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***golden_apricot*** · 10-08-2019, 08:02 AM

Okay so I am not going to do these on weekends apparently, weekend travel is making this difficult to do for each sim but I will do my best to get out a few of these a week. So with that being said here is my analysis of the two games from today for the Armada.

Game 12 – SOW Armada

4 (2) –

4 (1)

Game 13 W Armada

4 –

2

Overall assessment: So these two games on paper were relatively even. Shots for both teams in both games were within a few of each other. On the powerplay the Armada were 3 for 9 scoring on 33% of their powerplays in both games. This is likely the reason why they were able to keep up with Detroit and Anaheim since those teams were not able to capitalize on their man up chances to the same extent as the Armada. Anchorage won the faceoff battle in both games by a small margin and blocked a good number of attempts on goal as well. Although it was not the best performance we have seen from this squad, it was a drastic improvement on their recent performance which saw them lose a majority of their games only picking up one point in their last 5 games after taking 10 points in their first 6. Todays results saw them move from 7th to 4th, however HFX has a game in hand that could see them take over the slot the Armada currently own. The middle of the J is starting to pull away from the bottom of the league, but a few results either way could see Anchorage fall back into the bottom grouping.
Here is my analysis of the “Starting Lineup” for the Armada

Goalie - Colt Beckett – Beckett was 10/10 stopping the puck in the game vs Anaheim after Venables got yanked halfway through the second. He also stopped 5 of 6 in the shootout. Although he didn’t start either game, the performance from Venables in game one ensured that he didn’t get the slot here. Beckett likely will not see the net for awhile unless for more performances like this from Venables as Venables is clearly a better starting netminder, but expect to see Beckett get the nod a few times near the end of the season. If he can put up numbers like this in his starts, Anchorage will be in a good position moving forward.

Defense 1 – Augustus Wang – Wanger had two points in this set of games, with a single assist in each of the games. Despite these two points, Wang was a combined 0 in the plus minus category, something he hopes will improve over the course of the season. He also had two hits and two shot blocks in the game vs the Falcons, which was clearly his best game of the small set we are looking at. One area where he needs to be a bit better is at taking shots, with only two shots over the two games. If this number starts to go up, Wang might be one of the higher scoring defensemen in the league.

Defense 2 – Darnell Johnson – Darnell really took the body in these two games, taking 6 men down against Detroit and another 2 in the games vs the Outlaws. Darnell added 2 assists in the two games as well. Being the only 425 defenseman on this roster, you would expect these kind of performances from Darnell, and it seems to be a theme for him this season. Despite being a defensive defenseman, Darnell is racking up the points from the blue line, which is much needed for an Armada team that is not scoring many goals. Darnell also scored the shootout winner against the Outlaws.
Forward 1 – The three forwards are being picked more for their individual game performances than anything. Forward 1 is Andrei Petrikov who was able to put up two goals and an assist in the Anaheim game. This performance was really strong and much needed in a very close game that ended in a shootout. He also scored in this shootout. His second goal is the one that tied this game and forced it in to overtime. Did he take a penalty on the shift after scoring? Yes. But his performance is deserving of this slot. He did not really do much agians the Falcons.

Forward 2- Joe Kerr- The 1 and 2 slot are interchangeable in my mind, sort of the same performance by Kerr and Petrikov in these two games as Kerr also had 2 goals and an assist, but this was in the Falcons game. Kerr didn’t do much in the Outlaws game. Kerr’s first goal put the Armada up 3-0 and his second put them up 4-1 which was enough to ensure the victory for the Armada. A great performance from a player who we should expect a bit more from. If we put up even half of this performance in the Anaheim game, Anchorage wouldn’t have conceded the point to the Outlaws that could be critical with how tight the league is.

Forward 3 - Stavros Halkias – Stav was another three point man, with a goal and two assists in the Outlaw game. Although he didn’t add much in the Flacons game, his strong performance in the faceoff circle in both games was much needed, getting Anchorage the puck in threatening positions. He assisted on both the game typing goal, and the opening goal for the Armada, and scored the goal that tied the game 2-2 in the second. Stavs performances should continue at this pace with his playing time being as high as it is and him being above the 350 cap where a good number of players fall.

End Comments: Not a bad set of games for Anchorage, they will need performances like this in the future and better goaltending from Venables if they want to stay in the first round bye slot they occupy now. With how tight the league is and how up and down the performances are for Anchorage, it is very likely that this team will slot into the 7 or 8 slot at the end of the season, but for now they are happily in the 4th place slot. There was a great improvement in these two games over that which was seen in the previous 5 but consistency will be key for them moving forward.

WC: 1076