As the National Hockey League rolls on towards Week 2, we here at The Fix want to make sure you are ready to plan ahead for your weekly lock lineup leagues as well as your weekly salary cap games. Here’s a look ahead to the games this coming week and some start/sit musings.

Monday October 7^th

NJD @ EDM- 9:30 p.m. Our pick: Edmonton Oilers

NYR @ LAK- 10:30 p.m. Our pick: Los Angeles Kings

 

Tuesday October 8^th

COL @ TOR- 7:00 p.m. Our pick: Toronto Maple Leafs

PHX @ NYI- 7:00 p.m. Our pick: Phoenix Coyotes

FLA @ PHI- 7:00 p.m. Our pick: Florida Panthers

CAR @ PIT- 7:00 p.m. Our pick: Pittsburgh Penguins

TBL @ BUF- 7:30 p.m. Our pick: Tampa Bay Lightning

MIN @ NSH- 8:00 p.m. Our pick: Minnesota Wild

NJD @ VAN- 10:00 p.m. Our pick: Vancouver Canucks

NYR @ SJS- 10:30 p.m. Our pick: San Jose Sharks

 

Wednesday October 9^th

CHI @ STL- 8:00 p.m. Our pick: St. Louis Blues

MTL @ CGY- 8:00 p.m. Our pick: Montreal Canadiens

OTT @ LAK- 10:30 p.m. Our pick: Ottawa Senators

 

Thursday October 10^th

COL @ BOS- 7:00 p.m. Our pick: Boston Bruins

CBJ @ BUF- 7:00 p.m. Our pick: Buffalo Sabres

CAR @ WSH- 7:00 p.m. Our pick: Washington Capitals

PHX @ DET- 7:30 p.m. Our pick: Detroit Red Wings

FLA @ TB- 7:30 p.m. Our pick: Tampa Bay Lightning

TOR @ NSH- 8:00 p.m. Our pick: Nashville Predators

WPG @ MIN- 8:00 p.m. Our pick: Winnipeg Jets

MTL @ EDM- 9:30 p.m. Our pick Edmonton Oilers

SJS @ VAN- 10:00 p.m. Our pick: San Jose Sharks

NYR @ ANA- 10:00 p.m. Our pick: Anaheim Ducks

 

Friday October 11^th

PHX @ PHI- 7:00 p.m. Our pick: Philadelphia Flyers

LAK @ CAR- 7:00 p.m. Our pick: Los Angeles Kings

PIT @ FLA- 7:30 p.m. Our pick: Pittsburgh Penguins

NYI @ CHI- 8:00 p.m. Our pick: Chicago Blackhawks

DAL @ WPG- 8:00 p.m. Our pick: Dallas Stars

NJD @ CGY- 9:00 p.m. Our pick: New Jersey Devils

 

Saturday October 12^th

BOS @ CBJ- 2:00 p.m. Our pick: Boston Bruins

EDM @ TOR- 7:00 p.m. Our pick: Toronto Maple Leafs

PHI @ DET- 7:00 p.m. Our pick Detroit Red Wings

PIT @ TBL- 7:00 p.m. Our pick Tampa Bay Lightning

COL @ WSH- 7:00 p.m. Our pick Colorado Avalanche

BUF @ CHI- 8:00 p.m. Our pick: Chicago Blackhawks

NYR @ STL- 8:00 p.m. Our pick: St. Louis Blues

NYI @ NSH- 8:00 p.m. Our pick: Nashville Predators

DAL @ MIN- 8:00 p.m. Our pick: Minnesota Wild

MTL @ VAN- 10:00 p.m. Our pick: Vancouver Canucks

 

Sunday October 13^th

 

PHX @ CAR- 1:00 p.m. Our pick: Carolina Hurricanes

LAK @ FLA- 3:00 p.m. Our pick: Florida Panthers

NJD @ WPG- 8:00 p.m. Our pick: Winnipeg Jets

OTT @ ANA- 8:00 p.m. Our pick: Anaheim Ducks

 

Games by team:

Four Games: Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, Phoenix Coyotes

Three Games: Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Winnipeg Jets

Two Games: Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals

 

Notable Back-to-Back Matchups:

 

When a team is coming off a back-to-back they are more than likely going to use their backup goaltender especially if the previous night’s game was either stressful or high scoring. Obvious exceptions of this are usually going to be the San Jose Sharks, Boston Bruins, and Nashville Predators, among a few others. These teams have elite starting goaltenders and very weak backup options.

Here is a list of the back-to-back matchups- *note I will also include games in which it will be three games in four days*

Tuesday- New Jersey Devils @ Vancouver Canucks: New Jersey faces the Edmonton Oilers the day before, therefore one of these games will be started by Martin Brodeur. Regardless of which net-minder is between the pipes on which day, the Devils as a team will be exhausted and facing a tough Vancouver team. Canuck forward Jannick Hansen is skating with the Sedin twins and owned in just 15.0% of ESPN.com standard leagues. He makes for a stealthy pickup as  does David Booth (8.4% owned) if your league allows daily pickups

Tuesday- New York Rangers @ San Jose Sharks: San Jose will face a tired New York Rangers team coming off a matchup with the L.A. Kings. We expect Martin Biron to start one of these games in Henrik Lundqvist’s stead. Both are tough matchups but San Jose is considerably more difficult especially on offense. While Biron isn’t an excellent start , he is a good streamer for those in points leagues. Daily pickup leagues should look to add Sharks forwards Brent Burns (32% owned) and Tomas Hertl (3.3% owned).

Friday- Phoenix Coyotes @ Philadelphia Flyers: Phoenix will be in the second game of a tough back-to-back travel wise. Thursday night they face the Detroit Red Wings. Phoenix goaltender Thomas Greiss is a sneaky streaming option. While we expect the Coyotes to be tired, the Flyers have really struggled early.

Friday- Los Angeles Kings @ Carolina Hurricanes: Carolina is on a back-to-back in this one and expect newly acquired goaltender Anton Khudobin to be granted with this start at home after Thursday’s matchup against the Washington Capitals. We would advise adding Khudobin (and really all the backup goalies that we mention in this article) the day of the first game just in case the respective coaches play the backup in the first game and the starter in the second game.