The Matchups
Colorado Scuba Club (Ashley P., 299.3) def. like breadard and butter (Caitlynn C., 286.4)
Caitlynn led after Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Her biggest lead was 49.2, after a Monday where Ashley scored 4.0.
Then Ashley scored 102.0 on Saturday, the only triple-digit day in the league, and took a 7.9 lead into Sunday. Caitlynn's Sunday: 0.0. Final margin, 12.9.
The subplot: Caitlynn dropped Sam Reinhart at 1:45 PM Eastern on Monday, 45 minutes into his 1:00 PM game, so his 10.0 from that game stayed with her. Ashley claimed him off waivers early Wednesday, and he scored 11.5 the rest of the week. Ashley's opponent that week: Caitlynn.
Matthew Tkachuk had ten assists, seven of them on the power play, for 27.0. Kirill Marchenko had a hat trick on Thursday and 23.0 for the week, and Vasily Podkolzin scored 21.5 with 13 hits. Logan Thompson scored 33.5 and Joel Hofer 27.9. Dylan Garand scored 32.9 on the bench and 3.3 in his one start.
Caitlynn had the best skater in the league. Brady Tkachuk scored 54.5 with six goals, including hat tricks on Tuesday and Thursday. Linus Ullmark stopped 74 of 78 shots for 45.8, and Tage Thompson added 21.0. The Tkachuk brothers were on opposite sides of this one, and Brady won that matchup 54.5 to 27.0. Matthew's team won the one that counted. Her perfect-hindsight lineup was 300.4, which would have won by 1.1. Hindsight never has to set a lineup.
Verdict: Leading for five days pays exactly the same as leading for none.
John Tavares' Magic Amulet (Heather S., 297.9) def. Flickin' the Bean (Catarina M., 236.1)
Heather scored 0.0 on Friday and won by 61.8, the biggest margin of the week. She'd banked 80.9 on Thursday, so Friday's zero only cut her lead to 46.9. She led after every day.
Three goalies combined for 119.4, the most of any team. Spencer Knight made 83 saves for 48.5. Jesper Wallstedt went 3-0 for 41.4. Jet Greaves shut out his opponent on Saturday for 27.5, the best single game of the week in the league. Jack Eichel added 20.0 and Jack Hughes 19.5 on 17 shots.
John Tavares scored 8.5 on Tuesday from the bench, then 4.5 on Thursday once he was back in the lineup. Timing is not the amulet's strength.
Catarina stayed with her on Saturday, 77.6 to 78.3, but Thursday was 80.9 to 29.0. Jake Oettinger posted his own Saturday shutout for 21.5 and 31.6 for the week. Alex DeBrincat and Ryan O'Reilly scored three goals each, for 18.5 and 18.0, and Sidney Crosby added three more for 15.0.
Verdict: Turns out Friday was optional.
Freezing My Kucherov (Alexius S., 211.8) def. Keller? I hardly know her (Anna Y., 186.6)
Two winless teams, three lead changes, the most of any matchup. Alexius scored 0.0 on Monday. Anna scored 71.1 on Thursday, Mark Stone had a hat trick, and she led by 20.0.
Then Anna scored 0.0 on Friday, Alexius scored 74.7 on Saturday, and that was the week.
Jeremy Swayman's streak of 43s ended at two. He won both starts and scored 38.8. Nick Suzuki added 17.0, Devon Levi scored 9.6 in his first game the day he was picked up, and Nikita Kucherov scored two goals for 16.0, so the team name is no longer technically accurate.
Mark Stone finished with 27.5 and Andrei Vasilevskiy 24.7. Evan Bouchard and Will Smith scored 14.0 each, and Clayton Keller, the namesake, scored two goals for 13.5. Anna's bench scored 26.0, more than the margin, but her best legal lineup was 204.1. Still short.
Verdict: Somebody had to win. Alexius made sure it was her.
Honorable Mentions
Pop That Bussi (Ashley L., 272.6) def. Dude, Where's Makar? (Kaitlyn M., 242.6). Ashley L. took the lead on Tuesday and kept it. Mackenzie Blackwood won both starts for 35.8, Stuart Skinner added 26.7, and Macklin Celebrini scored 23.5 with four power-play points. Brandon Bussi scored 14.6 on Sunday. For Kaitlyn, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was the top scorer in the league: 62.4 on 104 saves. Matt Boldy had a Thursday hat trick and 30.0 for the week, and Kirill Kaprizov scored 26.5. Makar, now a weekly fixture in this section, added 8.5.
Sorokin Deez Nutz (Nina R., 257.4) def. May the Fors(berg) be with you (Liv S., 248.8). Conflict of interest noted. It was the closest game of the week. Liv led after each of the first five days, once by 0.1. Karel Vejmelka scored 34.7, Dan Vladar 33.1, David Pastrnak 20.0, and Filip Forsberg 17.5. Mattias Samuelsson scored 18.5 on IR, where it doesn't count. The margin was 8.6. Juuse Saros scored 41.3 and Connor McDavid 27.5. The historian left 60.2 points on her bench, including a Sam Bennett hat trick, won anyway, and has learned nothing.