ANA | @LA | BOS | PHO | |||
| ST. LOUIS | 3 | @ANA | @LA | @PHO | ||||
| TAMPA BAY | 3 | BUF | EDM | NYI | ||||
| TORONTO | 4 | @BOS | NYI | @NJ | NYR | |||
| VANCOUVER | 4 | @MIN | @CHI | @DAL | @COL | |||
| WASHINGTON | 4 | @DET | @PHI | WPG | MIN | |||
| WINNIPEG | 3 | @PIT | @WAS | @NAS |
When it comes to dressing your players for the upcoming week – especially your goalies – it is important to know which team is on a long road trip and which team will enjoy an extended period at home.
Listed below are the teams that play at least three home/away games this week or play all their games at home or on the road (home/road records up to March 16, 2012):
HOME: Columbus (13-19-3), Dallas (20-12-3), Los Angeles (18-13-4), NY Rangers (24-8-2), Philadelphia (18-10-5), Pittsburgh (24-8-2), San Jose (20-11-3) and Tampa Bay (21-12-2)
AWAY: Boston (20-14-1), Calgary (14-15-7), Edmonton (10-21-3), New Jersey (21-13-2), NY Islanders (13-16-5), St. Louis (16-15-4), Vancouver (22-10-4) and Winnipeg (11-19-4)
If you participate in any type of head-to-head hockey pool, you are likely dressing a lineup for each scoring period, which usually ends on Sunday.
As the week comes to an end, and you find yourself in a close battle for those wins, you want as many players as possible playing for you.
Here are the teams that play on Sunday (March 23, 2012):
SUNDAY: Anaheim, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Edmonton, Florida, Minnesota, Nashville, New Jersey, NY Islanders, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Vancouver
When you are deciding which goalie to dress you need to look at the NHL schedule to see if your goalie's team will play in a back-to-back game that week.
Most coaches will not dress the same goalie in back-to-back games, so that is something to consider when you are thinking about which goalie to dress.
Here are the teams that play in back-to-back games this week:
BACK-TO-BACK: Boston, Buffalo, Carolina, Chicago, Edmonton, Florida, Minnesota, Montreal, Nashville, New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Ottawa, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Jose, St. Louis, Toronto (twice), Vancouver, Washington and Winnipeg
Knowing which team is on a hot streak or cold streak will help in making your lineup decisions.
For example you definitely want to dress a goalie from teams that are on a hot streak. Here are the top five and bottom five teams over their last 10 games up to March 16, 2012:
TOP FIVE: Pittsburgh (10-0-0), Dallas (8-1-1), Philadelphia (8-2-0), Washington (7-2-1) and St. Louis (7-2-1)
BOTTOM FIVE: Minnesota (2-7-1), Toronto (2-7-1), Boston (3-7-0), NY Islanders (2-5-3) and Edmonton (3-6-1)
Fantasy hockey is all about offense and what better place to generate offense then the power play. Here are the top five power plays up to March 16, 2012:
Edmonton Oilers: 21.8 percent
Nashville Predators: 21.4 percent
Vancouver Canucks: 21.1 percent
San Jose Sharks: 20.8 percent
Philadelphia Flyers: 19.6 percent
Aaron Brouwer is the co-creator of fantasyhockeycoach.com. FHC is a free fantasy hockey service that developed a ranking system combining post-lockout statistics, current factors and our own hockey knowledge. Brouwer writes a weekly fantasy hockey column for Bleacher Report, The Star Phoenix, Fantrax and Inside Hockey. Email Coach Brouwer at [email protected] or check us out on twitter at twitter.com/fanhockeycoach.
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