Weekly NHL Forecaster January 29th – February 4th

Below is a breakdown of the seventh week of NHL games in the 2017-2018 season (can you believe we are about 25% into the season?!?) . The graph breaks down the schedule and the strength of the opponent in goals for, goals against, their power play and penalty kill and ranks it against the rest of the league on a scale from 1-31 (with 31 being the worst) So the higher the average ranks you see for an opponent the better schedule that team has. It factors in how well a team does at home vs. on the road as well.

*Stats are as of 1/26/2018

Favorable:

Offense:

Anaheim Ducks have a rough start to the week with Tuuka Rask before a much easier Senators and Canadiens end to the week.

Goalies:

Arizona Coyotes face the Stars at home (8^th worst offense), and Kings on the road (8^th worst offense)

Photo by Norm Hall/NHLI via Getty Images

Scott Darling OR Cam Ward will have a good week (and boy do they need it) they go up against the Senators, Canadiens and Red Wings at home (all three are among the worst 4 on offense on the road). The end the week with an average San Jose.

The Blues get the Canadiens and Sabres on the bookend of the Bruins. The outsides there are among the 3 worst on offense.

Power Play:

The Sabres face the Devils, Panthers and Blues, all of them are among the 9 worst PK units. Kyle Okposo is only 23% owned and Sam Reinhart is 21% owned, they will be two big benefactors.

The Blue Jackets get the Wild, Sharks and Islanders (the Wild and Islanders are among the worst 5 PK units) and boy do the Blue Jackets need help on the power play.

Florida has the Islanders, Sabres and Red Wings, the first two are among the worst 4 PK units.

Photo by Jeff Sanzare/NHLI via Getty Images

Penalty Kill:

The Oilers have one game – Colorado, the worst PP unit in the NHL.

The Flyers get the Capitals, Devils and Senators, the latter two are among the worst 5 on the power play.

Unfavorable:

Offense:

The Bruins face the Ducks, Blues and Maple Leafs at home all are top 12 defenses on the road.

Can a week against the Flames, Jets, Wild and Capitals (ALL on the road) slow down one of the best offenses in the NHL, we will find out.

Minnesota goes up against the Blue Jackets, Golden Knights and Stars, Columbus and Dallas are among the best 5 defenses on the road.

Goalies:

Calgary. Run away. Quickly. Vegas, Tampa Bay and Chicago. All top 7 offenses on the road.

King Lundqvist has his work cut out as the Rangers face the Maple Leafs (home) and Predators (away), both top ten in their respective home/away situation.

Frederik Anderson has one home game (against the Islanders who are good on the road) and two away matches – Rangers (11^th best offense at home) and Bruins (9^thbest offense at home).

Power Play:

The Bruins aforementioned 3 matchups include two top 5 PK units (Ducks and Maple Leafs).

The Rangers matchups against the Maple Leafs (4^th best PK unit) and Predators (3^rd best PK Unit) is not good for the power play unit.

Penalty Kill:

The Lightning face the Jets, (16^th best PP unit), Flames (8^th best PP unit) and Canucks (2^nd best PP unit).