There have been a few big games by individuals this season but Patrice Bergeron's on Saturday is the new leader for the best of the year. Bergeron scored four goals and added an assist with seven shots in the 7-1 win over the Hurricanes. Bergeron was the second player this year to score four goals after Alex Ovechkin. Per usual, Bergeron is crushing all of the categories. He's playing around a 40+35 pace while already having a +19 rating, solid PIM and pushing four shots per game. Bergeron is a slam dunk top 50 player for the rest of the season who should push towards the top 25. Again, the top line in Boston is as good as it gets and Bergeron is at the forefront of their success. That line just gave up their first goal against at even strength all season! Remarkable stuff. Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
The Tampa Bay Lightning were in search of a steady hand to back up their new star netminder Ben Bishop and when they signed Evgeni Nabokov to handle the duties it seemed like a good call at a bargain basement price. Really, what could go wrong? Nabby could go wrong and man alive did he go wrong. In 11 games and nine starts this season he posted a record of 3-6-2 to go with a 3.14 goals-against average and an .882 save percentage. Ugh, gross. I think I should shower now. Anyway, in a move that was only surprising because it took so long, the Bolts sent Nabby packing and recalled stud prospect Andrei Vasilevskiy from the Syracuse Crunch. Despite the promotion Big Ben retains full control of the Tampa crease moving forward, but he has been shaky at times this season and could definitely benefit from some rest moving forward. Enter Vas, who now becomes one of the more valuable backups in fantasy hockey for the remainder of the season.
The second installment in our series takes a look at the Nashville Predators. They found themselves as the prey more often than the Predator in 2013. Full stats are at the bottom of the article. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Sergei Bobrovsky’s hot streak hit a mustard-colored wall in Nashville as the Predators pounded Columbus 5-1 and sent the Jackets to their first regulation loss in 13 games. Nashville scored four in the first period and chased Bobrovsky from the net by the middle of the period as they scored four goals in three minutes. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Jeff Carter’s natural hat trick staked the Kings to a 3-0 lead and that was far more than enough offense as they pounded the Predators 5-1 last night. Mike Richards and Dwight King scored the other goals for Los Angeles while Gabriel Bourque’s goal with 6:55 left spoiled the shutout bid of Johnathan Bernier. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Brandon Sutter’s second goal of the game came 52 seconds into overtime and gave the Pittsburgh Penguins a wild 7-6 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Matt Cooke and Chris Kunitz each scored twice for Pittsburgh while Sidney Crosby also lit the lamp. Please, blog, may I have some more?
Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne stopped all 19 Phoenix shots to pick up his second straight shutout as the Predators knocked off the Coyotes 3-0 Thursday night. Rinne had to be at his best as the game was scoreless heading into the the third period. Please, blog, may I have some more?
