There is nothing like a Game 7 no matter which round they occur in. Last night Boston and Washington went at it for sixty minutes then a little bit more before Joel Ward of the Washington Captials finished the game and series off. The 2 and 4 seeds have been eliminated in the East. Furthermore, the 1 and 3 seeds play in a Game 7 tonight so the chance exists that all four top seeds could be dispatched in Round 1.
Now to be fair, let’s quickly go over all the scenarios that exist for tonight to get people ready for Round 2 which starts tomorrow night already.
===========================================
Round 2 In The East:
-If the Rangers AND Florida win tomorrow: Rangers/Capitals and Flyers/Panthers
-If the Rangers AND New Jersey win tomorrow: Rangers/Capitals and Flyers/Devils
-If the Senators AND Florida win: Panthers/Capitals and Senators/Flyers
-If the Senators AND New Jersey win: Flyers/Senators and Devils/Capitals
So that spells everything out in pretty clear detail. It is time to move back into last night’s action a bit more and name our Fantasy POTN.
===========================================
Fantasy POTN:
Braden Holtby, G, Washington Capitals
The first 40 minutes saw Holtby face quite an assortment of shots from Boston, 25 in all. He stopped 24 and that keyed the Capitals as they dominated the third period and overtime for the most part. Yes the goalie did have some rebound control issues and two dropped shots led to a goal but for the most part the goalie had ice water in his veins. No one thought Washington would advance with their third string goalie but they established an identity and ran with it. Of course it did not hurt to have a goalie who played with nothing to lose. It is always to easier to play as the underdog.
===========================================
SCHEDULE TIME:
Thursday, April 26, 2012 |
|||||
| Teams | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ottawa | at | NY Rangers | 7:00 PM | Gameday | ||
| New Jersey | at | Florida | 8:30 PM | Gameday | ||
This will end the first round at long last. Two series that went different ways to get here at arrived at the ultimate crossroads. The Devils and Rangers have been in this territory before after losing Game 7’s a few years ago back to back. Could it happen again? Perhaps. There are only four possible outcomes after all.
===========================================
SO WHO STEPS UP?
This is always a good question as Game 7 brings an assortment of the expected and unexpected into the fantasy equation. There are ten teams left but after tonight there will be eight no matter what. Now we do believe that Marian Gaborik and Ilya Kovalchuk are playing hurt for their respective teams. Surely there are other players as well which thickens the plot considerably for tonight. Think about it! There will be that hero in each game no one saw coming.
Will the games be low scoring? Game sevens often take on that identifiable marker. Last night had the start of a 4-3 game that quickly turned into a 2-1 outcome. That is why we take a different approach every so often. With Round 1 just about being done, you almost have to. If you need heroes, we have them right here with the expected and then the unexpected.
EXPECTED HEROES:
1. Henrik Lundqvist
2. Kris Versteeg
3. Ryan Callahan
UNEXPECTED HEROES:
1. Jose Theodore
2. Sean Bergenheim
3. Chris Kreider
Yes it may be tough to read this and stomach but based on quite a few simulations this morning via NHL12, this is what we came up with. Again let’s see how this all pans out tomorrow but good luck fantasy poolies out there. Round 2 opener comes tomorrow but later we take a dive into the Fantasy Toolbox. This should be something good.
