Here is a look ahead and all the fun on Fantasy Hockey ONE today but first let’s look ahead to the schedule.
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Tuesday, December 27, 2011 |
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| Teams | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carolina | at | Pittsburgh | 7:00 PM | Gameday | ||
| Calgary | at | Columbus | 7:00 PM | Gameday | ||
| Montreal | at | Ottawa | 7:30 PM | Gameday | ||
| Philadelphia | at | Tampa Bay | 7:30 PM | Gameday | ||
| Toronto | at | Florida | 7:30 PM | Gameday | ||
| St. Louis | at | Detroit | 7:30 PM | Gameday | ||
| Winnipeg | at | Colorado | 9:00 PM | Gameday | ||
It is a nice little seven game schedule tonight….now more from us….
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A LOOK BACK:
Cam Ward, G, Carolina Hurricanes — The only reason why he is here is because Ward did get credited with a goal against the New Jersey Devils last night. Carolina won 4-2 but Ward only had to make 23 saves. Yes New Jersey came on hard late in the third but the night was fairly easy. Sadly Cam Ward is still not a fantasy option so just because he gets a little notoriety, it does not really help his fantasy value long term. There were better performances last night.
Henrik Lundqvist, G, New York Rangers — Without Lundqvist, the Rangers are dead in the water. If you have him on your fantasy team, you are smiling from ear to ear right now. The New York Islanders had some high quality chances but the Swedish goalie shut the door every time with the 28 save 3-0 shutout. Lundqvist is now 15-7-4 on the year with a 1.95 GAA and .936 save percentage and three shutouts. He is a bonafide Vezina candidate for fantasy purposes and maybe a Hart for the same reasons.
Corey Crawford, G, Chicago Blackhawks — Yes some will say it was Columbus but 37 saves is 37 saves especially for a goalie who was struggling so mightily just a couple weeks ago. Crawford has turned it around a bit with two straight quality starts and if he goes on a run here, fantasy owners will rejoice for all the suffering they endured, especially in November and early this month. Crawford still has 14 wins but the .902 save percentage is still a concern. Just keep an eye on him.
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KEEP AN EYE ON………..
World Junior Championships (U-20) — Yes there are only two games tonight but the WJC always seems to provide some glimpse into the future of the NHL. The Czech Republic and Denmark face off in the early game with Slovakia and Latvia being the nightcap. We always scout these games looking for the next talents and some surprisingly enough are playing on this side of the pond. In the age of streaming and YouTube, there are so many ways to keep track.
Goaltending Ugly? — Have you ever had that feeling where the night could get ugly for your fantasy goalie? This could be that night, especially in Tampa Bay where the Tampa Bay Lightning face the Philadelphia Flyers. Let’s just say that Ilya Bryzgalov has the ability to get lost in the fantasy woods while the Tampa Bay defense has been horrendous combined with the average goaltending of Mathieu Garon. The 1-3-1 has been broken more times by the opposition on Tampa than any man can count. The over should hit on this game with maybe Bryzgalov having the better performance (if you can call it that) because Tampa is just that bad right now.
The MERD in Montreal — It does not get any better for fantasy owners of Montreal Canadien players as they face an Ottawa team who can at the very least light the lamp. Sure they give up quite a few goals but with the way the crap is struggling North Of The Border, the Habs could be in for another long night. Carey Price has been hung out to dry far too much. His .500 record (12-12-7) with a 2.45 GAA and .910 save percentage looks even better when you think about how porous Montreal has been with scoring chances over the last month (25th for and 29th against).
No one is near a point a game for Montreal and with P.K. Subban, Michael Cammalleri, and so many struggling, it hurts players like Max Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec who have been successful this year. This power play should be a bit higher than 25th and honestly it is tough to play a defensive system or an offensive system when the parts are all over the place. Its a fantasy mess as well.
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As always, the Weekly Slapshot is on tonight at 9:30pm ET as we do a solo thirty minute effort going over the WJC and the best of the 2011 Fantasy Calendar Year. Good luck tonight and thanks again.
