Kyle Okposo is more than holding his own without John Tavares

It is hard to believe but for many in head to head leagues, the fantasy playoffs are here. For the rest of us, the stretch run is now. In four weeks or less, the fantasy hockey season ends at least as far as the 82 game slate. Do not worry as we may have something cooking for the playoffs. In the meantime, let's go take a look "Between The Lines".

Lead Us Forwards

Again, we spotlight the top four forward lines this week but in a slightly more visual form

Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Jarome Iginla (Boston) — This line is the best in the NHL when it comes to generating goals. They have 48 as a trio which surprises people. In Week 22, the line combined for 14 points while on the ice at the same time. Milan Lucic led the way with six points while Jarome Iginla had five points. David Krejci had four assists as the line had a very high 93.33% points all together (PAT). Our PAT just gauges production as a basis of percentage. Next to Toronto's top line, Boston's number one line may be the most consistent ROS (rest of season)..

Anders Lee-Frans Nielsen- Kyle Okposo (NY Islanders) — Lost in the shuffle of a seven goal barrage last Monday against Vancouver was a line that developed chemistry quickly. The week that results was a more than solid 12 points while together. Anders Lee now has ten points in nine games despite not always playing a ton of ice time. The longer he stays on the top line, the more benefits they will reap together. Kyle Okposo led all players with seven points and is the Isles go to guy for offense. These three may be fantasy viable the rest of the way.

Mikael Granlund-Zach Parise-Jason Pominville (Minnesota) — I actually thought they would have more points last week but 11 is still very solid. They are paired more and more together at (42.9% EV, 31.7% PP). That low forties frequency at even strength is more what a first line should be. They also were not among the top 30 in power play or overall ice time last week and still were the third best line of the week. The road gets a bit fun with a three-game stretch in four nights this week (@BOS, @NYI, @NJ).

Brent Burns-Joe Thornton-Joe Pavelski (San Jose) — Simply they sort of tripped and slipped their way to nine points this week. The trio also had three points each or a PAAT of 100%. James Sheppard had four points last week which kind of puts this outburst into a little perspective. The Tommy Wingels line also had nine points combined so will one of those two lines step up even more this week?

Defend This!

The best defensive combinations for Week 22 were.

Roman Josi-Shea Weber (Nashville) — The peculiar thing with defensive duos (combinations) is that they can literally be on fire for one game and there you go. Roman Josi had four points and combined with Shea Weber's three gave them top honors of the week because they had six points when on the ice at the same time. Weber and Josi were both in the top eight as far as ice time, which should surprise no one. Their PAT was a high 85.7%. All it takes is one game sometimes.

Zach Bogosian-Dustin Byfuglien-Tobias Enstrom (Winnipeg) — This looks odd and yes, Dustin Byfuglien is still considered a defenseman in quite a few leagues so his six points and five goals were a fantasy beacon last week. However, he has a lower body injury this week and though it is minor, his expectations may have to be tempered. The guy to keep an eye on may be Tobias Enstrom. Is he finally the guy we saw a couple years so? The duo may be Bogosian-Enstrom for this week, so stay tuned.

Brian Campbell-Tom Gilbert (Florida) — Honestly Brian Campbell plays Ryan Suter minutes so in some sense, he should produce some points. After all, someone has to on that defensive corps. Actually Tom Gilbert has been more than serviceable in his own right, approaching some 30+ points this campaign. Will they be on this list next week? Maybe.

As always you can follow me @ChrisWasselTHW and thanks again for reading. Good luck this week as the fantasy hockey world dives into their playoffs.

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