They often say all good things must end, and that is precisely what the boys on Top of the Rock must have felt after suffering their first defeat in four weeks. In this week’s matchup, Steve’s Great Team, Frozen Factory’s top team, secured a 352.00-299.00 win.
Steve’s team continued to roll and pad their lead at the top of the standings. The loss brought the Rock back to earth but did not impact their place in the standings. The team has a 10-8 record, giving them some leeway among the four other teams in the league when it comes to playoff seeding.
The Rock flipped the script on this week’s matchup by securing a 9.00 point lead after opening night. Usually, the team stumbles on Monday nights, falling behind in the score column only to rebound and secure wins later in the week. Their winning ways continued through Tuesday night, which led to a 20.50 lead just two days into the matchup.
No lead is safe in fantasy sports, so Steve’s Great Team overcame the deficit to take a microscopic 0.50 lead at the week’s midway point. The Rock returned the favor by one point after Thursday before Steve’s team took their first double-digit lead (13.00) after Friday. They continued to roll on the weekend, outscoring the Rock and producing a week high 81.50 points on Sunday to skate away with an easy 53 point victory.
The number one team in blocked shots and shutouts continues to roll in those categories while the other categories remain stagnate through 18 weeks of action. A handful of new rankings included plus/minus and power-play points, where the team now ranks fifth.
The most significant leap occurred in short-handed points, where the once worse team in the league collected two points to jump up into the fourth spot. After a couple of losses, the goalie platoon witnessed their fourth-place ranking drop a single spot down to five, their worse showing out of all the categories.
After running the table in recent weeks as the league’s highest-scoring team, the Rock was one of four teams who failed to reach at least 300 points in week 18, coming just one point shy. Although they remain the league’s top team, Steve’s Great Team was not the highest-scoring team of the week; that honor went to Icing, who scored 355.00 in their defeat over Dirty Sanchez.
Last week Elias Lindholm (Calgary) became the season leader with four best player awards. Not to be outdone by his countryman, Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog scored a team’s best 34.50 points in week 18 to claim his fourth award of the season. Although Landeskog didn’t collect as many points as his season-high 42 (week 12), the Avs forward made some decent numbers in a losing effort. He finished the week with five goals, 17 shots, seven hits, three blocked shots, and a plus-three rating.
In the great white north, Jacob Markstrom (Calgary) continues to make his native Sweden proud with another best goalie award. His week 18 victory marked the fourth straight week that Markstrom could outscore his battery mates and claim the crown. The netminder had two wins, one loss, gave up seven goals, and made 62 saves in this week’s matchup.
Patric Hornqvist (Florida) is a Stanley Cup winner and is known to be a diamond in the rough during fantasy season. However, he has not been as reliable with subpar statistics after relocating to the sunshine state. In week 18, he was the team’s worse player with a -5.50 point total. With no goals or assists, the Swedish forward only had five shots, three hits, and one blocked shot to accompany his minus-six rating.
The only roster adjustment that occurred in week 18 was Gustav Forsling (Florida) made his way to the waiver wire to make room for a returning player who came off the IR.
Weekly Move Total: 0/4
Season Move Total: 18/50
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Keeping the Stats 