May 29, 2015
Michael Clifford
2015-05-28
Chicago/Anaheim Game 6, aging fantasy wingers in the Western Conference, looking ahead to Tampa Bay/New York Game 7.
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As always on Thursdays, I will be opening a thread on the Dobber Forums for readers to ask me any fantasy hockey (or even non-fantasy hockey) question that comes to mind. I'll do my best to answer all the questions, but some questions as of now are still guesses. Some projections, free agent signings, and the like, are all still very up in the air. All the same, feel free to stop by the Forums and leave a post.
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There were a few nervous moments in Game 6 for Chicago, though after their second period explosion of three goals in under four minutes, they managed a 5-2 win over Anaheim to force a Game 7. That final score may be a bit deceiving, as this was a 3-2 game for over half the third period before Andrew Shaw gave the 'Hawks some breathing room with under four minutes left.
This was a game where the big boys came for the Blackhawks to get this game under control. Duncan Keith assisted all three goals in the second period, while (surprise, surprise) Patrick Kane ended up with the game-winner after some stickhandling wizardry in the offensive zone.
It's also worth noting that Anaheim's second goal to make it 3-2 early in the third period was probably a goalie interference penalty. Corey Crawford's glove hand was prevented from making the save on the replay, yet the goal stood. The final score could have looked worse.
This sets up a Game 7 on Saturday night back in Anaheim. How this ends is anyone's guess. All the same, this has been a wildly entertaining series almost game in and game out (we'll excuse Game 3, the one that followed the triple overtime affair). There's also almost no way that Game 7 doesn't go to overtime, right?
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Chicago scored a beautiful second period goal with Marian Hossa on the receiving end of a great pass from Duncan Keith. That goal got me thinking about some older wingers and their prospects moving forward in fantasy. All three guys are from the West, and they are Patrick Marleau, Marian Hossa, and Patrick Sharp. Marleau will be 36 years old, while Hossa and Sharp will be 37 and 34, respectively, mid-way through the season.
On the flipside, DeBoer leaned on his stars when he had them in New Jersey (Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise), so maybe a guy like Logan Couture can offset any potential losses through more ice time. Kovalchuk played over 24 minutes a game in the regular season in his final two years in New Jersey, and Parise was over 21 minutes in 2011-2012. The only Sharks forward over 20 minutes a game last year was Joe Pavelski at 20:08. If Pavelski and Couture or Marleau get a bump in ice time, that could mean good things.
This is all speculative for now. There's no real telling how this unfolds writing this today. It does change things for San Jose moving forward, though.
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Make sure you check out some brand new prospect ramblings, the first in a while.
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Speaking of a Game 7, the Lightning and Rangers have theirs on Friday night in Madison Square Garden after the Rangers were able to extend the series with a Game 6 win in Tampa Bay. The numbers for the Rangers and Henrik Lundqvist specifically are well-known, but this is a pretty good Tampa Bay team. I don't think this is something that will get in their head.
Lundqvist will have to be his usual King-like self for the Rangers to win this game. That's probably the most obvious analysis I can offer. One thing that could hinder the Rangers might be their discipline; they took a holding the stick penalty on Brenden Morrow (what?), and Chris Kreider took a retaliatory penalty last game as well. Giving this Tampa Bay team extra power plays is a quick recipe to a loss. The same could be said for the Lightning, as their kill hasn't been very good this series either.