Studs & Duds - Friday 4/5/13

[NoWayOut]

Studs


Rocky Mountain Way

Pavel Datsyuk didn't leave the ladies cryin', cause the story was sad. Far from it as the Prime Minister of Danglestan once again worked his brand of magic, picking up two goals and fueling the Red Wings 3-2 win over the Avalanche. He picked up the first on the powerplay, and later added the game winner in the waning seconds of overtime. Pavel stood atop the goal scoring heap Friday night as the lone player to pick up multiple scores on an otherwise low scoring night. Tonight's two point effort gives him 41 points in 39 career games against Colorado.

What the Hecht?

With Thomas Vanek sidelined by injury, Jason Pominville having been shuffled out of Buffalo, and the pesky Sens dropping by for a spot of hockey, what were the Sabres to do to manufacture a win? Why turn to the veteran Jocken Hecht of course! Okay, fair to say none of us saw that coming. Despite our lack of prognosticating skills the veteran center from Mannheim, Germany picked up the primary assist on Brian Flynn's game winner, and promptly netted an insurance goal of his own a mere 12 seconds later. The offensive outburst went completely unnoticed in
fantasy circles as it's doubtful there exists a league deep enough to see him rostered.

Not Jokinen 'round

The Pens were major players at the trade deadline and their final acquistion, Jussi Jokinen, paid dividends on Friday night. Jussi was the difference maker, heck he was the sum total of the Pens offense. On a night that saw a goalie duel between Marc-Andre Fleury and King Henrik, Jussi netted Pittsburgh's lone goal in regulation and added the lone goal for either team in the shootout, powering the Pens 2-1 victory. If that wasn't enough he was also a monster in the faceoff circle going 13-2 for the night. His fantasy owners are hoping the move to the Steel City will ignite the former 'Cane and they can then ride the wave through the head-to-head playoff season or make a final push in roto leagues.

Shutdown Friday

In what has become a regular occurrence on Friday nights, we saw another slew of outstanding goalie performances. There must be something in the air, or maybe it's the water, whatever the case the door was once again slammed shut across the league. Nine of the 12 starters on Friday posted save percentages above .900. The Friday night goalie honor roll:

Fleury- 34/35 .971 (W)
Lundy- 26/27 .963
Niemi- 23/24 .958 (W)
Kipper- 39/41 .951
Howard- 33/35 .943 (W)
Giguere- 28/31 .903
Allen- 26/27 .963 (W)
Lehtonen- 27/28 .964 (W)
Miller-35/37 .946 (W)


Duds


Authorities suspect Fowler play

Coming into the game against the reeling Stars, Cam Fowler had just two points in his last six games. Now in fairness to Cam, he did have an assist in each of the last two against those same Stars. Oh but how Alex Chiasson made him look foolish on the rookie's first NHL goal. Chiasson blew past Fowler en route to the front of the net, leaving the Ducks blueliner trailing helplessly in his wake. The play served to underscore just how Fowler has managed to amass a career minus-59 rating. The plus/minus could be more easily stomached if only he was producing offensively like he did as a rookie. For the season Cam has seven helpers and a so far career best minus-6.

Did they stuff him in his locker?

Nikita Nikitin, quite possibly the only person in human history with a fourteen letter name that can be spelled using only four different letters, had the dubious distinction of posting total goose eggs across the board. With the plethora of statistical categories tracked in every game, it's nigh on impossible to not contribute at least something in one. As small as a NHL rink is how can you not at least hit somebody? As generous as some stat keepers are, all you had to do was bump into a Blues player on your way to the bench at the end of a shift and you would have at least avoided total goose eggs. Did you skate around saying, excuse me, pardon me, coming through all night. You somehow managed to avoid accidentally stepping in the path of a single puck? You sir have earned the title of dud.

Going, going, Gonchar

Sergei Gonchar's amazing run in the month of March is fast becoming a distant memory. After Friday's game against the Sabres Sergei has now gone five straight without a point. Last night was one of the worst in that stretch as he posted a minus-2 in the loss. His fantasy owners hope that history will repeat in the final days of the season. Before his streak in March, Gonchar had a run of eight straight without a point.



Deep thoughts from a shallow mind

- Mika Zibanejad picked up two assists in the Sens loss. He now has eight points in his last seven games.

- Derek Stepan had a horrid night in the faceoff circle going 7-21. He did add his 17th assist of the season to at least redeem himself somewhat for his fantasy owners.

- Patrik Berglund was another player that ended the night without fond memories of his faceoff exploits. Berglund finished 2-11, but like Stepan, at least partially atoned for it by adding a goal to St. Louis' winning effort.

- Henrik Zetterberg had an assist on each of Datsyuk's goals. He also chipped in eight shots.

- Joe Pavelski ended his two game pointless streak by putting the game winner past Kipper with just over two minutes left in the game. Even with the two game drought, Little Joe has five goals and seven points in his last seven games.

[PrairieDog]

Thanks for the write up- starting to get impatient with Fowler, I didn't realise his career +/- was that bad....

[One87]

Thanks for the write up- starting to get impatient with Fowler, I didn't realise his career +/- was that bad....

Oh yeah, it's brutal. I noticed that trend a couple seasons ago with him.

[The Guvnah]

Oh yeah, it's brutal. I noticed that trend a couple seasons ago with him.

A couple seasons ago was his rookie season... Or are you talking about him going +38 with the Windsor Spitfires?