There were some nice plays and performances from last night. As always in fantasy hockey, every day is critical this time of year. Yes there are ones more crucial than others but the attention level has to be very high. With six games on Monday, opportunities seemed to be plenty and scoring was UP last night with 43 goals combined. That was despite a 1-0 Canucks win over the Kings. Goaltending was for the most part below average and we’ll just leave it at that. Just as Detroit how to get healthy and you probably can spell it C O L U M B U S!
Now it is time to get into this a little bit and reveal our Fantasy POTN. There probably should be little surprise here.
================================================
FANTASY POTN:
Roberto Luongo, G, Vancouver Canucks — We went with the goalie??? How does that happen? Are you insane? Surely these are all questions expected here but let’s be honest, the Kings needed those two points and Luongo blanked them. It is that plain and simple. LA had 38 shots on goal, 21 scoring chances and several point blank chances in the closing minutes of the third period. Luongo battled in the 1-0 shutout and yes the Kings are offensively challenged at times still but the Vancouver netminder was just that little bit better. Give a hearty stick tap as Luongo now has 59 career shutouts and 3/4 of those shutouts are when he faces 30 or more shots. That is not a surprise.
===============================================
A QUICK LOOK BACK:
Todd Bertuzzi, W, Detroit Red Wings — Sure Bertuzzi may ride the wave a bit at times but his +/- this year is in stark contrast to his career numbers. When you want to get healthy, you play Columbus. Bertuzzi had four assists and was a +5 on the night. The shot totals did not matter really as Bertuzzi has just been such an improvment in his stay with Detroit. Think of all the injuries and black marks on Bertuzzi’s career but remember the scoring touch. It comes in glimpses but 36 points and a +25 this year is pretty respectable given his second/third line role.
Erik Karlsson, D, Ottawa Senators — We almost went with Daniel Alfredsson with his two clutch goals but we gave due to the future Norris Trophy winner or at least Fantasy Norris winner as Karlsoon had three assists and a +5 last night in a 6-4 win over the Winnipeg Jets. Karlsson actually has an outside chance at an 80 point season and a better chance at a 20 goal season. When the defenseman had one goal early on and a ton of shots people wondered but Karlsson has silenced those critics.
===============================================
SCHEDULE TIME:
Tuesday, March 27, 2012 |
|||||
| Teams | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carolina | at | Toronto | 7:00 PM | Gameday | ||
| Chicago | at | New Jersey | 7:00 PM | Gameday | ||
| NY Islanders | at | Pittsburgh | 7:00 PM | Gameday | ||
| Buffalo | at | Washington | 7:00 PM | Gameday | ||
| Tampa Bay | at | Boston | 7:30 PM | Gameday | ||
| Florida | at | Montreal | 7:30 PM | Gameday | ||
| Nashville | at | St. Louis | 8:00 PM | Gameday | ||
| NY Rangers | at | Minnesota | 8:00 PM | Gameday | ||
Simply we now bring in Ian Gooding with his usual Pick Six. Do not forget the Weekly Slapshot is on tonight at 9:30pm ET as we rapid fire the fantasy hockey week.
==============================================
PICK SIX:
Two weeks is all that is left in the fantasy season. So if you’re reading this, you’re still competing in your fantasy league to some degree. Perhaps you are competing in your league finals, or perhaps you are in the head-to-head matchup in which the loser finishes dead last. No, I’m not in that position, but as of yesterday I know for sure that I won’t win every league that I’m competing in. But I do have first place locked up in one roto league and am still competing for first in two other head-to-head leagues.
In the spirit of trying to pull out every last stop, this Pick Six strictly lists notable players that I’ve added or dropped over the past few days. At this stage I’m paying some attention to matchups and recent performance, but a solid argument can be made for just about any player if the add is only for only a game or two.
David Perron, RW, STL – add/start
I am seriously surprised that Perron is only owned in 29 percent of Yahoo leagues, given the Blues’ level of success this season. His point-per-game total (37 points in 51 games) is impressive, as is his plus/minus (+20). In fact, Perron could have been the Blues’ leading scorer if not for his concussion problems. As it stands, Perron is tied for fifth in scoring on a team that could win the President’s Trophy.
Travis Hamonic, D, NYI – add/start
Do you have a defensive slot that sits empty night after night? Hamonic won’t let it go to waste with contributions all around. Hamonic has six points over his last seven games, while his 71 penalty minutes sits third on the Islanders. The 21-year-old already averages over 22 minutes of icetime per game, so you won’t have to worry about the lack of icetime that seems to plague young players.
Kimmo Timonen, D, PHI – add/start
Timonen is employed in the majority of leagues, but I wondered why he was still available in one league given his recent production. Over the past month, Timonen has been remarkably consistent, scoring ten points (2g-8a) over his last 14 games. The assist machine is only two helpers shy of 40 assists on the season, a total that he would reach for the first time in three seasons.
Mikael Samuelsson, RW, FLA – add/start
Samuelsson appeared to be headed toward milk carton territory upon his trade to Florida, but he recorded a four-game point streak earlier this month. He is especially worth targeting if you need power-play goals, given that 7 of his 11 goals and 12 of his 26 points this season have been of the power-play variety.
Devan Dubnyk, G, EDM – add/start
Over the past few years, the Oilers haven’t exactly been known for their goaltending, so Dubnyk’s recent accomplishments have perhaps gone unnoticed. Dubnyk has won five of his last six games while holding a 1.82 GAA and a .940 SV% this month. Just because he doesn’t play meaningful games doesn’t mean that he can’t help your fantasy squad.
Taylor Hall, LW, EDM – drop
Hall (concussion) hasn’t started skating, so his chances of playing even one game this season appear slight. With such a small window of opportunity to win your fantasy league, you are probably wasting roster space in keeping Hall. Too bad, since he scored goals in each of his previous four full games prior to his concussion.
While we’re on the subject of left wingers with concussions, it’s probably also time to drop Daniel Sedin, as his owner in the Kukla’s Korner league had recently done (hello again Steven Ives).
==============================================
Thanks again Ian and good luck fantasy hockey fans as the nights become more consequential building to the close of the fantasy hockey season.
