Fantasy Hockey Schedule Week 13: Winter Classic

This year the Winter Classic showcases two of the NHL top young teams in the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins. The visiting team in every Winter Classic has gone on to the Stanley Cup Finals and failed to win the Cup in that season.  Could that mean the Washington Capitals are Finals bound?  They are sure banking on being in the Finals, so much so that they have decided to sacrifice offense this season to be a more playoff-ready team and only time will tell if they made the right move.  Alexander Ovechkin versus Sidney Crosby on an outdoor rink should make for an exciting game.

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 13:

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COLUMBUS,OH - DECEMBER 11: Rick Nash #61 of the Columbus Blue Jackets beats goaltender Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers for his second goal of the game during the third period on December 11, 2010 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Colum

Four Games: Atlanta, Boston, Colorado, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Montreal, NY Rangers, Philadelphia, Phoenix and San Jose

Three Games: Anaheim, Buffalo, Calgary, Carolina, Chicago, Edmonton, Florida, Nashville, New Jersey, NY Islanders, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Toronto and Vancouver

Two Games: Washington

Home and Road Records

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SAN JOSE, CA - DECEMBER 21: Taylor Hall #4 of the Edmonton Oilers and Joe Pavelski #8 of the San Jose Sharks go for the puck at HP Pavilion on December 21, 2010 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

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 25, 2010):

HOME: Edmonton (6-8-2), Florida (7-6-0), Minnesota (8-7-2), St. Louis (11-4-2) and Tampa Bay (10-2-2)

AWAY: Atlanta (9-6-3), Boston (9-5-1), Montreal (8-8-0), NY Rangers (12-6-0), Philadelphia (10-2-3) and San Jose (9-7-2)

Sunday Games To Wrap Up The Week

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NEWARK, NJ - DECEMBER 11: Johan Franzen #93 of the Detroit Red Wings skates against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on December 11, 2010 in Newark, New Jersey. The Red Wings defeated the the Devils 4-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Image

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), Chicago (3-1), Colorado (1-0), Columbus (0-1), Dallas (1-0), Detroit (2-1), Florida (0-1), Minnesota (1-1), Montreal (0-1), Nashville (1-1), NY Rangers (3-1), Philadelphia (1-1), Phoenix (2-2), St. Louis (2-0) and Vancouver (2-2)

Back-To-Back Games

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DENVER - NOVEMBER 17: Matt Duchene #9 of the Colorado Avalanche prepares for a face off against the San Jose Sharks at the Pepsi Center on November 17, 2010 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/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 up to but not including Week 12):

Atlanta (2-6), Boston (3-3), Buffalo (3-7), Calgary (1-4), Carolina (4-5), Colorado (3-4), Columbus (4-2), Dallas (3-3), Detroit (2-2), Los Angeles (2-3), Minnesota (1-7), Montreal (4-3), New Jersey (1-6), NY Islanders (1-5), NY Rangers (9-0), Ottawa (2-3), Philadelphia (5-3), Phoenix (2-5) and Pittsburgh (2-4)

Top Five Teams and Bottom Five Teams

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WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 23: Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins brings the puck down the ice against the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center on December 23, 2010 in Washington DC. (Photo by Greg Fiume/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 goalies from teams that are on a hot streak. Here are the top five and bottom five teams up to December 25, 2010:

TOP FIVE: Pittsburgh (8-2-0), Vancouver (7-1-2), Philadelphia (7-2-1), San Jose (7-2-1) and Los Angeles (7-2-1)

BOTTOM FIVE: New Jersey (1-9-0), Washington (2-5-3), NY Islanders (3-6-1), Columbus (3-5-2) and Calgary (4-5-1)

Streaking Scorers

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VANCOUVER, CANADA - DECEMBER 18: Henrik Sedin #33 of the Vancouver Canucks fends of Francois Beauchemin #22 of the Toronto Maple Leafs to keep control of the puck during the second period in NHL action on December 18, 2010 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC

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 25, 2010 for the past seven and 14 days:

SKATER PAST 7: Martin St. Louis-TAMPA BAY (4GP 3G 5A), Evgeni Malkin-PITTSBURGH (3GP 2G 5A), Henrik Sedin-VANCOUVER (4GP 3G 4A), Loui Eriksson-DALLAS (4GP 2G 5A) and Brian Rafalski-DETROIT (4GP 7A)

SKATER PAST 14: Henrik Sedin-VANCOUVER (7GP 5G 7A), Dustin Brown-LOS ANGELES (7GP 4G 8A), Henrik Zetterberg-DETROIT (8GP 3G 9A), Corey Perry-ANAHEIM (7GP 6G 5A) and Daniel Sedin-VANCOUVER (7GP 3G 8A)

Top Goaltenders

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LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 11: Jonathan Quick #32 of the Los Angeles Kings makes a save during the game against the Minnesota Wild during the first period at the Staples Center on December 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty I

GOALTENDERS PAST 14: Anders Lindback-NASHVILLE (6GS 4W 2SO 1.94 GAA), Craig Anderson-COLORADO (8GS 6W), Jonas Hiller-ANAHEIM (5GS 4W 1SO 1.38 GAA 95.7 SV%), Roberto Luongo-VANCOUVER (5GS 4W 1.97 GAA) and Jonathan Quick-LOS ANGELES (6GS 3W 2SO)