Let’s make this short and sweet. It is the final week of the regular season and fantasy hockey fans who still have leagues to win or try to finish well are having a tough time of it. The great part is we will mostly focus on the bigger nights to help your squad.
Tuesday is no exception with ten games in all. Here is what the schedule looks like.
Tuesday’s Schedule
| Teams | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit | at | Buffalo | 7:00 PM | ||
| Ottawa | at | NY Islanders | 7:00 PM | ||
| Carolina | at | NY Rangers | 7:00 PM | ||
| Phoenix | at | Columbus | 7:00 PM | ||
| Toronto | at | Tampa Bay | 7:30 PM | ||
| Philadelphia | at | Florida | 7:30 PM | ||
| Washington | at | St. Louis | 8:00 PM | ||
| Boston | at | Minnesota | 8:00 PM | ||
| Nashville | at | Dallas | 8:30 PM | ||
| Colorado | at | Edmonton | 9:30 PM | ||
Again, this is an interesting schedule and I highly advise you to take a look at starting lineups. Remember certain teams seem hellbent on resting players at one point or the other. Some teams could potentially be eliminated or clinch also. These are all variables that have to be kept in mind. Please also note that there are no 10:00 games (ET) on the schedule so at least the games should end not too much past midnight which makes it easier to watch.
What often happens is that there are players you easily know you should have an eye on and they do not have to be the top echelon of players either. Tuesday is no exception as we have three players cooked up to hopefully boost your bottom without risking too much.
Three For Tuesday
Patric Hornqvist — F — Nashville Predators
Hornqvist is suddenly on one of the hottest lines in the NHL with Mike Fisher and Matt Cullen. As a matter of fact they produced 14 points last week as a trio while the Swede had eight points all by himself. That should not be any surprise as Hornqvist, when healthy, can be a very good hockey player. Suddenly Nashville has scored goals in bunches out on the left coast so it will be interesting to see what happens this week. Can it continue or will they go back to their usual Nashville shell? It is an excellent question but I like Hornqvist on Tuesday.
Derick Brassard — F — New York Rangers
Again here is another player that just seems to have a knack to create space and get his points. All Brassard has to do is use his body then let his hands and wheels take over. That is a perfect recipe against a Carolina team who defensively is deficient to say the least. Though Carolina’s penalty kill has risen markedly over the last six weeks. The Rangers recently exploited their penalty kill over their last two meetings. It was not the numbers but about two or three more man advantage scoring chances than Carolina’s norm. Brassard is the type of player that gives a Carolina team fits. I like my odds here.
Matt Read — F — Philadelphia Flyers
With the return of Steve Downie, there is a tendency to expect a rise in production as far as Read and Sean Couturier‘s production. Simply Read was a better player when Downie was in the lineup. The key is keeping him healthy. Philadelphia has a nice matchup against Florida and plays four times in the next six nights which should be good for fantasy hockey fans. Those games are against Florida, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, and Carolina. The common English translation is you should Read this loud and clear.
Good luck fantasy hockey fans and let’s see what Tuesday brings.
