A new month lays before us, and with it comes fresh fantasy opportunities. Players that failed to light the lamp in November can now redeem themselves (I’m looking at you, Scott Gomez). So take notes all of you fantasy fan-boys and girls, there will be a test later (and yes, spelling counts, so don’t forget any U’s in “Tuomo Ruutu”).
A great way to rack up a bunch of points in your fantasy league is to have two (or more) players on the same team. Better still is if they are both on the same line, especially if it is the top scoring line. I lucked out in my league and was able to draft both Joe Thornton (C, San Jose) and Dany Heatley (LW, San Jose). I moved Heater up near the top of my draft list after he was traded, in hopes of landing both.
The beauty of this is that, typically, if either Big Joe or Dany get a point, the other helped make it happen. So, in a way I am doubling my points—say Heatley gets a goal and Thornton assists, I get points for both the goal and the assist. Not bad.
A word of caution though, I wouldn’t load up on too many players from the same team, because if said team gets shutout or starts a long losing streak, a decent amount of your team could be hurting for points. The same is true if you are heavy with players from a team and then they only play one or two games that week, you won’t have as many chances to get points. The moral of the story is, do your research first.
Let’s look at some other notable One-Two punches around the league (but not every team):
Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. Perry has 34 points in 28 games and Getzlaf is right behind with 33 points. Perry is the goal scorer, notching 14 (tied for team lead) and Getzlaf is the set-up man with 28 assists. The next highest point total on the team Teemu Selanne with 21 points, so there is a certainly a bit of a gap.
Ilya Kovalchuk and Maxim Afinogenov. “Mad” Max has benefited from playing along side Kovalchuk. Afinogenov has 26 points in 26 games, had 4 multi-point games in November—and scored at least a point in all but two games last month.
Marc Savard and whomever plays on his line. The man has scored at least 63 assist seasons for the past four seasons. ‘Nuff said.
Olli Jokinen and Jarome Iginla. We all know Iggy is capable of putting up the points on his own, but having Olli around helps a bit. Iginla has the most points out of the two, but he still shares the wealth.
Patrick Kane and Jonthan Toews (or Marian Hossa). This might actually qualify as a One-Two-Three, as this is one deadly top line. Each of these three are capable scorers. Kane and Toews are great on their own, and adding a sniper like Hossa is like ordering pie a la mode.
Paul Stastny and Wojtek Wolski, Stastny has 24 assists in 31 games (and 31 points total), while Wolski is right behind him with 27 points in 31 games. Oh and Wolski has 11 goals in 31 games—last season it took him 78 games to get 14 total.
James Neal and Brad Richards. Neal was stuck in a slump for a spell, but he’s currently on a two game goal scoring streak. He leads the Stars in goals (13) while Richards leads the team in assists (26).
Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. Things ain’t been going so well this season in the Motor City, but you can always count on Zetterberg and Datsyuk to put up the points—especially if they play together, which they have been lately. Head coach Mike Babcock has a habit of not keeping these two together for long though. Both are players that make everyone else on their line end up on the score sheet sooner than later.
Nathan Horton and Stephen Weiss. Both are first and second in scoring on the Panthers respectively. Weiss has 6 goals in his last four games.
Anze Kopitar and Ryan Smyth. Yes, Mr. Smyth is out with an injury until mid-December, but before getting hurt he had 23 points in 22 games playing on Kopitar’s wing. Justin Williams plays well with Kopitar as well—and by the way, Kopitar has 35 points in 30 games. Dang.
Mikko Koivu and Andrew Brunette. This is the other One Two punch on my own team and it has worked great. Koivu was a late round steal and I grabbed Brunette off waivers. They have 28 powerplay points between the two of ‘em (Bru has 7 powerplay goals).
Matt Moulson and John Tavares. Moulson was an early season waiver steal for those who couldn’t draft Tavares (or didn’t want to risk another Alexandre Daigle). Tavares continues to impress with 11 goals and 22 points in 29 games. Moulson is the finisher of this pair, with 14 goals 29 games.
Marian Gaborik and Vaclav Prospal. Prior to the start of the season, this line was believed to go one of two ways—either be super awesome or be a super bust. The success depended on the notoriously fragile Gaborik playing on a regular basis. Luckily for those that took a chance on this pair, Gabby has been pretty healthy and has clicked with Prospal, leading the league with 21 goals in 26 games, and making those that didn’t grab Prospal when they had the chance (like me…) look like a fool.
Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. Yes, things are tough in Philly right now, but Carter and Richards are first and second on the team in scoring. Carter is tied with Rick Nash for second in the league with shots on goal (116).
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Well, duh. I don’t think I need to explain this one. Bill Guerin is a good second choice. But, note that Sid the Kid is day to day with a groin issue.
Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis. I talked about this combo (along with Ryan Malone) last week. Stamkos has 17 goals in 28 games, and St. Louis is racking up the assists, with 25 in that same span.
Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin. This is another “needs no explanation,” but Henrik has 34 points in 29 games and Daniel (recently returned from injury) has 11 points in 11 games.
Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. Every great sniper needs a great set-up man, and AO has found his in Backstrom (and possibly defenseman Mike Green). Alex has 18 goals in 21 games and his center has 25 assists in 29 games.
And there you have it, just some of the league’s better match-ups. Getting all three members of a line can be difficult in a league, and it probably isn’t the best idea, but grabbing two guys on the same top line can generate you a bunch of points. Don’t worry about finding only the big names either, just study the box scores for games and see who is setting up who when it comes to points—you might just find the next great sleeper pick-up.
Let’s see how some of the players mentioned last week have preformed:
|
Player |
Hossa |
Versteeg |
Kane |
Toews |
Stamkos |
St. Louis |
Malone |
Crosby |
Malkin |
|
Games |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
|
Goals |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
|
Assists |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
|
Points |
4 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
4 |
Sid the Kid wins it—but, he suffered a groin tweak in the process and he’s day to day. D’oh. Hossa seems to be fitting in pretty well with the Blackhawks, getting 4 points in 3 games.
Come back next week for more fantasy fun. Until then, stay warm and keep your stick on the ice.
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