March 30 2015
Dobber
2015-03-30
Mrazek misses big opportunity; Green hurting poolies; Huberdeau on fire; and more …
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With just six or seven games left in the regular season, there are three players with 40 goals and just one player with 41 goals. Last year it was the same thing. And even before the lockout there was Stamkos with 60 goals, Malkin with 50 and just two others reaching 40. Until expansion, this is probably what we’re going to get.
There are a couple of other minor things that should help too. One is the fact that the NHL is going to 3-on-3 overtime. Very minor, but you’re still looking at close to 100 more goals scored to settle overtime than when we had 4-on-4. That’s 100 goals that count in fantasy hockey, instead of shootout goals which don’t count in fantasy hockey. Maybe, what, 250 added points or eight points per team per season likely distributed among the top five scorers on the team? And secondly – the addition of a new member of the Big 3 (heretofore known as the Big 4). That can only help as well – one team is certainly going to see a pop in offense.
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Quite a long segue into my note about Alex Ovechkin scoring number 48 and 49 yesterday. That ended the first three-game point drought he’s had since early December. At even strength, Ovechkin was not playing with Nicklas Backstrom. Here were the line combos:
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#1 |
22.2% |
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#2 |
21.6% |
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#3 |
17.5% |
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#4 |
17% |
Because he enjoyed success, and the team enjoyed success, you’ll probably see these line combos intact. And that bodes well for Brouwer, Ward and Kuznetsov. At least for a couple of games.
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Mike Green has four points in 16 games. Those five or six more points that he ‘should’ have had in that span are going to cost more than a handful of poolies the championship. Ahem (me).
#2
24.5%
#3
20.6%
#4
12.3%
Jack Capuano has completely mixed and matched this group now, other than that great fourth line (#3 above).
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It would appear that Lubomir Visnovsky has finally shown up for this team. Just points in three straight, so early days yet for that. But I get the sense that his injuries are behind him and he’s motivated because he is finally realizing that this is a good team with a reasonable shot at the Cup. Still secondary PP time, but if you need a depth defenseman for the final week, he could be available and worthwhile.
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Well that controversy died off before it could get started. Petr Mrazek had been given the opportunity to steal the starting job from Jimmy Howard. But he got blown out of the game by the early stage of the second period after giving up four goals on 11 shots. Howard came in and took the loss even though he only gave up one goal on 16 shots. Anyway, I’m sure it’s enough for the coach to put Howard out there again and likely ride him into the postseason. Had Mrazek, say, earned a shutout Sunday…then this thing just got serious. Howard owners would have been in a ton of trouble.
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Not really fantasy relevant unless your league counts hits, even though he has five points in his last four games, but Lance Bouma scored his 16th goal of the season last night. The last time he scored 16 goals was back in 2006 when he was 15 and playing in the RAMHL. Rural Alberta Midget Minor (I had to look it up). So obviously this season is out of character. But he does have 253 hits on the season.
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Seven more blocked shots last night and Kris Russell is now 63 ahead of the next best in the NHL, Roman Josi. In the same game, Josi had zero BLKS.
Three Flames’ defensemen are in the Top 8 in the NHL for blocked shots (Dennis Wideman and TJ Brodie).
Two teams that are the biggest surprises this season – Calgary and Winnipeg – are finding success through different means. While Calgary boasts three players in the Top 8 for blocked shots, the Jets have zero players in the Top 25.
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Speaking of Jets, just a devastating loss last night as they were closing in on a guaranteed point when the Blackhawks broke the tie with a half-minute left in the contest. It snapped Ondrej Pavelec‘s win streak at six games.
Drew Stafford is on a nine-game points streak (11 points). Right now he’s shooting the puck as much as he was in his earlier, more successful, Buffalo days and we’re seeing the result. Great sleeper for next year, wherever he ends up.
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There’s been a Chris Kunitz sighting. First goal in the month of March (15 games).
With Kris Letang out (heartbreaking injury – concussion – so tough for the guy), Derrick Pouliot is starting to appear on score sheets. He’s another one to consider for the final two weeks of your league. When Pouliot comes into his own in a few years, he’ll be more prolific offensively than Letang.
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Alex Stalock played great in that game, but his team isn’t scoring around him. In the last four games he has allowed just six goals. He started both ends of the back to back, because as we noted here last week Niemi is 4-8-0 in his last 12. It’s some badly-needed redemption for Stalock, who has had a tough year until now. Too bad we won’t get to see which one gets the start in the postseason, because the Sharks won’t be going there. But I wonder if Stalock will show enough down the stretch to convince team brass to sign him to an extension.
Joe Thornton is pointless in five.
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Both James Wisniewski and Tomas Fleischmann were back in the Anaheim lineup Sunday and they each picked up an assist. But putting them in was forced due to injuries to Beleskey and Stoner.
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Also, thought I’d mention that I had my keeper league baseball draft on Saturday. I won’t bore the hockey readers with the details, but for those into baseball I posted what I did here. And tell your friends about our awesome and insanely cheap updated Cheat Sheets.
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This is gorgeous.