Putting together an MVP-like season, Ilya Kovalchuk gets four games this week.

With all teams playing at least three games this week with the exception on San Jose, this could be one of the more eventful weeks in the NHL. A team looking to turn its season around can certainly do so this week On the other hand, a poor week by a team can leave themselves on the outside looking in. With that being said, let’s preview and breakdown another exciting week in the NHL!

Four Games

Atlanta, Calgary, Dallas, Los Angeles, Montreal, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Vancouver, Washington.

With 11 teams playing four games this week, fantasy players can count on having high scoring games in your leagues. The Atlanta Thrashers are the perfect example of how a coaching change can light a fire under a team. The Thrashers have home games against the Lightning who are 2-7 on the road, and against New Jersey, another sub .500 team on the road. Atlanta travels to Washington and Pittsburgh who are both terrible at home. Ilya Kovalchuk is having an MVP start to the season, as his recent play has turned the Thrashers season around. Kovalchuk has 16 goals and 27 assists, which is almost double the second leading scorer on the team. Marian Hossa has also been hot as of late, and is working to get back to the form last season that saw him score 100 points. The Thrashers defence is still one of the worst in the league, both has shown some life as of late with the improved play of goaltender Johan Hedberg.

The Dallas Stars are a team who is certainly underachieving, but could possibly see themselves at the top of the Pacific Division. The Stars are traditionally a strong home team, but find themselves only 4-3-2 at home thus far. The Stars are at home against Anaheim, Los Angeles, and the Leafs. The Stars also travel to Madison Square Garden to play the Rangers, which will be a tough road contest for the Stars. The tandem of Mike Smith and Marty Turco certainly need to play better if the team has any hopes of making up ground this week against the Sharks and Ducks. Turco and Smith have combined to allow 16 goals in their past five games. Mattias Norstrom is projected to be a week away from returning from a fractured orbital bone, which gives defenceman Niklas Grossman a chance to step up and impress the coaching staff. Brendan Morrow and Mike Ribeiro continue to lead the charge with both scoring 19 points so far.

Three Games

Anaheim, Boston, Buffalo, Carolina, Chicago, Colorado, Columbus, Detroit, Edmonton, Florida, Minnesota, Nashville, New Jersey, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Toronto.

The Minnesota Wild have proven to be one of the NHL's premier defensive teams led by goaltender Niklas Backstrom, who has definitely started a trend of NHL teams looking overseas for mature talent. Backstrom has an 8-3-1 record with a .915 SVP and two shutouts. The Wild have home contests against the Canucks and Blue Jackets: two teams that struggle to score goals. The Wild also travel to St. Louis to play the Blues, who are third worst in goals for in the conference. The Wild will be without Mikko Koivu and Pavol Demitra, who are both out with injury. It will be up to forwards Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Marián Gáborík to carry the sagging offence that is one of the worst 5-on-5 scoring teams in the NHL.

I usually like to pick a struggling team that I have a feeling could post a big week. The Phoenix Coyotes, despite having a 2-7 home record, are a team I can see having a big week. The Coyotes have home games against two beatable teams in Los Angeles and Toronto, and travel to Anaheim to play the Ducks in a match up between two of the worst power play and penalty killing teams. Ilya Bryzgalov will be looking for revenge against his former team, and is coming off a shutout in his Coyotes debut. Shane Doan leads Coyotes team with only 15 points. In fact, the leading goal scorer on the team is Radim Vrbata, with a meek five goals this season. Phoenix does has some excellent young talent in Peter Mueller and Martin Hanzal who should show great improvement as the season progresses.

One Game

San Jose

San Jose is the one team that will get to relax this week, as they only play host to the Kings. San Jose will be watching this week closely as they are two points up on Anaheim, and five up on the Stars who both have busy schedules this week. The Sharks injured list is lengthy, so this week of inactivity could not have come at a better time.

Best Games
Saturday, November,24th , 2007
Philadelphia Flyers vs. Ottawa Senators

This one should be a dandy as division leaders Ottawa and Philadelphia collide in a Saturday night classic. Ottawa will be looking to have a better result this Saturday as they were shocked as the Leafs shut them out in a poor performance by the Sens. Ottawa is 10-2-0 at home, and has the lowest GAA in the NHL. With the return of Jason Spezza from injury, coach Bryan Murray can once again re-unite perhaps the best line in the NHL with Spezza playing between Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley. Martin Gerber has held on to his starting goaltender job despite the return of Ray Emery going 12-2 with a 1.81 GAA. The Flyers will still be without standout Simon Gagne who is still recovering from a concussion. Mike Richards and Daniel Briere will lead the Flyers offence that needs players such as Mike Knuble and Scott Hartnell to wake up from their slow starts in order for them to have any shot against the Sens.

Saturday, November 24th, 2007
Chicago Blackhawks vs. Edmonton Oilers

After watching two of the top teams in the NHL duke it out, viewers may want to leave their television on a the Hawks battle the Oilers in a match up between 4 of the NHL's top rookies. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane have separated themselves from the rest of the rookie class scoring 19 and 16 points respectively. Chicago is one of the surprise teams in the NHL going 11-8-1 to start the season. Even more shocking is that they have handed Detroit four losses already! The duo has revived the career of Robert Lang, whom many thought was too slow to compete at the NHL level. The Oilers feature two dynamic freshmen of their own in Sam Gagner and Andrew Cogliano. With the team in rebuilding mode, the Oilers have given the duo the chance to show fans that the future is bright in Edmonton. This game promises to be a fast, exciting affair.

Top Players This Week

Centre

Jason Spezza
Pavel Datsyuk
Vincent Lecavalier
Saku Koivu

Left Wing

Henrik Zetterberg
Vaclav Prospal
Alex Ovechkin
Cory Stillman

Right Wing

Daniel Alfredsson
Jarome Iginla
Martin St. Louis
Patrick Kane

Defence

Andrei Markov
Paul Ranger
Nicklas Lidström
Brian Rafalski
Wade Redden

Goaltenders

Johan Hedberg
Niklas Backstrom
Martin Gerber
Cristobal Huet

Sleepers

G - Ilya Bryzgalov
W - Ville Peltonen
C - Josef Vasicek
C - Sam Gagner
C - Eric Perrin
D - Tobias Enström