Fantasy Hockey Schedule Week 12: Happy Holidays

Christmas came early for the Washington Capitals, as they finally stopped their losing streak at eight games.  The Capitals went down 2-0 early to the Ottawa Senators on Sunday, but fought their way back and won the game 3-2.  Expect the Caps to return to their old, high offense self now that the streak is over.

When dressing your team this week, be sure to check the schedule as there are no games on Friday or Saturday this week due to Christmas.  Be sure not to dress any player from the Philadelphia Flyers or New York Rangers as they only play a single game this week.

Here is some great information for helping you to decide who to dress for the upcoming fantasy hockey week.

Games to Be Played in Week 12

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VANCOUVER, CANADA - DECEMBER 11: Henrik Sedin #33 of the Vancouver Canucks skates with the puck during NHL action on December 11, 2010 against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)

Four Games: Atlanta, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Tampa Bay and Vancouver

Three Games: Anaheim, Calgary, Carolina, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Edmonton, Florida, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Montreal, Nashville, New Jersey, NY Islanders, Phoenix and Washington

Two Games: Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Colorado, Ottawa, San Jose and Toronto

One Game: NY Rangers and Philadelphia

Home and Away Games

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MONTREAL, CANADA - DECEMBER 16: Josh Gorges #26 of the Montreal Canadiens defends against Zdeno Chara #33 of the Boston Bruins during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on December 16, 2010 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Bruins 4-3

When it comes to dressing your players for the upcoming week, especially your goalies, it is important to know which team is on a long road trip and which team is enjoying an extended period at home. Listed below are the teams that play at least three home/away games this week or play all their games at home or on the road (home/road records up to December 20):

HOME: Boston (8-5-3), Buffalo (7-9-1), Chicago (10-9-0), Colorado (10-4-1), Dallas (11-3-2), NY Rangers (8-8-1), Philadelphia (12-5-2), San Jose (8-4-3) and St. Louis (10-3-2)

AWAY: Anaheim (6-9-3), Calgary (5-9-3), Edmonton (6-6-3), Florida (7-10-0), Montreal (7-7-0), Nashville (9-7-1), Phoenix (9-5-3), Tampa Bay (9-8-2) and Vancouver (7-5-2)

Sunday Games

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ST LOUIS, MO - DECEMBER 09: Jaroslav Halak #41 of the St. Louis Blues tends net against the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Scottrade Center on December 9, 2010 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

If you participate in any type of head-to-head hockey pool then you are likely dressing a lineup for each scoring period, which usually ends on Sunday. As the week comes to an end and you find yourself in a close battle for those wins you want as many players as possible playing for you. Here are the teams that play on Sunday (record for Sunday games up to but not including Week 12):

Anaheim (3-3), Atlanta (2-1), Carolina (0-2), Chicago (3-1), Columbus (0-1), Dallas (1-0), Detroit (2-1), Edmonton (3-2), Los Angeles (0-2), Minnesota (1-1), Montreal (0-1), New Jersey (0-1), NY Islanders (0-2), Ottawa (1-1), Phoenix (2-2), Pittsburgh (0-0), St. Louis (2-0), Tampa Bay (0-2), Toronto (0-0), Vancouver (2-2) and Washington (4-1)

Back-to-Back Games

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UNIONDALE, NY - DECEMBER 16: Corey Perry #10 of the Anaheim Ducks skates against the New York Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum on December 16, 2010 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

When you are deciding which goalie to dress you need to look at the NHL schedule to see if your goalie's team will play in a back-to-back game that week. Most coaches will not dress the same goalie in back-to-back games so that is something to consider when you are thinking about which goalie to dress for the week. Here are the teams that play in back-to-back games this week (record of second game of back-to-back, not including Week 12):

Anaheim (3-5), Atlanta (2-6), Calgary (1-4), Detroit (2-2), Florida (1-5), Nashville (2-3), NY Islanders (1-5), Pittsburgh (5-1), St. Louis (4-3), Tampa Bay (4-3) and Vancouver (2-2)

Top Five and Bottom Five Teams

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UNIONDALE, NY - DECEMBER 05: Jeff Carter #17 of the Philadelphia Flyers skates against the New York Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum on December 5, 2010 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Knowing which team is on a hot streak or cold streak will help in making your lineup decisions, for example you definitely want to dress a goalie from teams that are on a hot streak. Here are the top five and bottom five teams up to December 20:

TOP FIVE: Nashville (8-1-1), Vancouver (8-1-1), Pittsburgh (8-2-0), Philadelphia (7-1-2) and Colorado (6-1-3)

BOTTOM FIVE: New Jersey (2-8-0), Washington (2-6-2), NY Islanders (2-6-2), Columbus (2-5-3) and Minnesota (3-5-2)

Hot Scorers

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ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 10: Matt Duchene #9 of the Colorado Avalanche against the Atlanta Thrashers at Philips Arena on December 10, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Most elite stars are consistent scorers, but there are several players who are very streaky so keep an eye on their stats so that you can dress them while they are on a hot streak. Here are the top five scorers (up to December 20) for the past seven and 14 days:

PAST 7: Matt Duchene-COLORADO (4GP 4G 3A), Tomas Fleischmann-COLORADO (4GP 4G 3A), Loui Eriksson-DALLAS (4GP 2G 4A), Jonathan Toews-CHICAGO (4GP 2G 4A) and Dustin Brown-LOS ANGELES (4GP 1G 5A)

PAST 14: Matt Duchene-COLORADO (7GP 5G 5A), Ryane Clowe-SAN JOSE (8GP 4G 6A), Pavel Datsyuk-DETROIT (8GP 4G 6A), Corey Perry-ANAHEIM (7GP 4G 6A) and Tomas Fleischmann-COLORADO (7GP 5G 4A)

Top Goaltenders

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DETROIT, MI - DECEMBER 08: Anders Lindback #39 of the Nashville Predators tends net against the Detroit Red Wings at the Joe Louis Arena on December 8, 2010 in Detroit, Michigan. The Predators defeated the Red Wings 3-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Im

PAST 14: Anders Lindback-NASHVILLE (7GS 5W 2SO 1.78 GAA), Brian Boucher-PHILADELPHIA (4GS 4W 1.22 GAA), Roberto Luongo-VANCOUVER (4GS 4W 1.95 GAA), Craig Anderson-COLORADO (7GS 6W) and Antero Niittymaki-SAN JOSE (3GS 3W)