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Weekly NHL Forecaster February 19th – February 25th

Runnin’ with the Devil this week.

Detroit Red Wings v New Jersey Devils Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Below is a breakdown of the seventh week of NHL games in the 2017-2018 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 1/13/2018

Favorable:

Offense:

Boston. The Bruins have four games on the road and they get some weak home opponents in Flames, Oilers, Maple Leafs and Sabres, all of them save Toronto are among the worst 10 in goals against at home.

Colorado. 3 road matchups, Canucks, Oilers and Flames, all bottom 7 teams scoring while at home.

New Jersey. They get 3 home games – Blue Jackets, Wild and Islanders all bottom 13 teams defensively on the road. Nico Hischier (26% owned), Kyle Palmieri – wrote about him the other week (47% owned), Jesper Bratt (15% owned) and Will Butcher (46% owned).

Goalies:

Boston. A good week for Tuuka Rask. All four of the aforementioned teams above are also among the bottom 12 in scoring goals at home.

Carolina. Pick your goalie be it Cam Ward or Scott Darling, they face Pittsburgh at home and Red Wings on the road, both bottom 5 in goals scored in their respective locations.

Colorado. The above mentioned 3 teams are also bad on offense at home.

Pittsburgh Penguins v Colorado Avalanche Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Power Play:

The Hurricanes face some struggling PK units in Philadelphia, Vancouver, and Colorado. Not a bad week to pick up Elias Lindholm (12% owned) and Teuvo Teravainen (44% owned)

Washington gets some bad special teams against Columbus (twice) and Detroit.

New Jersey. Blue Jackets, Wild and Islanders are all bottom 5 PK units.

Penalty Kill:

Chicago. The Blackhawks face LAK, Senators, Sharks and Blue Jackets, all bottom 12 PP teams.

Ottawa. Nashville, Chicago, Tampa Bay Philadelphia – it starts easy at 23rd best PP unit and gets tougher with each matchup down to 6th and 4th.

Unfavorable:

Offense:

Arizona. Three home games is good but not when you are facing off against 2 teams who are in the top 6 in goals scored while on the road (Flames and Ducks)

Chicago. While their 4 games are great for their PK unit, not so good for the offense. Facing Jonathan Quick, Craig Anderson, Martin Jones and Sergei Bobrovsky will do that.

Dallas Stars face the Predators, Sabres and Hurricanes at home and Rangers on the road. The Preds and Rangers are top 11 defensive units.

Goalies:

Minnesota. I feel for Devan Dubnyk as he goes up against the metropolitan gauntlet – Islanders, Devils and Rangers on the road and Sharks at home. Save Devils, all top 12 in their locations on offense.

Winnipeg Jets. Steve Mason gets some tough matchups with LAK, Blues and Stars, all top 8 offenses in their locations.

Power Play:

Colorado. Great matchup 5vs.5, terrible on special teams as the Canucks and Flames are top 8 power play teams.

Florida. The Panthers have a rough special teams week – Maple Leafs, Capitals and Penguins are all bottom 12 PK units.

Penalty Kill:

The Arizona Coyotes face off against the Flames, Ducks and Canucks, all three are top 10 Power Play teams.

Colorado and Florida – Ditto to above on the Power Play.

Montreal – not that I’m picking them much in general but this will be a tough week with the Flyers, Rangers and Lightning (all top 12 Power Play units).

Forecaster February 19th - 25th

Weekly Avgs Mon, Feb 19 Tue, Feb 20 Wed, Feb 21 Thu, Feb 22 Fri, Feb 23 Sat, Feb 24 Sun, Feb 25
Weekly Avgs Mon, Feb 19 Tue, Feb 20 Wed, Feb 21 Thu, Feb 22 Fri, Feb 23 Sat, Feb 24 Sun, Feb 25
@ Vegas Golden Knights 0 vs. Dallas Stars 0 0 @ Arizona Coyotes vs. Edmonton Oilers
2
2
18 5 0 23 0 0 30 12
13 2 0 15 0 0 26 9
15 25 0 7 0 0 3 24
13 20 0 19 0 0 9 2
0 0 0 vs. Calgary Flames 0 vs. Anaheim Ducks vs. Vancouver Canucks
3
0
16 0 0 0 10 0 20 18
8 0 0 0 3 0 6 16
5 0 0 0 8 0 5 2
13 0 0 0 7 0 5 27
@ Calgary Flames @ Edmonton Oilers 0 0 0 @ Toronto Maple Leafs @ Buffalo Sabres
0
4
25 25 26 0 0 0 19 31
23 21 29 0 0 0 18 25
15 8 24 0 0 0 10 18
10 7 2 0 0 0 4 28
vs. Washington Capitals 0 0 @ Detroit Red Wings 0 @ Washington Capitals vs. Boston Bruins
2
2
13 9 0 0 27 0 13 3
14 26 0 0 24 0 3 4
12 11 0 0 17 0 11 9
14 17 0 0 16 0 17 6
0 0 0 0 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins @ Detroit Red Wings 0
1
1
26 0 0 0 0 25 27 0
24 0 0 0 0 23 24 0
9 0 0 0 0 1 17 0
12 0 0 0 0 7 16 0
vs. Boston Bruins 0 @ Vegas Golden Knights @ Arizona Coyotes 0 vs. Colorado Avalanche 0
2
2
14 3 0 5 30 0 16 0
14 4 0 2 26 0 24 0
17 9 0 25 3 0 31 0
15 6 0 20 9 0 25 0
vs. Los Angeles Kings 0 vs. Ottawa Senators 0 vs. San Jose Sharks @ Columbus Blue Jackets 0
3
1
20 8 0 31 0 12 29 0
10 5 0 21 0 9 5 0
26 27 0 28 0 19 30 0
15 1 0 10 0 17 31 0
0 @ New Jersey Devils 0 @ Philadelphia Flyers 0 vs. Chicago Blackhawks 0
1
2
15 0 19 0 18 0 7 0
17 0 18 0 20 0 13 0
15 0 26 0 4 0 15 0
15 0 10 0 22 0 12 0
0 @ Vancouver Canucks 0 @ Edmonton Oilers 0 @ Calgary Flames 0
0
3
26 0 28 0 26 0 25 0
26 0 27 0 29 0 21 0
11 0 2 0 24 0 8 0
12 0 27 0 2 0 7 0
0 0 @ Anaheim Ducks @ Los Angeles Kings 0 vs. Winnipeg Jets 0
1
2
21 0 0 21 23 0 18 0
12 0 0 15 9 0 12 0
16 0 0 5 27 0 16 0
7 0 0 5 1 0 15 0
0 vs. Nashville Predators 0 vs. Buffalo Sabres 0 vs. Carolina Hurricanes @ New York Rangers
3
1
17 0 20 0 26 0 12 11
14 0 1 0 25 0 20 11
18 0 23 0 18 0 20 11
20 0 3 0 28 0 24 23
0 vs. Boston Bruins 0 vs. Colorado Avalanche 0 @ Los Angeles Kings @ Anaheim Ducks
2
2
16 0 3 0 16 0 23 21
13 0 4 0 24 0 9 15
18 0 9 0 31 0 27 5
9 0 6 0 25 0 1 5
0 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 0 vs. Washington Capitals 0 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins 0
2
1
18 0 19 0 9 0 25 0
22 0 18 0 26 0 23 0
7 0 10 0 11 0 1 0
9 0 4 0 17 0 7 0
vs. Anaheim Ducks 0 vs. Calgary Flames 0 vs. Vancouver Canucks 0 0
3
0
16 20 0 10 0 18 0 0
8 6 0 3 0 16 0 0
5 5 0 8 0 2 0 0
13 5 0 7 0 27 0 0
@ Chicago Blackhawks @ Winnipeg Jets 0 vs. Dallas Stars 0 vs. Edmonton Oilers 0
2
2
13 15 1 0 23 0 12 0
10 12 5 0 15 0 9 0
16 15 16 0 7 0 24 0
12 12 15 0 19 0 2 0
@ New York Islanders 0 0 @ New Jersey Devils @ New York Rangers 0 vs. San Jose Sharks
1
3
11 3 0 0 19 11 0 12
17 29 0 0 18 11 0 9
19 21 0 0 26 11 0 19
20 30 0 0 10 23 0 17
0 @ Philadelphia Flyers 0 vs. New York Rangers 0 vs. Tampa Bay Lightning 0
2
1
12 0 18 0 16 0 1 0
16 0 20 0 27 0 2 0
7 0 4 0 11 0 6 0
19 0 22 0 23 0 13 0
0 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets 0 vs. Minnesota Wild 0 vs. New York Islanders 0
3
0
17 0 22 0 24 0 4 0
26 0 18 0 30 0 30 0
21 0 30 0 11 0 21 0
29 0 31 0 26 0 30 0
vs. Ottawa Senators @ Detroit Red Wings 0 vs. San Jose Sharks 0 0 vs. St. Louis Blues
3
1
21 31 27 0 12 0 0 12
15 21 24 0 9 0 0 6
23 28 17 0 19 0 0 29
14 10 16 0 17 0 0 14
vs. Minnesota Wild 0 0 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 0 @ New Jersey Devils 0
1
2
21 24 0 0 19 0 19 0
22 30 0 0 18 0 18 0
16 11 0 0 10 0 26 0
13 26 0 0 4 0 10 0
0 0 0 @ Montreal Canadiens vs. Minnesota Wild 0 vs. Detroit Red Wings
2
1
24 0 0 0 22 24 0 27
22 0 0 0 22 30 0 14
13 0 0 0 11 11 0 17
24 0 0 0 29 26 0 16
@ Nashville Predators 0 @ Chicago Blackhawks vs. Tampa Bay Lightning 0 vs. Philadelphia Flyers 0
2
2
9 8 0 15 1 0 10 0
10 17 0 12 2 0 8 0
12 23 0 15 6 0 4 0
13 3 0 12 13 0 22 0
0 vs. Montreal Canadiens 0 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets 0 @ Ottawa Senators 0
2
1
22 0 29 0 22 0 15 0
25 0 27 0 18 0 31 0
23 0 11 0 30 0 28 0
23 0 29 0 31 0 10 0
0 0 0 0 @ Carolina Hurricanes @ Florida Panthers 0
0
2
17 0 0 0 0 23 10 0
26 0 0 0 0 23 28 0
21 0 0 0 0 20 22 0
22 0 0 0 0 24 20 0
0 @ St. Louis Blues 0 @ Nashville Predators @ Chicago Blackhawks 0 @ Minnesota Wild
0
4
13 0 17 0 8 15 0 12
10 0 8 0 17 12 0 1
20 0 29 0 23 15 0 11
14 0 14 0 3 12 0 26
0 vs. San Jose Sharks 0 0 vs. Winnipeg Jets 0 @ Nashville Predators
2
1
13 0 12 0 0 18 0 8
13 0 9 0 0 12 0 17
19 0 19 0 0 16 0 23
12 0 17 0 0 15 0 3
0 @ Washington Capitals 0 @ Ottawa Senators 0 @ Montreal Canadiens 0
0
3
17 0 13 0 15 0 22 0
19 0 3 0 31 0 22 0
17 0 11 0 28 0 11 0
19 0 17 0 10 0 29 0
0 vs. Florida Panthers 0 vs. New York Islanders 0 vs. Boston Bruins 0
3
0
12 0 30 0 4 0 3 0
19 0 22 0 30 0 4 0
17 0 22 0 21 0 9 0
19 0 20 0 30 0 6 0
0 vs. Colorado Avalanche 0 0 @ Vegas Golden Knights 0 @ Arizona Coyotes
1
2
17 0 16 0 0 5 0 30
17 0 24 0 0 2 0 26
20 0 31 0 0 25 0 3
18 0 25 0 0 20 0 9
@ Buffalo Sabres vs. Tampa Bay Lightning 0 @ Florida Panthers 0 vs. Buffalo Sabres 0
2
2
17 31 1 0 10 0 26 0
20 25 2 0 28 0 25 0
16 18 6 0 22 0 18 0
22 28 13 0 20 0 28 0
0 vs. Los Angeles Kings 0 0 @ St. Louis Blues @ Dallas Stars 0
1
2
10 0 8 0 0 17 6 0
6 0 5 0 0 8 4 0
21 0 27 0 0 29 7 0
11 0 1 0 0 14 19 0