PHF Fantasy Trends: Week 14
Find out who did well in fantasy last weekend, and who you should consider adding for this weekend.
By J Gray
Six games last weekend, six games this weekend, with every team in play. It’s a big one, as teams are scrambling to lock in their playoff spots. Let’s look at the big big names and the secret big names as you set your She Plays fantasy lineups for this week.
Last week’s stars
Who else but Corinne Schroeder led the pack (ha ha) last week, by a large margin. Her 2 wins, 88 saves, and .978 save percentage overall earned 30.56 points for fantasy GMs, and 6 points to keep the Pride ahead of the Six in the standings.
Tricia Deguire trailed with 17.52 fantasy points on two hard-fought losses to Schroeder’s team. She had 5 goals allowed on 76 shots for a .938 save percentage on the weekend.
Jenna Brenneman, in net for two losses for the Whitecaps, earned 15.12 fantasy points for managers who had her in the flex slot last weekend.
Among forwards, Taylor Girard came out on top, tallying 14 fantasy points on 2 goals (one on the powerplay, one shorthanded) and 2 assists. Shiann Darkangelo was on her heels with 12.5 points on 1 goal and 2 assists, and an overall faceoff total of 25-19. Jillian Dempsey earned 12 fantasy points for her statline of 1-1-–2 and her faceoff tally of 25-15, and Kennedy Marchment rounded out the top forwards with 11.75 points earned on 4 assists and 11 SOG.
Among defenders, Boston’s Kaleigh Fratkin won the battle for the top spot for her game-winning goal and 6 SOG. She was worth 8.75 fantasy points for her play against the Force.
Toronto’s Dominika Lásková came in very close behind Fratkin, earning 8.5 points on 2 assists, 2 SOG, and a faceoff rate of 13-11 on the weekend, with a .740 success rate on Saturday. Although Lásková is listed as a D by Toronto, she played at forward for Merrimack and has been playing at center for the Six these last few weeks as they’ve been hit with the injury bug. Remember that when you’re setting your lines!
Sleeper picks
The big surprise this weekend on the fantasy points scoreboard was Beauts netminder Samantha Ridgwell. Earning her first PHF shutout in her first PHF win, which was also her first start for her new team, the Merrimack alumna faced down 31 shots to earn 12.72 fantasy points for any fantasy GMs who picked her up this past weekend. Her success bodes well for her chances of getting another start in front of a Beauts team that has struggled to put any tallies in the win column this season.
Beauts forward Emma Nuutinen cracked the top 20 on the scoreboard this week, earning 8.75 fantasy points on 2 goals (including a powerplay game-winner) and 5 SOG. Although Nuutinen is the Beauts’ third-leading scorer this season, that’s not necessarily saying much; her 4 goals, 4 assists, and 41 SOG in 18 games don’t crack any top lists for the league. But if the Beauts’ luck is turning around at this late juncture in the season, Nuutinen is likely to have a hand in it.
Upcoming schedule and fantasy strategy
In week 14, we’ll see six games involving every team in the league. The Boston Pride and the Connecticut Whale are the teams which will play only one game; everyone else will play two games. Keep that in mind as you weigh your roster selections.
The first game on the docket will be the Boston Pride at the Metropolitan Riveters. The Pride have won all three of their games so far against the Riveters, with a cumulativeed score of 11-1 in favor of Boston. The last time the Pride played the Riveters, forward Taylor Wenczkowsi stood out with 5 SOG and a .625 win rate on faceoffs. More recently, forward Christina Putigna has looked sharp, with a goal on 5 SOG and a .500 on faceoffs in the Pride’s last game. However, they’ll be playing only one game.
The Rivs will be battling to claw their way into a playoff berth, and they’ll be playing against the Connecticut Whale later on in the weekend—- more on that later.
On Saturday and Sunday, the third-ranked Minnesota Whitecaps will be hosting the second-place Toronto Six, while the fifth-place Montréal Force hosting the seventh-place Buffalo Beauts. These games will likely be vital toward the playoff standings. Minnesota will be fighting to stay ahead of Connecticut, and perhaps even overtake the Six for the second spot. Toronto is neck-and-neck with Boston for regular- season champs, a title they lost last season in the final game before the playoffs. Montréal’s two losses last weekend make these games against Buffalo must-win as their playoff hopes are slipping away. Meanwhile, Buffalo is playing to recoup something from a season after that saw them winning their first set of two consecutive games only last weekend, and to play spoiler for everyone else.
The Whitecaps dropped two games last weekend to the last-place Buffalo Beauts, doubling the latter’s number of wins on the season. They will be stinging from that and coming out determined, but that fire will have to inspire them to play defense if they want to pick up wins with franchise goaltender Amanda Leveille out on injury. Backup netminder Jenna Brenneman will likely start both games, and will undoubtedly face a lot of shots. Pick her up if you don’t have guaranteed points in your flex slot already. Defender Sydney Baldwin showed up in a big way for them last weekend, scoring both goals in the eventual 4-2 loss. Baldwin is available in a number of leagues if you want to bank on her keeping the hot hands.
For the Six, Dominika Lásková could be a good pickup. As I mentioned above, she’s been playing at forward while Brittany Howard has been injured. Although Toronto has been mixing their lines somewhat, Lásková was part of two goals last weekend.If Howard is out again, Lásková may have another chance to rack up points among the deepest forward group in the PHF.
Alexandra Labelle has stayed hot for la Force this past weekend. Although she didn’t make it onto the scoreboard, she had a faceoff win rate over .675 in both games against Boston while putting 10 shots on goal. Labelle’s shot percentage is currently 11.5%, which is fairly high. Against any goalie other than Corinne Schroeder, there’s a good chance one of those shots would have hit twine, and she’s not facing Schroeder this weekend. Labelle’s linemate Sarah Lefort put up 13 SOG in those same 2 games. Her shot percentage is at a more average 9.1% at the moment. If she keeps up that rate of shooting against Buffalo, the ‘Hell’s Belles’ line may see more success on the scoresheet this weekend.
As mentioned above, Emma Nuutinen added to her season tallies against Minnesota last weekend, but she wasn’t the only one putting up fantasy points. The newly signed forward Maggie Knott and alternate captain Cassidy MacPherson both showed out at the faceoff dot last weekend, to the tune of 6 and 6.5 fantasy points respectively.
On Sunday, the Metropolitan Riveters will be traveling to Connecticut to finish their season series against the Whale. The Riveters are on top so far, winning two of three on a cumulative score of 7-9 in favor of the Whale. Most recently, the Riveters won in the shootout on February 3.
A number of Whale players have looked good recently. Justine Reyes had 10 SOG against the Six as she played on the top line. Emma Vlasic went 6-2 at the faceoff circle in two games. However, your best bet for a one-game pickup from this crowd will be the rookie Caitrin Lonergan, who tallied 2 goals, an assist, and 7 SOG last weekend. Overshadowed by some dominant players and hampered by a slow start, in the last month or two Lonergan has been quietly assembling her case for a Newcomer of the Year nomination. Six of her goals have come Since January 21. Pick her up now while she’s hot.
The Riveters will be playing twice on the weekend, but their issues with consistency over the season make it hard to say who might show up for a given game. Defender Reagan Rust has been playing at forward and had success against the Whale to the tune of 7-1 at the faceoff circle. Against the Pride, she had 4 SOG, but was 3-13 on the dot. Forward Sarah Bujold had more consistency, with 2 SOG and a faceoff win rate over 50% against each opponent. And goaltender Rachel McQuigge is healthy and practicing with the team again, but we have not received word that she’s been activated off of the LTIR that allowed the team to sign Katie Burt. Without that update, my guess would be that Burt will play at least one game this weekend, likely the game against Boston, her former team.
Vibe of the Week
In one of the most Vibetastic videos ever shared to the Riveters’ generally stellar Instagram story, power forward Kelly Babstock provides the energy this week and every day for her team:
In the clip, Babstock recorded herself cheering on teammates Reagan Rust and Amanda Pelkey while they worked out at the Riveters’ local team gym, Submit to Fitness. Rust asked Babstock for the Quote of the Day, with Babstock enthusiastically provided:
“You’re always great when you’re great, so stay great!”
Put it on a plaque.
