For some reason, I may or may not have been listening to an old U2 album when writing this post. The song “Sunday Bloody Sunday” is really that catchy. Also, the driving nature of offense in the four games on Sunday was undeniable. After all, we saw some very good goaltenders get humbled. There was a lot of craziness including disallowed goals, strange interpretations, and 3-on-0’s from one side of the ice.
It was just another crazy day and night during Round 1 of the 2014 NHL Playoffs. To add further insult, there were 25 goals scored on Sunday and 25 different goal scorers. It’s going to be a bit more difficult to come up with three stars, or is it? Let’s take a shot at this and see what we can come up with for our fantasy hockey fans..
Fantasy Hockey Three Stars
Third Star — P.K. Subban — Montreal Canadiens
Yes, P.K. Subban had some night. He made Ondrej Palat do a 360 in the air and set up Brendan Gallagher for the easiest playoff game winning goal you may see all playoffs long. Also, just 11 seconds into the game, he set up Rene Bourque to give Montreal a 1-0 lead. Bourque has been incredible after the first three games but Subban played 28:03 last night in a game that ended in regulation. These are the games that you want P.K. Subban on your team. He has to perform like this throughout the playoffs and against the tougher competition (Boston, etc.). Will Montreal be able to close it out in a clean sweep? We will find out soon enough but there is no doubt this number one defenseman will have to play a vital role for fantasy hockey fans.
Second Star — Joe Pavelski — San Jose Sharks
“Little Big” Joe, as he is called, had a nice night in a rather big rout of the Los Angeles Kings. It is hard to believe that San Jose really scored seven unanswered goals Sunday and yet they did. Joe Pavelski had a pivotal goal along with two assists and five shots. Pavelski played nearly 20 minutes and even had a power play point to boot. What may be scary is that San Jose easily could have scored ten or eleven goals last night. It was that kind of game that did not just get away from Los Angeles, it ran away. Will Game 3 tell a different tale? I guess we will just have to wait and see.
First Star — Tuukka Rask — Boston Bruins
Your last line of defense sometimes just has to be a pillar and Tuukka Rask was just that in Game 2. Yes, Boston won the game 4-1 but they gave up more shots and scoring chances and there were times where Detroit controlled play for rather long stretches. However, Rask’s 34 saves and net front presence were too much for Detroit to overcome. This is how Boston has to play. It will not be perfect but the Finnish goalie has to be Boston’s best player in this series going forward. The Bruins were out shot 25-11 over the final 40 minutes and Tuukka Rask was the one who kept the Detroit Red Wings at bay until offensive reinforcements took over. It will be fun to see if Rask can continue this level of play or will Jimmy Howard steal another one in Game 3. One really cannot make this up…at all.
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Thanks again for reading and good luck!
