Fantasy hockey SOS: Oct. 26-Nov. 1

For more from Brandon Thomas, check him out at RotoWire.com.

Just like rules were made to be broken, there are some odd trends out there that are destined to be defied, and soon.

The Dallas Stars have struggled to score at home of late, mustering just one goal in its last two contests in Texas against L.A. and Boston. But that likely won’t last. The Stars wrap up a three-game road trip this weekend and return to the friendliest of offensive scenarios – games against Toronto and Florida, the worst two defensive teams in hockey. To boot, Dallas’ third game this week is against a Nashville team that recently dropped six in a row – including a 6-0 laugher to the Stars on Oct. 14.

Brendan Morrow and Brad Richards(notes) would start in pretty much all fantasy lineups this week anyway, so look a little deeper for possible benefactors on your waiver wire. Loui Eriksson(notes) and Jamie Benn(notes) are hot commodities, and even the likes of a Toby Petersen(notes) – who has started to get some power play time recently – and Fabian Brunnstrom(notes) could be options.

Here a few other notes from this week’s slate of 47 games:

• The rock-solid play of Colorado goalie Craig Anderson(notes) has been a theme early this year, but this could be a dicey week for him and backup Peter Budaj(notes) (who’s bound to get a start one of these days). The Avalanche are on the road for all four of their games this week, and three of them are against teams that average more than 3.5 goals per game – Calgary, Edmonton and San Jose.

• Antti Niemi(notes) has been sought out by plenty of fantasy owners with Cristobal Huet(notes) looking shaky. If Niemi really does wrestle away most of the starts, Chicago’s upcoming schedule should help him be a fantasy contributor right away – the Blackhawks play Minnesota, Nashville and Montreal, three of the four worst offensive teams in the league.

• Much has been made of the Bruins’ trades and injuries, but it could be the goaltending in the news this week – and not in a good way. Boston plays back-to-back games against Edmonton and the NY Rangers, Nos. 2 and 3 in the league in goal-scoring, respectively.

• A swing through Florida for games against the Panthers and Lightning serve to benefit the offense of pretty much any team – and that team this week would be Ottawa. See if Chris Kelly(notes) or Anton Volchenkov(notes) are available for rentals.

Grid Key:

HOME GAME = CAPS; road game = lowercase
Red = Second game of back-to-backs
Green = Second game of opponents’ back-to-backs
Yellow = Second game of both teams’ back-to-backs
* = Matinee game

The Four-Game Conclusion

Looking ahead, four teams play four games during the fantasy week from Nov. 2-8: Atlanta, Phoenix, TampaBay and the NY Islanders.

Grid Key:

HOME GAME = CAPS; road game = lowercase
Red = Second game of back-to-backs
Green = Second game of opponents’ back-to-backs
Yellow = Second game of both teams’ back-to-backs
* = Matinee game