Quick Note: The best powerplay belongs to the Pittsburgh Penguins who score on roughly a third (34.3%) of their powerplays. The best penalty kill belongs to the Hurricanes who successfully kill of more than 9 of 10 powerplays (90.9%). Coincidentally, both teams are fighting for the Metropolitan division lead. Here's an interesting read by @xCROSBYx l87l about what teams in the AHL are being most helped by special teams which you can apply to teams in the NHL if you're interested. https://www.leaguegaming.com/forums/index.php?threads/special-teams-efficiency-s-t-e.275631/ Super 16: Rags Resurgence 1. New York Rangers Hit: The Rangers definitely didn't have the start they wanted, but my choice for 1st in the Metro in the preseason had their best week yet leaving them just two points from the top of the Metro after previously being just outside the playoffs. Miss: The 3rd line was a big strength for this team last season, and it seems like it's struggling this season with New York's lone loss this week. 2. Anaheim Ducks Hit: Another undefeated week for the top line of forwards, and the 3rd line went 3-0 as well. The Ducks seem to be soaring so far this season. Miss: Two losses this week compared to zero last week... I don't know, I think they're slipping. 3. Toronto Maple Leafs Hit: Any time you can distance yourself from division rivals, it was a good week. Maybe they let a few games slip away, but they added 3 points to their lead on first place in the Atlantic. Miss: Scoring seems hard to come by for the Leafs with just 2 games where they scored 3 or more goals. 4. Colorado Avalanche Hit: A nice comeback win against the Red Wings which should have been probably their toughest game this week tops off a pretty good week. Miss: 1-0 losses are the absolute worst, and unfortunately the Avs had to suffer one against Toronto this week. I'm sorry. 5. Chicago Blackhawks Hit: They scored 13 goals in a game this week. Like, c'mon man. Miss: @POOPIE SNOOPY with just a laser one-timer for the game winning goal in a 3-0 win for FLA over CHI. 6. Edmonton Oilers Hit: The top teams in the Pacific just seem to keep chugging along, and the Oilers are one of them. Anaheim gains just one point on them, and they gain two on San Jose this week. Miss: They get @xJackz 71 and @Mxtayer which was a great trade for the Oilers, but then go just 1-1-1 in 3 games where they had what looked like favorable match ups. 7. Nashville Predators Hit: @jackD00P has twice the amount of wins he had last season, and it's just week 5! What a redemption story. Miss: Triple OT against the Leafs, every one is clutching those controllers tight, and... oops, Nashville dunks one on their own goalie. Sorry, @shutthegate 8. Philadelphia Flyers Hit: This defense is still holding strong with under 2 goals against per game this week. Miss: They keep forcing @GETHESEHANDS to play RD, then again, he went 3-0 so maybe it'll work out. 9. Carolina Hurricanes Hit: On a broken wrap play by @HazeeHype , the puck squirts out to @OrangeChickn on the hash marks, and he just rips that puck into the mostly empty net for his 2nd hat trick of the year and the overtime winner versus the Oilers. You love to see it. Miss: Every game is a close one. It'd be nice if they could grab a little breathing room in just one game. They're probably having to trade so many people because the stress of these close games is just getting to people. 10. San Jose Sharks Hit: The @SweeT 9 LoU 84 line wins all of their games this week. (Alas, just two of them, but still.) Miss: Really thought they'd do better against Metro opponents this week, though 3-2-1 is still pretty good. 11. Detroit Red Wings Hit: @JDoolus reaches the 2000 save milestone. We all knew he could do it. Miss: 5 wins is actually tied for their most wins in a week this season, so couldn't they have just squeezed out 1 more win? 12. Ottawa Senators Hit: They made a trade to facilitate calling up @Chenz l 4 l , and he performed pretty well going 2-1-0 with 5 points including 3 goals. Miss: Two forfeits this week? Availability must have been pretty bad, but then again, everyone's was rough this week. 13. New York Islanders Hit: @l FreeStyle 7 l wins all of his games this week including one against his old team. Miss: 1-1-1 on Tuesday, those Tuesday demons don't seem to have been exorcised yet. 14. Arizona Coyotes Hit: Besides their 8 goal explosion versus the Blue Jackets, they scored just 11 goals altogether in the other games and still managed to get points in 5 of 7. Miss: 0 goals in almost 4 periods of play against the Hurricanes. Had to have been a frustrating game for the Coyotes. 15. Minnesota Wild Hit: Points in 6 of 8. Yeah, they let some games slip away from them, but they're still in 3rd in their division because of the points they were able to get. Miss: Their depth was tested a little this week, and clearly they thought it warranted a change. Trading @mfricha for @PieR Talent will shake the roster up a bit, though remains to be seen just how effective it will prove to be. 16. Saint Louis Blues Hit: They're really counting on @mR Hit DaT and @Tendy it seems, and this week they come out 2-1-0 with their loss being a 2-0 affair to the Sens top line. Miss: 1-0 to the Panthers and 4-3 to the Sabres are probably games they want back, but an 8-1 loss to Boston? Probably would just like that to fade into oblivion. Rookie of the Week: @Arctic Blur (C) Can't deny the Rangers' rookie center this week. He takes the ROTW honors with a nice 3-0 record and 12 points throughout those games which is his season-high. Funny that switching from JPLY to TWF ended up yielding him the most assists he's had in a week thus far with 9 total against ANA, CGY, and FLA. TWF build got him a +12, coincidence?!?! What makes this even better, though, is that the Rangers have been struggling a bit (just three wins last week) and a big performance from their top line means a lot even if the other lines found success this week as well. Their line may have gotten an upgrade on defense adding in @ItsGroceryStick who had an extremely good season in S29, so I wouldn't expect too many more losses from Arctic if things stay the same. Surprise of the Week: Montreal Canadiens Struggle After Their Best Week The Canadiens had to be happy with their week 3 going 6-2-1, but whatever they were feeling didn't last long as Montreal seemingly ran into a brick wall this week. Only able to garner a single win against mostly Central opponents. Some of any week's record belongs to good or bad luck, but looking at the games it becomes a little apparent that they were on the wrong end of plenty of match ups. They faced a team's top line or their top scorer in almost all of their games this week. They were challenging for the top spot in the Atlantic, but are now just outside of the playoffs after losing a good bit of ground in the standings. We'll have to wait and see how they respond in week 5. IRL Player "Awards" William Karlsson "Low Expectations" Award @Gerbe x 42 for exceeding expectations so far this season (on pace to beat all previous bests) Derek Dorsett "Come on Ref" Award @o Crazy Legz o for two games with three minors, clearly biased refs in these games (7/2/18 NJD at ARI) and (7/5/18 ANA at NJD) Johan Franzen "What A Performance" Award @Ethos Jinx for scoring 5+ goals in a game this week (7/5/18 BUF at CHI)
Great write-up man .always enjoy the time and effort that goes into these .Good job, keep up the good work.
@goonderk great write up! You are right, my blood pressure has gone through the roof due to all the close games, and i only play 3 a week as backup! Still love my Canes though!!!
