It was a pleasant Tuesday Night and most fantasy owners were pleased. However, there were some disasters and unexpected results as always in the NHL. Also if I hear “Mooooossseeeee” one more time, we may scream here! There were nine games in the NHL last night and there was a distinct “Moose and Flower” feel to the events. The strange thing for fantasy owners is so many things went unexpectedly haywire last night.
Did anyone expect the New Jersey Devils to shutout the Los Angeles Kings 3-0 last night or for Columbus to beat up on Detroit, granted it was at home. Maybe Week 3 in your fantasy leagues will still feature some of the same insanity the first two weeks did, I do not know. Surely it is starting out that way. Take as an example, our look back into last night……
A LOOK BACK………
Moose crossing! — Johan Hedberg made 31 saves in a 3-0 shutout of the Kings last night in Los Angeles. Yes Dainius Zubrus had two goals but how often will that happen? Hedberg set the tone with several nice saves in the first period and the Hn the Devils offense came to life in the second. He made 13 saves in the third when the Devils needed to preserve that shutout. Who knew in Jersey, it would be “In Hedberg We Trust”? So far the goalie has held up well.
The Flower shines — Another shutout on the evening came from Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins who turned aside all 33 New York Islanders shots in a 3-0 shutout at Nassau Colisseum last night. Just ask John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, and company how tough Fleury was last night despite a team in front of him that was very sloppy at best. Give Fleury a ton of credit, he has been very good in the early going and gets lost in the shuffle because of guys like Jonathan Quick and Tomas Vokoun.
The search for the WHAT????? — Yes we went there. Grant Clitsome had a nice little fantasy game last night for Columbus as he notched three assists in the 4-1 win over Detroit (Columbus win #1) on the season. He played well on both sides of the ice and finally you could see the potential that he showed last year when he tallied 19 points in the last 31 games of the season. Maybe this is a springboard for a player who needed the boost. Time will tell.
SCHEDULE TIME:
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 |
|||||
| Teams | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | at | Montreal | 7:30 PM | Gameday | ||
| Colorado | at | Calgary | 10:00 PM | Gameday | ||
| St. Louis | at | Vancouver | 10:00 PM | Gameday | ||
This is a nice short compact schedule but the games do offer their own intrigue in many different fantasy ways. Tonight is going to be strange and with a show to boot as well. Let’s get these out quickly.
KEEP AN EYE ON……….
The goaltending in Montreal — Ilya Bryzgalov and Carey Price could be the makings of a fantasy feast by forwards tonight as both will be pretty nervous considering how each have fared in their last couple starts in particular. Price has no margin for error while Bryzgalov now has no Chris Pronger for the next couple weeks. There is talent on both sides and needless to say the Giroux line for Philly and the Cammalleri line for MTL could make an adventure of a night for both netminders. You have been warned!
Gabriel Landeskog, F, Colorado Avalanche — The more I watch this player, the more I enjoy the way he plays the game. Not only does he have 4 goals in 8 games but he does have 29 shots on goal in the early going which is a definite added bonus. I believe he could easily average 4 shots a game for Colorado and tonight he faces a Calgary team that is on pins and needles. This again could be another one of those Landeskog type of nights.
Late night LOLuongo? — Well we will see on this but Luongo was pulled last night after allowing three goals in a loss to Edmonton. More importantly Roberto Luongo just does not get off to good starts and it is something that is just due to overcoaching and overthinking. The guy just has to start playing and the longer everything gets in his head, the longer this malaise will continue. St. Louis has its own problems with Jaroslav Halak so Brian Elliott may start again. Clearly if this was a night to get the nervous energy out, this may be it for Luongo otherwise this funk will drag on even longer.
As always we will be live tweeting throughout the night and of course the show goes on at 8pm ET. The phone number is 1-347-826-7358 and we want to hear from you. So bring the hockey heat! We are ready! Good luck tonight in your fantasy leagues.
