When historians look back at the 2019-20 and 2020-21 NHL seasons, they will notice all the crazy things that happened on and off the ice surface.
Regarding the past two seasons of fantasy hockey, it is safe to say that those same people will be just as amazed at the events in The Price is Right. Thanks to their third straight victory, Top of the Rock remained the number one team in the standings.
That last sentence is not a misprint, in case you had to blink once or twice. The Rock, the perpetual bottom dwellers of the league since joining three seasons ago, stumbled out of the gate and was on course for another disappointing season.
This recent three-game winning streak has put the franchise in a very unfamiliar position, at the top.
Top of the Rock secured their third straight matchup victory thanks to a 6-3-1 win over The Real Deal.
In five of our six categories, we were able to secure the win by more than five points, and only one was close. We won penalty minutes by four points, 25-21, and goals by five 10-5. After that, we opened up the gates and won the plus/minus category by 11, 12-1. We followed that up with shots on goals 89-75, a difference of 14.
We won two out of the four goalie categories, goals-against average 2.58-3.30 and save percentage 0.926 to 0.887. The Real Deal got an extra win, 2-1, while both teams failed to register a shutout.
The Real Deal’s only offensive category wins were in assists, 18-11, and power-play points 8-7. It was clear their margin of victory was razor-thin, compared to the categories we won.
Week six bared witness two seasons firsts. Monday marked the first time we held a 10-0 lead on an opponent on any given day. At the end of the week, we were a perfect 7-0, leading the matchup every day.
After pitching a shut-out on the first day, The Real Deal chipped away at our lead, cutting it down to 5-3 on Thursday and Friday. However, we held at least a three-point lead on five of the seven days.
If you browse our website and read the weekly recaps, you may remember what we mentioned in our week five write-up. Top of the Rock is the number one team in the standings and one of the worse teams regarding statistics.
Our league scores 10 categories every week, and except for save percentage (4th), goals-against (5th), shots on goal (5th), and penalty minutes (6th), we are in the bottom half of the league.
The combination of Igor Shesterkin (New York), Alexander Georgiev (New York), and Linus Ullmark (Buffalo) have combined for just seven wins, worse in the league. The trio has yet to record a shutout, just one of five teams that haven’t secured a doughnut yet.
When we analyzed the rest of the team statistics, we have scored the eighth-most goals and assists, the ninth-best power-play points, and have the second worse plus-minus rating.
We have been so successful that most of our matchup records are in the top five with a couple of first placemarks. It appears that although we are not the best team statistically, we have been lucky and scored the right amount of points at the right time.
When someone opens up the sports section and sees that Top of the Rock is still the number one team in The Price is Right, they may be just as surprised as we are.
Anyone who has been following the league for the last three seasons knows that we have always been the worse team in the league. Our record over the first two seasons in the league was 149-200-51, which equalled a 0.372 winning percentage.
Thanks to a reconstructing of the roster, Top of the Rock currently remain in the top spot, seven points ahead of last year’s champions Benn Tallon Sens Won.
Regarding the rest of the standings, the top six teams all have winning records, while the bottom six are close but still clawing their way back. Ten out of the 12 teams have secured 20 wins, while five have already eclipsed 30. Six teams have already performed double-digit roster adjustments, with two more than halfway to their season total of 40.
We may be the top team in the league (for now), but our numbers and record could be even better. Our week six matchup score may have been 6-3-1, yet if we had the ability to edit our lineup daily, the final score would have been 7-1-2 in our favour. Those extra points could have gone a long way in the standings.
The Real Deal beat us in power-play points 8-7. On our bench, Mika Zibanejad (New York) and William Nylander (Toronto) collected three points which would have given us the category 10-8, giving us another category win.
New York Rangers goalie Alex Georgiev picked up a win in one of his starts, which would have helped us tie The Real Deal in wins 2-2.
 26 points |
 4 points |
Patric Hornqvist (Florida) enjoyed being our best player in week five that he repeated his performance in week six to earn back-to-back awards. The right-winger notched a goal, two assists with one power-play point. He managed to accumulate a +1 rating with 16 shots and five penalty minutes.
The injury bug stuck down Hampus Lindholm (Anaheim), which forced him in and out of action in week six. The defenceman only collected four points on two shots and two penalty minutes.
Top of the Rock has had its fair share of injuries and postponements, just like everyone else in the fantasy world. When Anaheim Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm went down with an injury and Nashville Predators d-man Mathias Ekholm still on the IR, we needed another body to handle the blue line. That’s when Patrik Nemeth (Detroit) was recruited.
Weekly Move Total: 1/4
Season Move Total: 8/50
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Keeping the Stats 