March 29, 2015

Ian Gooding

2015-03-29

On Saturday, Henrik Lundqvist made his first start since taking a puck to his neck seven weeks ago. Unfortunately, he allowed four goals on 30 shots in the Rangers' 4-2 loss to the Bruins. Cam Talbot, who will start the second of back-to-backs Sunday (GoaliePost), has had a nice little run filling in for Lundqvist. One has to think that Talbot has played himself into the conversation of backups ready to assume a starting role next season, but he still has one more year left on his current contract. But could Alain Vigneault convince Glen Sather to trade Talbot, since AV wouldn't want to deal with another goaltending controversy like he did in Vancouver?

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Whether you think the Shane Doan hit on Kris Letang was dirty or clean, it's discouraging that Letang has to deal with yet another injury. Letang might even be the best defenseman in fantasy hockey if he didn't have the pile of injuries that he has in his career. (You could actually apply this statement to the Penguins in general, according to the website Man Games Lost – more on that in a moment.) Now fantasy owners probably need to bench their star defenseman during their most important time of the season.

One defenseman that could step up if Letang misses time is Derrick Pouliot. The rookie d-man recorded an assist in 19 minutes of icetime on Saturday. However, those owners who have speculatively added him have received very little return (six points in 29 games). Pouliot, however, is a key part of my keeper league team's future, but I haven't activated him for this season.

Back to Man Games Lost again. I didn't know about that site until today, but I like it. Man Games Lost lists the Penguins as fourth in the NHL with 305 man games lost. The one team that I figured was more injured than the Penguins this season is Columbus, who turned out to be the most injured team with 476 man games lost. Can you guess the teams that are second and third? Colorado is second (430), while Anaheim is third (337). The team that has been least affected by injuries is Montreal, with "just" 82 man games lost.

 

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Switching gears, I love this fantasy hockey horror story thread that Dobber has started on the Forum. He mentioned my story in yesterday's Ramblings, which you can read about here or in the thread (look for gooding74, the guy with the skull mask).

My favorite story is from member Rover, who tells his tale about losing a playoff matchup because Bo Horvat lost a faceoff late in a game. That actually happened in one of my regular leagues a few years ago, where old fantasyhockey.com writer (and now NHL.com writer) David Satriano lost a league title because he lost by one faceoff. Horrific stuff, as this is the kind of loss you never get over. It's almost like getting to the one-yard line late in the Super Bowl with your team trailing by less than a touchdown and throwing an interception. Needless to say, we no longer have faceoffs as a category in this league.

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While we're on the subject, that same horror story also mentioned losing because Niklas Kronwall recorded an assist on the Justin Abdelkader broken stick goal last Sunday. On that note, I wonder how many fantasy leagues this weekend will be won or lost on Milan Lucic's soccer goal, which was one of two of his goals scored on Saturday.

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A few other horror stories mentioned trading away elite talent to get Tuukka Rask. The Bruins' goalie hasn't been a bust at the level of Mike Smith, but his owners were probably expecting a little more this season. Fortunately for those owners, the Bruins revealed that Rask should be able to travel with the team for Sunday's game. It was a mystery as to why Rask took himself out of Saturday afternoon's game against the Rangers early in the second period, but the Bruins revealed after the game that he was dehydrated.

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Another typical Steve Mason start on Saturday. This time he made 42 saves, but he couldn't earn the win in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Sharks. Thank heaven I own him in a league that awards points for saves. My trade for him late in the season might help lead me to victory in that league (fingers crossed!)

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If you need waiver-wire help, Aleksander Barkov would be one player to turn to. Barkov scored both Panthers' goals on Saturday and now has seven points (3g-4a) in his last six games. Over in the Forums, I suggested keeping Barkov over David Pastrnak and Evgeny Kuznetsov before Saturday's game. Obviously I stand by my statement now.

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Leafs win! Leafs win! That's not something we've heard very often this season, particularly since the calendar turned to 2015. Are there any Tyler Bozak owners left out there? Bozak's hat trick and one assist were his first points in eight games. You certainly couldn't be blamed if he was on your bench. Phil Kessel's and James van Riemsdyk's fantasy values have also sunk like a stone these past few months, but both recorded three helpers in this game. Maybe that scrimmage scrap with David Booth is what the doctor ordered for Kessel to play with a little more fire in what's left of the season.

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Tyler Seguin might not always make the wisest choices when it comes to his words or actions off the ice, but there's no disputing his hockey skills. In his first trip to Vancouver since the interview in which he and Jamie Benn made some disrespectful remarks about the Sedins, Seguin scored a breakaway goal and added an assist in the Stars' 4-3 overtime win over the Canucks, in a game where the officiating was less than perfect for both sides.

Yes, I am a Canucks fan, and yes I do complain about officiating sometimes. But I also like to think that the hockey gods (or perhaps the officials themselves) have a way of evening things out eventually. It was a questionable slashing call late in the game on Seguin that allowed the Canucks to score the game-tying goal. This after a borderline icing call on the Canucks earlier in the period, which led to a Stars' goal off the resulting faceoff. In addition, a Canucks' goal earlier in the game was waived off because of goaltender interference. Oh, did I mention that the officiating wasn't very good?

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Yes, that's Yannick Weber on the Canucks' first-unit power play at the moment. Weber was held without a point on Saturday, but he had scored goals in each of his three previous games. He's not as much of a long-term solution as Adam Clendening is thought to be. But Clendening wasn't getting the job done (2 points in 17 games as a Canuck), so he has been sent down to Utica of the AHL.

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So thanks to a 23-save shutout against Tampa Bay, Petr Mrazek receives starts in both ends of the back-to-backs this weekend (GoaliePost). This might be a coach riding the hot goalie, but these things always have the potential to turn into full-blown goaltending controversies. Howard has not done himself any favors with his play this month, though, posting a 3-4-1 record with a 3.38 goals-against average and .887 save percentage in March. His goals-against average has actually increased each month since he was one of the league's hottest goalies in December (1.98 GAA, .926 SV%).

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With three points on Saturday, Matt Duchene has reached 50 on the season. In one league, I drafted him thinking he was a shoo-in for 70 after he reached that total last season in just 71 games. But I guess the Avs haven't been getting the puck luck like they had last season. Jarome Iginla, who with three assists on Saturday is now up to 55 points, has to be wondering if he chose the right team to attempt to win a Stanley Cup with before his career ends. The Avs are a fast-skating team; Iginla, not so much.

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Aside from the aforementioned Talbot and Mrazek, here are some other goaltending starters for Sunday, according to GoaliePost:

Jonas Hiller @ Nashville: Karri Ramo was pulled in his last start in the third period of Friday's game against Minnesota after allowing four goals. They will be in tough in Nashville, a team with a 28-7-2 home record this season. But you know those pesky Flames have a way of pulling a game out just as they appear to be flickering away.

Cory Schneider vs. Anaheim: The Devils started Keith Kinkaid in Saturday's 3-1 loss to Carolina, so the usually overworked Schneider should at least be fresh for this game. If not for the win-loss record (26-27-8), Schneider might receive some consideration for the Vezina Trophy (2.19 GAA, .928 SV%).

Marc-Andre Fleury vs. San Jose: Both teams played on Saturday. Thomas Greiss started for the Pens, so Fleury should also be well-rested for this game. Start him as usual against a Sharks team that has faded out of the playoff race.

Ondrej Pavelec vs. Chicago: Pavelec might be fantasy hockey's hottest goalie at the moment, rattling off six consecutive wins while allowing just seven goals over that span. He faces a Blackhawks team that has suddenly fallen into a wild card spot. Start him with confidence.

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UPCOMING GAMES

Mar 28 - 19:03 OTT vs CHI
Mar 28 - 19:03 TOR vs WSH
Mar 28 - 19:03 MTL vs PHI
Mar 28 - 19:03 PIT vs CBJ
Mar 28 - 19:03 FLA vs NYI
Mar 28 - 19:03 CAR vs DET
Mar 28 - 20:03 MIN vs S.J
Mar 28 - 20:03 STL vs CGY
Mar 28 - 20:03 WPG vs VGK
Mar 28 - 21:03 EDM vs L.A
Mar 28 - 21:03 COL vs NYR
Mar 28 - 22:03 SEA vs ANA
Mar 28 - 22:03 VAN vs DAL
Mar 28 - 22:03 ARI vs NSH

Starting Goalies

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TAGE THOMPSON BUF
JJ PETERKA BUF
ANTHONY DUCLAIR T.B
JORDAN GREENWAY BUF
JURAJ SLAFKOVSKY MTL

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  Players Team
ALEKSEI KOLOSOV PHI
JOONAS KORPISALO OTT
KAREL VEJMELKA ARI
UKKO-PEKKA LUUKKONEN BUF
JUSTUS ANNUNEN COL

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency WSH Players
23.7 ALEX OVECHKIN T.J. OSHIE CONNOR MCMICHAEL
22.3 DYLAN STROME MAX PACIORETTY IVAN MIROSHNICHENKO
10.0 MICHAEL SGARBOSSA ALIAKSEI PROTAS HENDRIX LAPIERRE

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