NHL Teams That Are Facing Brutal Upcoming Schedules

For the last two seasons, NHL teams have been stretched to the upper limits of their endurance thanks to condensed schedules caused by the 2012-13 lockout, then the February Olympic break last year.

The 2014-15 season kicked off at a relaxed pace by comparison, with teams enjoying more days off and coaches able to schedule more practice time between games.

Still, the NHL season is a grind, and nearly every team goes through stretches where the schedule-makers up the ante with a particularly tough stretch of games.

Here's a look at the playoff contenders that have the toughest hills to climb in the month of November.

All stats and schedule details from NHL.com.

Chicago Blackhawks

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November Schedule Breakdown: 14 games—five at home and nine on the road

The Toughest Stretches:

• The Blackhawks will deal with arguably the toughest road trip of the month during the second half of November: six games out west that will see them visiting Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Colorado, Anaheim and Los Angeles.
• The trip features two sets of back-to-back games—against the Oilers and Canucks, then against the Ducks and Kings.
• Chicago also faces plenty of tough competition during the earlier part of the month, including games against the Tampa Bay Lightning, San Jose Sharks, Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars.

The Prognosis: Uncertain. The usually dominant Blackhawks are sitting on the edge of the playoff bubble after a less-than-confident start to the new season.

Tuesday's 5-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens marked a step in the right direction, but the news that winger Patrick Sharp is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury, per NHL.com, could continue to hamper the Hawks' chances of moving up the crowded Western Conference standings.

Though their lineup has been depleted due to salary-cap issues, Chicago's a good team that will most likely get on a roll in time for another playoff charge. That assault might not begin in earnest until this run of November games is out of the way.

New Jersey Devils

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November Schedule Breakdown: 14 games—five at home and nine on the road

The Toughest Stretches:

• Four games in eight nights in Western Canada: Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.
• Five sets of back-to-backs, the most of any team in November, all involving travel.
• Tough competition, including two games against the St. Louis Blues and two against the Detroit Red Wings.

The Prognosis: Not bad. Though they're a middle-of-the-pack team both offensively (15th) and defensively (21st), the Devils are winning their fair share of games and currently holding down the third playoff position in the Metropolitan Division.

The Devils' defensive numbers are hurt by the fact that when they lose, they lose big: a 6-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on October 16 and an 8-3 defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 28th.

As for on-ice surprises, rookie defenseman Damon Severson has been the story. The 20-year-old has eight points and is a plus-six in his first 12 NHL games.

The big question this month is whether New Jersey will be able to match up against the Western Conference, which makes up eight of the team's 14 opponents in November. The Devils are 1-2-1 against the West so far; they'll need to do better to stay in the playoff picture.

New York Islanders

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November Schedule Breakdown: 14 games—six at home and eight on the road

The Toughest Stretches:

• Four-game West Coast road trip, including stops in San Jose, Anaheim, Los Angeles and Arizona.
• Four sets of back-to-back games, including a home-and-home against the Pittsburgh Penguins on November 21 and 22.
• Two other home-and-homes with days off in between: against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals.

The Prognosis: Not great. After their 4-0 start to the season, the New York Islanders went 2-4 in the second half of October. They're hanging tough so far on their difficult West Coast road trip, losing to San Jose before squeaking past the injury-battered Anaheim Ducks in overtime.

Single home games are almost like road games. Twice in November the Islanders will return to Nassau Coliseum for a lone contest before heading right back out of town, making their schedule even more challenging.

If the Islanders can stay in the playoff conversation until month's end, they'll have put themselves in good position to be battling for a postseason berth next spring.

Pittsburgh Penguins

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November Schedule Breakdown: 14 games—five at home and nine on the road

The Toughest Stretches:

• Three straight weekends with back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday.
• Two games in one week against the New York Rangers: November 11 at Madison Square Garden and November 15 at Consol Energy Center.

The Prognosis: Solid. The Penguins are coming into their own under new coach Mike Johnston, tightening up their defensive game and enjoying excellent netminding. Of course, they wouldn't be Pittsburgh if they didn't score their usual pile of goals.

The Penguins have enjoyed a comfortable schedule through the first month of the season, so it'll be interesting to see if they can maintain their high level of play as they hit the road and play more frequently. Pittsburgh will also be tested emotionally in its games against the Rangers, the team that overcame a 3-1 deficit to knock Pittsburgh out of the playoffs last spring. 

Any cracks that might appear in the foundation during a busy November could turn into exploitable weaknesses once the playoffs roll around.

Vancouver Canucks

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November Schedule Breakdown: 14 games—six at home and eight on the road

The Toughest Stretches:

• Four road games in six nights from November 4-9, ending with back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks.
• Hosting the Ducks at Rogers Arena on November 20 after playing in Edmonton the night before.
• The first two games of a seven-game swing through the Eastern Conference on November 28 and 30.

The Prognosis: Quite positive. Since getting blown out by the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche on their first serious road trip of the year back in October, the Canucks have gone 5-1 and climbed within spitting distance of the top of the NHL standings. Free-agent signing Ryan Miller has delivered as promised, leading the NHL with nine wins.

A gutsy come-from-behind victory in the Canucks' return to Denver on Tuesday offers promise that Willie Desjardins' team is continuing to improve and has not yet reached its full potential.

Winnipeg Jets

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November Schedule Breakdown: 15 games—five at home and 10 on the road

The Toughest Stretches:

• Ten road games in November, the most of any current playoff team.
• Three sets of back-to-backs, though the Jets have already won both halves of the toughest one: Winnipeg shut out both the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks by 1-0 scores last weekend.
• A crazy five-game road trip in nine days that will cover nearly 3,400 miles as the Jets travel through Ottawa, Montreal, Carolina, Nashville and Minnesota before returning home.

The Prognosis: Not bad, actually. Despite a rough stretch earlier in the season, Winnipeg is 5-0-1 dating back to October 26. The Jets are currently sitting in a playoff spot—third in the Central Division.

Suddenly stingy in net, Winnipeg's enjoying stellar goaltending from both Ondrej Pavelec and rookie backup Michael Hutchinson. The defense will be tested on Thursday against the powerful Pittsburgh Penguins, but if the Jets can survive their twisty imminent road trip, their schedule will ease up substantially after the end of the month.