Top of the Rock dropped their Week 13 contest against the league’s best team but rebounded with a solid win over the Manager-less Team. This victory was the team’s fourth in the last five games and should help keep the boys in contention for a playoff spot.
After 14 weeks, the Rock has an even record at 7-7, good enough for third place, with their recent opponent right behind them in the standings with a 6-9 record.
Before puck drop, the experts said that the Rock would escape their matchup with an easy victory. Initially slated for a 309.40-242.35 win, both teams exceeded the predictions, with the Rock coming out on top 327.00-255.50.
It was a gutsy come from behind victory, considering the boys stumbled out of the gate on Monday, falling behind 37 points. The matchup turned in their favor after scoring 71.50 points on Tuesday, giving them a 2.50 lead, an advantage they never lost again. The two teams battled for the next few days before the Rock skated away with the victory on Saturday and Sunday.
The matchup was close at 2.50 points twice but decided by a whopping 71.50 points. The come-from-behind victory marked this season’s third time the Rock lost the first day but rebounded to take the next six straight and pick up the win.
The Rock is the third-best team in the league but has struggled to score goals at even strength and shorthanded. The team has a few other Achilles heels statistics, like their plus/minus rating and power-play points. It would be safe to say the team would be drowning in the pool’s deep end if it wasn’t for solid numbers in shots, hits, and blocks.
The guys in pads have placed in first and last place, finding a home in the middle of the pack. They are just on the bottom half of the line in four of the five categories. There is still time to turn everything around, and with just two more shutouts, they can be back on top in one of the most prized categories in the league.
It was quite an entertaining week, with three teams scoring more than 327 points, and one of them ended up on the losing end. Dirty Sanchez clung to their spot at the top with an impressive 1.50 point victory over Steve’s Great Team, 366.50-365.00. The Rock was the only other team to reach 300 points and collect a win, while the Stoned Assassins were the other winners of the week with 284 points. The Manager-less Team collected 255.50 points while the league’s worse team (Icing) scored a league-low 174.50 in their loss.
Two teams have reached double digits in wins, while the Rock remains the closest team to joining the list. The three other teams have sub .500 records and have a longer path to double digits.
Mika Zibanejad (New York) became the first player this season to win back-to-back best player awards, following up a 23.50 performance in week 13 to score 35.00 this week. The slick Swede’s numbers included a goal and six assists with a plus-four rating. He was a stud on special teams with three power-play points and a shorthanded one. Then to cap everything off, he had four shots, four hits, and four blocks.
Anton Forsberg (Ottawa) joined the goalie platoon late in the season but was stellar in week 14 to earn his first best goalie award. The native of Harnosand, Sweden, went 1-1 on the week giving up five goals in the two contests. He didn’t register any shutouts but stopped 69 shots.
Johan Larsson (Arizona) had a subpar week, registering -3.00 points. The multi-positional forward had two shots on goal and two hits but was minus-three, which hurt his final point totals.
Week 14 took place from January 17-23, and the team performed only one roster adjustment, signing Johan Larsson (Washington). The versatile forward was added to fill in the gaps for a handful of players listed as day-to-day.
Weekly Move Total: 1/4
Season Move Total: 18/50
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Keeping the Stats 