Top of the Rock collected a third straight six-point victory to start the season 3-0. It was also the second straight week of a 6-2 score.
The win bumped us into second place in the standings, strictly based on percentage points.
MATCHUP AND SCORES
For the second straight week, we tied the goals category. We lost the assists category pretty handily while getting blown out in plus/minus. Three out of the four goalie categories and three-player categories propelled us to the win.
The week two matchup had a bunch of twists and turns in it. Things started off slowly for us, only to turn into an advantage for a handful of days. Friday saw the tide roll in favour of our opponents, who only went on to lose more points as the matchup came to a close.
STANDINGS & TEAM STATS
We are not in the penthouse, but the floor below it has a beautiful view. Our 18-7-5 record shows that we are 11 category wins ahead of the last-place team. There is no guarantee that we can’t end up in the last place, but a strong start gives us some breathing room to stay in the top half as the season progresses.
After three weeks, our weaknesses have become quite clear. Assists will probably be our Achilles heel all season. We currently rank dead last in that category, and we don’t have a whole team of reinforcements on the way to alter that future.
The plus and minus category will be hit and miss all season. Some weeks are better than others, so what is -12 this week could be -4 next week and put us back in the top five overall.
Powerplay points may also be a trouble spot for us. If we stay out of 12th overall and win the four other player categories, we should be okay to contend for a playoff spot.
That playoff spot will be determined on the health of Tuuka Rask (Boston) and Marc-Andre Fleury (Las Vegas). If those two workhorses continue to dominate the goalie statistics, they will lead us to the promised land.
BENCH PLAYERS
Just like our matchup in week two, we tied the goals category 10-10. Had we thrown Jack Hughes’ (New Jersey) single goal into the mix, we could have won that category 11-10. We ended up winning a bunch of player categories, which meant those stats leftover on the bench would have only added to our season totals and not affected the final matchup score.
On the flip side, had Alexander Georgiev tacked on his two games, our goalie statistics could have gotten uglier. He played great against Arizona but didn’t get the win. Then he came in for relief against Boston and gave up a handful of goals, hurting his weekly numbers. Georgiev has yet to see any action with us this season. He will eventually get a start on a week that neither starter has a lot of games to play.
STUDS & DUDS
Best Player – Alex Ovechkin – Washington Capitals – 24 points
Worse Player: Jeff Petry – Montreal Canadiens – 6 points
TRANSACTIONS
In preparation for our week four matchup, we scouted out teams with the most games to play. Only the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks had four games that upcoming week.
Since most of their good players were taken, we settled on Canucks defenceman Tyler Myers. In his place, we dropped Toronto Maple Leaf forward Alexander Kerfoot.
Weekly Move Total: 1/4
Season Move Total: 2/40
Stay tuned for next’s week recap of the Top of the Rock 2019-20 fantasy hockey season.
Keeping the Stats 