Last week was a much better week than the opening week, as I was able to pick 7 out of 12 winners, and would have had 8 if I didn't get so greedy with those damned Sabres.  Poor Thunder only managed 4 last week, although I'll give her mad props for calling the Sabres over the Leafs and in the shootout!  Of course as luck would have it each of my proline tickets had a single game wrong as it doesn't seem to matter which ones you get right, but then you have to get them all on the same ticket!  Anyways, only 11 games on the schedule for this Saturday, as the forecast is calling for snow up here in the Great White North.  Let's get right to business:

Ottawa @ Boston

The Bruins have lost 3 of their last 4, and the Sens just had their winning streak snapped by the Canucks.  P.Leclaire is anything but stellar and with his last performance I don't see him getting another start until next weekend.  For the B's, Rask has put up great #'s in his last couple of starts yet Thomas is the only one to pick up the W stopping 42 of 46 shots in Pittsburgh.  The Bruins have won 7 of the last 10 including a 4-0 blanking at the end of October.  Tim Thomas has been great against the Sens… posting a 1.58 GAA and a .943 SV% while picking wins in 12 of 16 starts.

Pick: H

Thunder's Pick: H

Vancouver @ Toronto

The Leafs have called up Kadri – way to throw him under the bus while the Canucks come into town.  The Canucks dominate the Leafs in every statistical category this season except for shots against.  The Canucks haven't lost to the Leafs since the lockout (winning 6 straight, 4 by 2 or more), and this doesn't look like a Leaf lineup that's going to change that anytime soon.  The Canucks PP is 30% away from home this year, hopefully Ron Wilson can keep all of his truculent goons in check for this one.

Pick: V+

Thunder's Pick:  H

Florida @ Philadelphia

Giroux leads the Flyers in scoring, averaging a PPG.  Richards and Hartnell have 27 and 28 PIMs versus the Panthers in their last 12 GP.  Frolik on the other hand has shredded the Flyers for 11 pts. in 8 career games.  The Panthers have taken 3 of the last 4 meetings between these two clubs, however it appears as though Philly has finally found themselves a starting goalie in Bobrovsky.  The Panthers PP is 26% in their last 10 versus the Flyers, and with Philly giving up a league high 5.1 PP chances per game, I'm sure they'll be able to get on the board in this one.

Pick: V

Thunder's Pick: V

Carolina @ Montreal

If booing your starting goalie in his first preseason game leads him to win 9 of 15 starts while putting up a sub 2.20 GAA and over a .920 SV% than I'll be surprised if more teams don't do it next season.  Carey Price has played brilliantly for the Habs, shutting out Luongo and knocking of Rask in his last two outings.  The Canes have managed to win 5 of the last 7 meetings head to head.  Both teams are fairly evenly matched in this one, however Ward has been getting worked hard this year, but it's tough to turn to Peters in goal with his sparkling 4.34 GAA.  The Habs have only gone Over 3 times in 16 games this season in the O/U.  The Habs have lost their last two Saturday night games, after winning their opening three, however both losses came after winning the night before.

Pick: H

Thunder's Pick: H

Colorado @ Detroit

Budaj has been playing terrific hockey while replacing Craig Anderson as he recovers, giving up only 8 goals in his last 5 games.  The Avs stole a game earlier in Detroit this season thanks to some keys saves by Anderson and a determined squad that just wouldn't lay down and quit.  In their last 12 meetings, McLeod leads the Avs with 3 goals; meanwhile Franzen has 5 in his last 9 versus the Avs.  The Avs have 9 players out of the lineup due to injuries.  Both teams are averaging over 3.3 goals per game, so expect this one to go over again as well.  The Avs have won their last two games on Saturday by a combined score of 10-1.  Unlike last season, the Avs are outshooting opponents by almost two shots/game.

Pick: V

Thunder's Pick: H

Washington @ Buffalo

The Sabres are looking for their first home win of the season on Saturday, not the team you want coming into town.  The Caps top line of AO, Semin, and Backstrom is averaging 2 ppg over their last 3 games.  Roy is the only Sabre producing at the moment, with 18 pts. in 17 games.  Neuvirth will look to pick up his 11^th win of the year, which shouldn't be a problem behind the highest scoring offense in the league.  The Caps have won 4 of the last 6 in this series, and all have been by 2 goals or more.  Washington has scored less than 3 goals only once in their last 9 games (their only loss in that span).  I just hope Tyler Myers isn't a -4.

Pick: V+

Thunder's Pick: H

Pittsburgh @ Atlanta

The Pens were able to hold the Bolts to only 16 shots on goal Friday night and Fleury was able to pick up a W, hopefully this leads to a slow rebound, as let's face it, no one in fantasy hockey needs Johnson to be Pittsburgh's starting goalie.  The Pens have won 8 of the last 9 head to head meetings, however the Thrashers were able to stop Pittsburgh's 8 game winning streak last April 10^th.  The Pens have the 2^nd best PK on the road, and hopefully Malkin can snap out of his production woes as he has 19 pts. in his last 12 versus Atlanta.  Antropov on the other hand has very respectable numbers as well with 17 pts. in his last 11 against the Pens.  Pavelec and Mason haven't beaten the Pens in the last 3 years, sporting GAA's of 5.22 and 5.54 respectively.

Pick: V

Thunder's Pick: V

St. Louis @ Phoenix

You know your offence is hurting when V.Sobotka is tied for the team lead with 2 pts. in his last 3 games alongside Alex Steen.  With Oshie out for an extended period, look for the struggles to continue a little while longer, kind of like last year.  Except last year the Blues didn't have Halak, and he's definitely been the difference.  Phoenix has won their last 2 while the Blues have dropped their last 2, but have taken 6 of the last 10 from the Coyotes.  Once upon a time 40 goal scorer Brad Boyes has a whopping 1 goal so far this year (bet you wouldn't have guessed that D'Agostini leads the team with 6 snipes).

Pick: V

Thunder's Pick: H

Chicago @ Nashville

Chicago has taken 3 of the last 4 from Nashville, but who would have thought the defending champs would be below .500 almost halfway through November.  Cal O'Reilly has 1.5 times more points than the next closest Predator.  Both teams have only 1 win in their last 5 games, but the Blackhawks do come into this one with the third best PP in the league at 25.9%.  Rinne has a 2.16 GAA and .929 SV% against the Hawks.

Pick: T (Preds in the SO)

Thunder's Pick: V

Calgary @ San Jose

It's not very often that you get beaten by an empty net goal when you're trailing 4-2, but that's exactly what happened to the Flames after V. Fiddler scored his hat trick goal to put the Yotes up 5-2 before Calgary scored twice in the final minute, to come up short of getting back to .500 on the year.  The teams have traded wins back and forth over their last 6 H2H meetings with the Flames winning the latest affair back on October 24^th.  In his last 7 games Iggy has only 2 assists, and is a -8, including a -4 last night against Phoenix, and it was the first game all year he failed to record a shot on goal.

Pick: H

Thunder's Pick: V

NY Islanders @ Los Angeles

The Kings still remain unbeaten at home this season and have only given up 5 goals in their current 5 game winning streak.  The Isles on the other hand are winless in 9.  Despite the losses Roloson has played phenomenal giving up 4 goals in his last 3 starts against SJ, PHI, and ANH not exactly teams that are slouches when it comes to offense.  I don't know very many goalies that are 2-6-1 with a 2.10 GAA and a .924 SV%.  I thought they could surprise the Flyers last weekend despite all the stats pointing the other way, well this matchup is even more lopsided.  The Kings haven't lost to the Isles since the lockout (5 games) and they are 7-0 this year as the favourites.

Pick: H

Thunder's Pick: V