Welcome to today’s quick hitting edition of the Playoff Fantasy Hockey ONE. When you get to this point of a round, there is not much left but a Game 6 here and a Game 7 there. So for the fantasy poolie, its a bit different than from the fan’s perspective. Last night, the Rangers dodged elimination (there were issues) and the Blackhawks fell to the Coyotes in six. The bottom line was there was a Fantasy POTN that stood above all and here we go…..
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FANTASY POTN:
Mike Smith, G, Phoenix Coyotes
This one was obvious for the fact that he had 39 saves in a 4-0 shutout over the Chicago Blackhawks last night. Consider that Phoenix was outshot 28-8 in the first 40 minutes, Smith really stood on his head. He made the A+ saves in this series to win it and nothing else mattered. Anytime a goalie throws down a .950 save percentage in the playoffs, you have to take notice and we had several such performances. When you take down an offensive team like the Blackhawks, the performance is just a bit more noteworthy needless to say.
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QUICK LOOK BACK:
Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider — New York Rangers
You could hear the Hulk Hogan music in the background or maybe not. Either way, the Rangers won with a bit of help (not from Tim Peel entirely) but from Stepan who arrived in big time fashion with three points (1 G 2 A) then Chris Kreider chipped in with a huge goal assisted by Stepan and the Rangers would eventually hold on to win 3-2. Yes there was some controversy because of some comments, a missed kick, and officiating but because of these two American kids there will be a Game 7 at MSG on Thursday Night.
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SCHEDULE TIME:
Tuesday, April 24, 2012 |
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| Teams | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | at | New Jersey | 7:30 PM | Gameday | ||
This Game 6 is all that is on the schedule tonight. That is often what happens when the rounds wind down. However, the intensity usually skyrockets. Without Jose Theodore in net tonight, Kevin Dineen turns back to Scott Clemmensen. Clemmensen looked great in relief in Game 3 but gave up three third period goals in a 4-0 Game 4 loss. It will be intriguing to see what happens in Game 6.
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KEEP AN EYE ON:
Parise-Kovalchuk-Zajac (New Jersey)
So Travis Zajac has not quite got the scoring touch back yet. Ilya Kovalchuk appears to be ailing in some mysterious way and Zach Parise has been a little off at times to be honest while shooting a ton. This line has to bust out finally or this series is going to end tonight. Fantasy poolies are dying between this and David Clarkson with his no goals but three assists. This is simply a line that will bury them or raise them. Let’s see what happens!
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Good luck tonight in your fantasy leagues and once again thanks for reading. Oh by the way, take a look at Sean Bergenheim of the Panthers. He has been pretty good this postseason.
