It is the second week of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and now this really begins to get serious, even for the fantasy playoff poolies.  Everyone was stunned when Pittsburgh scored ten times on Philadelphia last night.  Now a 7-4 or 8-5 win may not have been out of the question but a 10-3 rout where Pittsburgh scored eight unanswered most certainly is.  Several Penguin players had three points including Evgeni Malkin, who scored his first two goals of the playoffs.  Even Jordan Staal had a hat trick.  It may be one game but for the only time this series, Marc-Andre Fleury looked pretty good over the final two periods.  Is it a sign of thing to come or a blip?  Fantasy owners and hockey fans will want to keep an eye on the early portion of Game 5. 

So who was the Fantasy POTN last night.  There were quite a few good choices but only one that was the best.  Let’s find out.

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Fantasy POTN:

Cory Schneider, G, Vancouver Canucks

This was too easy.  The goalie stops 43 of 44 shots including a Dustin Brown penalty shot late that could have made the game way too close for comfort.  Schneider has only given up two goals in two games and seems to have gotten the best of LA goalie Jonathan Quick, almost like their prep school days in New England.  Yes Vancouver faces a tough road here but with Schneider in net and the team somewhat healthy, anything is possible.  The key is those point blank chances.  If Schneider gets in the way of those and gives up two or less, Vancouver is just more likely to win.  Those are the facts.

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QUICK LOOK BACK:

The TEN SPOT?

It is still running around the hockey world like a buzzsaw with no off button.  Pittsburgh scoring ten goals does have long reaching effects.  Do we see an over/under of 7 or greater for the next game?  One has to wonder because betting lines and fantasy have somewhat of a relationship.  People often do not realize this.  Philadelphia is going to try with extra effort to put more pucks in the net because honestly their goaltending has been less than stellar as well.  Both team defenses have been gouged to the maximum and the numbers do not lie.  There have been a total combined 45 goals scored in this series (11.25 goals per game).  Take the seven goals from Game 1 out and that average jumps to 12.67 goals per in the last three.  Clearly minimizing chances may be the only way to keep the scoring down and even then.  Either way, its a boon for fantasy hockey poolies.

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SCHEDULE TIME:

It a nice and robust four game schedule on the playoff docket tonight.  The stage seems to be set for a lot of unexpected occurrences.  New Jersey blew a three goal lead the other night once Scott Clemmensen came in.  Boston and Washington combined for seven goals in one game after scoring less in two games.  Phoenix found a way to win on a seeing eye shot in Game 3 in overtime.  St. Louis pounced three times on the extra man before holding on for dear life.  This is the playoffs!  

For fantasy poolies, what do we have our eye on?  Here is a general idea.

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KEEP AN EYE ON:

Martin Brodeur, G, New Jersey Devils

Yes his penalty kill failed him but honestly Brodeur failed himself on Tuesday Night.  There are goals you CANNOT give up as a goalie and he did it twice.  It was the right decision to pull him but probably a goal too late.  Hindsight is 20/20 and Brodeur does have the chance to redeem himself tonight.  No one wants to say it but age crept up on the goaltender in the last two to three years and let’s face it, he is not the consistent goalie he once was.  It just is what it is.  If he gives up a few quick ones tonight, Johan Hedberg will be in very quickly.  After all, Hedberg stopped 13 of 14 shots in Game 3.  Anton Volchenkov has been on the ice for eight of the nine goals against.  Yet both Brodeur and Volchenkov are in the lineup.

SAN JOSE PENALTY KILLING:

They gave up three goals to the St. Louis man advantage in Game 3.  However, part of the problem is just in the fact that their team has been porous all year (bottom three) on the man disadvantage.  If New Jersey was not in the playoffs right now, San Jose would be the worst PK unit.  Andy McDonald literally has made a fantasy killing just on this very fact.  If San Jose does not tighten that part of the ship, it will not matter what they do offensively.  St. Louis will win once again because of their power play.

Alex Ovechkin, W, Washington Capitals

It is time to see what Ovechkin is made of in these playoffs.  Washington needs a win to even the series and goaltending is not going to always be there so the offense will need to be.  It is not that Ovechkin was bad in Game 3, he was just not Ovechkin circa two or three seasons ago.  Simply when #8 wants to play, not even Zdeno Chara can truly slow him down at all times.  What will be even more interesting to see is how Ovechkin starts out tonight.  That could go a long way in determining the game tonight and maybe the series.

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OUR THREE FANTASY STARS PROJECTED:

1. Ilya Kovalchuk, NJD

2. Corey Crawford, CHI

3. Joe Pavelski, SJS

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No one knows how this will pan out but good luck in your leagues tonight and enjoy the games everyone.

Apparently this ONE makes a difference.  Clearly a rejuvenated Zdeno Chara makes a difference as Boston won in Montreal last night 4-2.  Now there was no sixty minute effort but Boston did enough to continue an alarming trend in these playoffs and that is the road team is winning quite a bit.

I would highly recommend checking out View From My Seats for Amanda Fortier’s latest blog on Home Ice Disadvantage (with big help from Micah Sussman). These numbers all point toward a growing trend that has manifested itself this year in the playoffs so far.  Teams on the road are nearly .500 in this first week going 11-12 (.478) going into tonight.  That is not a misprint and is even after the first night where only one of the five road teams (Nashville) came away with a Game 1 win away from home ice.

There have been other strange oddities in this playoff season for poolies.  The fact that Mike Fisher has five points (3 G 2 A) is scary enough.  A number far more hideous is Ilya Bryzgalov and his fantasy line which reads the following:

0-3,  4.11 GAA  .881 save percentage, 101 shots faced.

Ouch!  Jonathan Quick (39.5 shots per game faced) and Dwayne Roloson (35 shots per) have faced more and add in that some of Bryzgalov’s goals given up were just inexcusable and it is plain to see why Phoenix is one game away from being eliminated.

There are other goalies who have had tough sledding in the first round so far.  Pekka Rinne may finally get past the first round but his .887 save percentage has been far from stellar.  Sergei Bobrovski was a healthy scratch for Game 3 and who knows when we will see him again.  The save percentage leader is Jonathan Quick at .962 even though he has played 2 games.  That may be too small of a sample compared to those who have played 3 but you get the idea here.  Things are not quite what they seem.

Goalies are not the only reason why a team wins or loses in the playoffs but they are such a main reason that fantasy poolies obsess over finding the right one.  They have to take them far and post solid numbers at the same time.  Last year we saw the elite netminder go on vacation early while guys out of nowhere emerged.  This year the elite are making somewhat of a comeback.  Read our previous article from The Daily Faceoff to explain goalie tiers a bit more.

Here we all thought Jimmy Howard would be almost benched by now or driving people crazy and yet his 2.33 GAA and ,923 save percentage is downright respectable so far.  The 3 wins are a big plus.  Just the fact that I was able to snipe him in almost every fantasy pool draft very very late as a second goalie option was even bigger.  Sometimes putting a guy further down in their rankings does not mean they are being sandbagged as much as their game dictated it.  Will Howard play this way in Round 2 when adversity could start coming is the question one should be asking?  Perhaps.

Okay enough of that.  It is time to take a quick look back at last night.

A LOOK BACK:

1. Brian Boucher (Philly) — He will not be disrespected here and he came to the rescue of the Flyers with a 35 save effort and only one Boucher gaffe in his two goals against.  The thing that he does so well is the patience and resilience to bounce back. “The Bouch” found a way to silence the critics and Buffalo sticks last night long enough to earn the 4-2 win and I do mean earn.  Buffalo played hard and had more quality scoring chances.  If Chris Pronger is really out for more games then Boucher is vital to the hopes of Philadelphia advancing past Round 1.

2. Jimmy Howard (Detroit) — Howard was expected to play just well enough for Detroit to advance but last night he had to be pretty sharp against a determined Phoenix team.  The result was a 28 save effort and the simple fact that he has outplayed Ilya Bryzgalov speaks volumes here.  At least for Round 1, Howard is playing like it is October again where he was a top 5 goalie for that month.

3. Tim Thomas (Boston) — Yes the two gaffes were horrible but Thomas found a way to rebound from them and give his team a chance to hold their lead.  Because if they had blown this one (win or loss), the psychological damage would have been too great.  By no means should Thomas fans overly rejoice here but at least fantasy wise there is some hope now.  Game 4 will tell us a ton about how all this goes.

SCHEDULE TIME:

So with Brent Seabrook (upper body) out tonight and yes Dave Bolland (head) is in, could we see the defending Champs ousted in a sweep?  Anything is possible but the fourth win against Chicago will be the toughest one Roberto Luongo has ever seen in the playoffs.

With only two games on the docket, there is really not quite enough to do a three up and three down but obviously Raffi Torres may be one to watch tonight but for his fantasy production oddly enough.  He will not be the marked man everyone thinks he will be.  It may be more the Sedin twins and Luongo.  Do not be shocked if Torres steps it up offensively.

Tonight in Los Angeles, can Jonathan Quick shut the door like he has in most of the first two games of this series?  That is going to be the biggest question.  If he can and Justin Williams and the Kings first defensive pairing can continue to get shots on net, the Kings could be one step closer to pulling this off. The key for San Jose is again getting second line production with a little help from the first line and timely Antti Niemi saves.  

Fantasy poolies may really want to pay attention tonight because even with only two games, there will be a lot to keep an eye on.  Good luck on this night!