’19 Top of the Rock Week 6

After starting the season red hot with a four-game winning streak, Top of the Rock dropped it’s second consecutive matchup, 7-1.

Money in the Bank has been one of our closest competitors as we jockey for position at the top of the standing.

In week six, they came to play, and we did not, losing seven out of the ten categories.

MATCHUP AND SCORES

We have known for a few weeks now that assists and power-play points were our Achilles heel. The proof was there this week because we lost one category by eight and the other by six points, respectively.

The Rock kept things close in the goals and plus/minus categories while losing the shots on goal category by 10.

In a very odd week for the goalie tandem of Tuuka Rask (Boston) and Marc-Andre Fleury (Las Vegas), we lose two of the four goalie categories. Neither played spectacular during the week, so they only collect two wins and one shut out between the pair.

For the sixth time this season, we led the matchup after Monday. Things then quickly took a turn the following day before we drove our team off the cliff on Thursday.

Somehow we salvaged a few categories on the final day of the matchup, but Money in the Bank had all but walked away with this one before puck drop on Friday.

STANDINGS & TEAM STATS

Our second loss of the season dropped us from second overall to fifth. Scoring a combined three category wins in two weeks will do that to a team.

Money in the Bank used their win over us to give themselves some room as they chase down Do I Love Horcoff???.

Goaltending is by far our best asset. Top of the Rock has quietly secured the second-best tandem of all 12 teams. Our numbers are not that far off from the leaders, either. Thankfully, we have only one goalie as a backup. His numbers have been subpar thus far and would really bring our totals down as a team if he was a regular starter.

The Rock ranks dead last in two of the six scoring categories while finishing in the upper half in the other four. Through six weeks, we are the league leader in penalty minutes and shots on goal. With 61 goals, we are the second-highest scoring team in terms of goals. We have improved our plus/minus rating to -7, good enough for 7th overall.

We still have a long way to go before we can start talking about progress in terms of assists and power-play points.

BENCH PLAYERS

Last season we learnt the hard way that players on your bench make or break your matchups. The same trend is developing this season.

Since we left 16 shots on the bench, we lost the shots category by 10. Chip in six more and the final score changes to is 2-6-2. Then when you factor in Alex Georgiev’s (New York) single win of the week, we break the category tie and bump up the score to 3-5-2.

A loss is a loss, but tack on a few more points here and there, our defeat looks a little bit less messy.