Martin Jones took over the spotlight with two more shutouts in Round 3 and is now the top pick in the pool.

Round 3 Analysis
Round three was a tale of two goalies. One would lift a team and a pool entry's fortunes, and the other would be felled spelling the end to an impressive two-year run.

Martin Jones' two shutouts lifted the San Jose Sharks into to their first ever Stanley Cup final, and caused a significant change in the standings. Though he was picked only three times, it was enough to carry Jessica Thompson into the pool lead, jumping there early in the round from ninth. Jessica is now an odds-on favourite to finish in the top three (the money spots) for an incredible third year in a row. The shutouts also helped Matthew Pledger into the top ten from 27th after round two.

While Jones surged into the lead for pool points, the previous leader Ben Bishop injured his leg in game one and never returned. This ended an impressive run that began in 2015, when the Lightning went to the Cup final and Bishop was hands down the top player. As for why Tampa Bay received far fewer picks this year after their success last year, including Bishop, we don't know, but they certainly gave their value, between Bishop, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov.

Sharks picks dominating the leaderboard
Despite having only 93 picks to Pittsburgh's 239, all of the top ten in the pool have three San Jose players, typically Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns, and Joe Thornton although two people (as mentioned above) have goalie Martin Jones and one person has scoring leader Logan Couture. In contrast, only five of the top ten have Penguins picks. And as it goes in this pool, for those five entries it is the Penguins picks that will solidify their top spots or carry them up a few positions in the final round.

The contenders
As we often see in the final round, most of the contenders have some of the same players, so the difference-makers are fewer than it appears. This year we will see a challenging battle between Dan Salerno, who managed to tie for first at the end of round three after hovering in third since the start, and the aforementioned Jessica Thompson and her goalie. A Sharks win would give Jessica the victory with the Cup bonus, but otherwise it will be an epic battle between Joe Thornton and Evgeni Malkin for Dan against Martin Jones and Phil Kessel for Jessica. A San Jose shutout could be a tipping point. Hugh MacPhie is in great position to claim third, with Thornton and Kessel as his difference-makers.

In the case of a Pittsburgh win, the battle noted above will be the critical thing to watch. Dan vs Jessica for first and second, with Hugh likely passing round two leader Silvio Memme for third. Matthew Pledger will look for a Martin Jones shutout to help bridge a five-point gap between him and Hugh for third. Unfortunately there are no Penguins pickers within range if they win - the top entry is Brett Kirkpatrick who starts in 16th and should crack the top ten but maybe not the top five.

If San Jose wins, it is nearly a lock for Jessica, while Hugh could easily jump into second place leaving Dan in third. Since Silvio and Brad Moulton can't make an gains, the only challenger could be Matthew who would need a couple of Jones shutouts to challenge for the podium.

Good luck to all!

Pittsburgh win				San Jose win
Dan Salerno	140	Pavelski, Burns, Thornton, Crosby, Malkin, Letang		Jessica Thompson	140 (+10)	Jones, Pavelski, Burns, Kessel, Crosby, Letang
Jessica Thompson	140	Jones, Pavelski, Burns, Kessel, Crosby, Letang		Hugh MacPhie	134 (+10)	Pavelski, Burns, Thornton, Kessel, Crosby, Letang
Silvio Memme	136	Pavelski, Burns, Thornton		Dan Salerno	140	Pavelski, Burns, Thornton, Crosby, Malkin, Letang
Hugh MacPhie	134	Pavelski, Burns, Thornton, Kessel, Crosby, Letang		Silvio Memme	136	Pavelski, Burns, Thornton
Brad Moulton	130	Pavelski, Burns, Thornton		Brad Moulton	130	Pavelski, Burns, Thornton
Matthew Pledger	129	Jones, Pavelski, Thornton, Kessel, Crosby, Letang		Matthew Pledger	129	Jones, Pavelski, Thornton, Kessel, Crosby, Letang
Sean Smith	127	Pavelski, Burns, Thornton		Sean Smith	127	Pavelski, Burns, Thornton
Brett Kirkpatrick	123 (+10)	Pavelski, Burns, Thornton, Crosby, Letang, Fleury		Fred McCutcheon	123	Pavelski, Burns, Thornton, Crosby, Letang
Fred McCutcheon	123	Pavelski, Burns, Thornton, Crosby, Letang		Molly McNulty	123	Pavelski, Burns, Thornton
Molly McNulty	123	Pavelski, Burns, Thornton		Colin Kennedy	112 (+10)	Pavelski, Burns, Thornton, Kessel, Crosby, Fleury

Who's Hot and Who's Not:

Hot	Pos. Gain (R2,R3)		Hot	Rd3 Pts.
Steve Sealy	74 (159,84)		Matthew Pledger	43
Dave Michael	57 (197,140)		Jessica Thompson	41
Donna Thompson	55 (159,104)		Hugh MacPhie	34
Shawn Glassford	52 (149,97)		Dan Salerno	34
Andy Hotson	50 (130,80)		Colin Kennedy	34
Not	Pos. Loss (R2,R3)		Not	Rd3 Pts.
Pierre Maxime Gravelle	38 (71,109)		96 People with:	0
Steve Vinette	36 (78,114)
Zack O'Gorman	36 (82,118)
Ethan Craig, Maria De Marco, Austin Nielson, Owen Thompson	34 (88,122)

Team and Player Stats:

Top Players
Forwards Team Pts Picks Logan Couture SAN 24 1 Joe Pavelski SAN 22 26 Nikita Kucherov TAM 19 7 Joe Thornton SAN 18 24 Phil Kessel PIT 18 33 Tyler Johnson TAM 17 4 Nick Bonino PIT 15 1 Robby Fabbri STL 15 1 Evgeni Malkin PIT 15 12 Vladimir Tarasenko STL 15 52 Sidney Crosby PIT 15 97 Jamie Benn DAL 15 102	Defense Team Pts Picks Brent Burns SAN 20 36 Victor Hedman TAM 14 9 John Carlson WAS 12 35 Marc-Edouard Vlasic SAN 11 0 Kevin Shattenkirk STL 11 34 Alex Pietrangelo STL 10 6 Kris Letang PIT 10 76 Roman Josi NAS 9 6 Goalies Team Pts Picks Martin Jones SAN 27 3 Ben Bishop TAM 18 6 Braden Holtby WAS 17 125 Matt Murray PIT 16 0
Teams
IN Picks Cups Pittsburgh 239 14 San Jose 93 5	OUT Picks Cups St Louis 126 10 Tampa Bay 32 0

Projected Round 4 Standings

Here are the projected scores and rankings for after round 4, not including the Cup winner bonus. The projection assumes (wrongly, of course) that the players you have alive will produce in round 4 at the same average rate as in the first three rounds. Of course, if you have no players left, you will definitely have the same score as you have now!

(R1)	(R2)	(R3)	Proj. Rank	Name	Score	Alive	Cup	Rd4 Projection
38	9	1	1	Jessica Thompson	140	6	SJS	177
3	3	1	2	Dan Salerno	140	6	WSH	173
30	8	4	3	Hugh MacPhie	134	6	SJS	168
138	27	6	4	Matthew Pledger	129	6	DAL	165
30	1	3	5	Silvio Memme	136	3	WSH	156
25	16	8	6	Fred McCutcheon	123	5	WSH	151
90	4	5	7	Brad Moulton	130	3	WSH	150
83	6	7	8	Sean Smith	127	3	WSH	147
5	6	10	9	Desmond Desrosier	122	3	WSH	144
76	4	8	10	Molly McNulty	123	3	DAL	143
184	60	17	10	Colin Kennedy	112	6	SJS	143
60	11	10	12	Tim Smith	122	3	WSH	142
106	30	16	13	Brett Kirkpatrick	113	6	PIT	141
5	11	13	14	Todd Beaman	119	3	WSH	139
30	11	13	14	Jordan Ungerman	119	3	WSH	139
1	2	12	16	Connor Brewster	121	2	DAL	135
9	14	15	16	Vincent Galante	116	3	DAL	135
106	32	17	16	Ryan Thompson	112	3	SJS	135
83	20	20	19	Terry Hoey	110	3	WSH	130
83	20	20	19	Jamie Sarner	110	3	WSH	130
202	36	22	21	Stuart MacIntyre	109	3	SJS	129
90	30	25	22	Graham Haines	106	3	WSH	126
38	17	19	23	Lanny Cardow	111	2	WSH	125
55	20	23	24	Alan Eng	107	3	STL	120
55	36	31	25	Scott Poitras	100	3	WSH	118
38	17	23	26	Joel Kronis	107	2	WSH	117
5	17	27	27	Becke Gainforth	103	3	WSH	116
19	25	29	28	Shane Davey	101	3	WSH	115
38	50	32	29	Paula Santin	99	3	DAL	114
14	9	25	30	Aaron Rowe-Jardine	106	1	STL	109
90	65	35	30	Mark Norman	95	3	PIT	109
2	15	28	32	Andrew MacIntyre	102	1	WSH	108
50	46	38	32	Pasqi Porco	93	3	CHI	108
60	27	33	34	Joel Greenstein	97	2	STL	105
60	88	41	35	Nigel Fowler	91	3	PIT	104
60	71	44	35	Lindsey Baldwin	89	3	WSH	104
19	20	33	37	Randy Stewart	97	1	WSH	103
3	25	35	37	Robin Martin	95	2	WSH	103
50	32	35	39	Drew Battison	95	1	CHI	102
121	60	42	39	Jonas Struthers	90	2	DAL	102
14	68	44	39	Scott Munnoch	89	3	PIT	102
171	88	51	39	Peter Tanner	88	3	PIT	102
112	20	29	43	Don Colangelo	101	0	WSH	101
30	27	38	43	Mark Brewster	93	2	NSH	101
38	36	40	45	Mohan Krishnamoorthy	92	2	WSH	100
5	54	44	45	Chris Bulpit	89	2	WSH	100
76	82	56	45	Fraser Macdonald	86	3	WSH	100
138	110	61	48	Julian Vardy	85	3	ANA	99
138	78	56	49	Ryan Chirnomas	86	2	WSH	98
106	78	56	49	Alexander Bondarenko	86	2	WSH	98
83	95	63	49	Mitch Wexler	84	3	PIT	98
131	95	63	49	Samuel Wexler	84	3	DAL	98
90	95	63	49	Kevin Pinto	84	3	ANA	98
10	42	44	54	Manuel LeBlanc	89	2	WSH	97
106	102	72	54	Andrea De Petrillo	83	3	ANA	97
10	50	55	56	Thomas Cheyne Matheson	87	2	WSH	95
38	82	63	57	Ron Wener	84	2	WSH	94
76	82	63	57	Colin McSweeney	84	3	CHI	94
19	36	51	59	Max-Zeb Jackaman-Slipacoff	88	1	NSH	93
38	68	72	59	Laura Tackaberry	83	2	WSH	93
171	130	80	59	Andy Hotson	80	3	PIT	93
221	159	85	59	Steve Sealy	79	3	PIT	93
138	125	85	59	Patrick Gill	79	3	LAK	93
14	46	56	64	Davin Suen	86	1	CHI	92
55	71	63	64	Samara McAdam	84	2	ANA	92
38	65	63	64	Gavin Bailey	84	2	WSH	92
171	116	80	64	Milton Howe	80	2	WSH	92
30	71	63	68	Stephanie Robichaud	84	1	DAL	91
151	137	97	68	Erin Jones	77	3	LAK	91
151	149	97	68	Shawn Glassford	77	3	LAK	91
151	137	97	68	Tim Sowden	77	3	LAK	91
60	46	42	72	Gareth Neilson	90	0	ANA	90
10	50	61	72	Jacqui Snow	85	1	ANA	90
60	32	44	74	John Thompson	89	0	STL	89
60	32	44	74	Andrew Ryan	89	0	ANA	89
90	42	44	74	Todd Foster	89	0	LAK	89
76	36	51	77	Martin Lefebvre	88	0	WSH	88
83	36	51	77	Fred Slade	88	0	ANA	88
25	88	85	79	Oren Meldung	79	2	ANA	87
184	137	104	79	Jeff Fox	76	2	CHI	87
230	159	104	79	Donna Thompson	76	3	STL	87
138	158	114	79	Erin McClement	74	3	DAL	87
60	54	56	83	Aaron Pretto	86	0	WSH	86
151	121	92	83	Ryan Chin	78	3	CHI	86
171	174	128	85	Keith Chappell	71	3	PIT	85
112	54	63	86	Ron Ego	84	0	STL	84
60	82	92	86	Shawn Robichaud	78	1	DAL	84
184	180	133	86	Vince Pileggi	70	3	LAK	84
151	95	72	89	Sonia Speciale	83	0	ANA	83
121	125	109	89	David Lester	75	2	ANA	83
60	116	109	89	Christopher Mossey	75	2	WSH	83
90	180	133	89	Lee Beech	70	3	CHI	83
195	186	140	89	Carl Pledger	69	3	LAK	83
214	197	140	89	Dave Michael	69	3	LAK	83
138	186	140	89	Joy Smith	69	3	LAK	83
19	42	75	96	Bruce Bird	82	0	WSH	82
14	42	75	96	Stanley Tepner	82	0	WSH	82
195	149	114	96	Chiara Cerzosimo	74	3	PIT	82
138	68	77	99	Martha Gill	81	0	ANA	81
14	46	77	99	Blair Phillips	81	0	ANA	81
76	60	77	99	Sal Scarfone	81	0	ANA	81
60	102	104	99	David Stemmler	76	1	LAK	81
171	137	118	99	Aaron Beder	73	2	LAK	81
171	137	118	99	Claude Gaudet	73	2	LAK	81
112	192	148	99	Kento Onishi	68	3	ANA	81
121	71	80	106	Vince DiNucci	80	0	ANA	80
121	71	80	106	David Schamma	80	0	WSH	80
10	50	80	106	Glenn Zyzanski	80	0	WSH	80
19	71	97	106	Andrew Rudy	77	1	CHI	80
60	102	109	106	David Valenti	75	1	LAK	80
50	102	109	106	Josh Epstein	75	1	WSH	80
163	202	157	106	Harper Christie-Allard	66	3	CHI	80
38	54	85	113	Andrew Robichaud	79	0	WSH	79
131	78	85	113	Shannon Brewster	79	0	STL	79
38	54	85	113	Jeff Brinston	79	0	WSH	79
38	54	85	113	David Loop	79	0	WSH	79
106	110	114	113	Paul Markowski	74	1	ANA	79
214	167	128	113	Nolan Sarner	71	2	LAK	79
221	205	158	113	Gwen Clark-Smith	65	3	DAL	79
25	60	92	120	Shane Firth	78	0	WSH	78
151	110	92	120	Dave Poitras	78	0	ANA	78
30	60	92	120	Matthew Warner	78	0	WSH	78
60	82	97	123	Douglas Wilkinson	77	0	WSH	77
208	95	97	123	Norrin Ripsman	77	0	LAK	77
50	65	97	123	Sam Fielding	77	0	WSH	77
83	121	122	123	Ian Winsor	72	1	WSH	77
208	137	122	123	Harris Beder	72	1	LAK	77
90	149	140	123	Leo Gaudet	69	2	LAK	77
195	211	172	123	Ruth Beder	63	3	ANA	77
234	211	172	123	Siyeon Lee	63	3	DAL	77
131	102	104	131	Scott Lee	76	0	WSH	76
195	110	104	131	Ruth Haaima	76	0	WSH	76
184	197	158	131	Denise Allard	65	3	ANA	76
234	219	176	131	Jordan Katz	62	3	LAK	76
38	71	109	135	Pierre Maxime Gravelle	75	0	DAL	75
60	130	133	135	Michael Sheahan	70	1	WSH	75
163	159	153	135	Peter Jay	67	2	WSH	75
90	159	153	135	Luke McEachnie	67	3	PIT	75
208	226	183	135	Tracy Smith	61	3	ANA	75
19	78	114	140	Steve Vinette	74	0	CHI	74
221	211	176	140	Jim Dart	62	3	PIT	74
195	219	183	140	Sherri Rowe	61	3	ANA	74
234	116	118	143	Mike Siegler	73	0	LAK	73
151	82	118	143	Zack O'Gorman	73	0	CHI	73
184	159	153	143	Jean Glassford	67	1	DAL	73
138	174	158	143	Brandon Kubis	65	2	ANA	73
30	88	122	147	Austin Neilson	72	0	WSH	72
60	88	122	147	Maria De Marco	72	0	ANA	72
55	88	122	147	Ethan Craig	72	0	WSH	72
60	88	122	147	Owen Thompson	72	0	DAL	72
112	121	140	147	Corey Jocelyn	69	1	DAL	72
159	180	167	147	Evan Hoey	64	3	PIT	72
195	226	183	147	Nathan Slack	61	3	CHI	72
214	121	128	154	Domenic DeMarco	71	0	WSH	71
25	95	128	154	Pierre Allard	71	0	ANA	71
25	95	128	154	Laura Speciale	71	0	CHI	71
30	102	133	157	Avery Spedding	70	0	WSH	70
90	102	133	157	George Smith	70	0	WSH	70
121	102	133	157	Brendan Roozen	70	0	ANA	70
138	125	133	157	Adam Bloedow	70	0	DAL	70
230	226	192	157	Amelia Thompson	59	3	DAL	70
221	231	201	157	Diego DeMarco	58	3	LAK	70
184	149	140	163	Matthew Brenner	69	0	WSH	69
90	110	140	163	Sean Sargent	69	0	WSH	69
55	110	140	163	Joey Speciale	69	0	CHI	69
241	219	183	163	Michael Lau	61	2	STL	69
221	197	183	163	Ava McAdam-Beder	61	2	LAK	69
214	235	201	163	Rob Phillips	58	3	CHI	69
171	125	148	169	Angela Yanyk	68	0	LAK	68
138	125	148	169	Marco Pazzano	68	0	WSH	68
50	116	148	169	Neil Poitras	68	0	WSH	68
131	116	148	169	Aron Slipacoff	68	0	WSH	68
208	192	153	173	Eli Hammerman	67	0	STL	67
184	205	192	173	Kevin Boomer	59	2	LAK	67
234	236	212	173	Duncan Campbell	56	3	CHI	67
184	186	183	176	Michael Varriano	61	1	LAK	66
131	209	201	176	Campbell Clark-Smith	58	3	ANA	66
90	130	158	178	Brian Secord	65	0	WSH	65
171	130	158	178	Oliver Porebski	65	0	DAL	65
76	130	158	178	Stephen Craig	65	0	WSH	65
90	130	158	178	Luke Borda	65	0	WSH	65
90	130	158	178	Matt MacDougall	65	0	WSH	65
163	159	158	178	Judy Kruger	65	0	WSH	65
121	137	167	184	Aaron Allard	64	0	CHI	64
131	137	167	184	Trish Robichaud	64	0	CHI	64
90	137	167	184	John Upper	64	0	WSH	64
112	137	167	184	Kovi Smolack	64	0	WSH	64
171	147	172	188	Mel McNulty	63	0	DAL	63
121	147	172	188	Jay Dart	63	0	WSH	63
208	226	216	188	Allan Curtis	55	3	PIT	63
112	149	176	191	Mike De Petrillo	62	0	WSH	62
83	149	176	191	Cooper Levens	62	0	WSH	62
151	149	176	191	Russell Reed	62	0	WSH	62
76	149	176	191	Brock Vandrick	62	0	WSH	62
163	149	176	191	Sarah Wardell	62	0	WSH	62
163	231	219	191	Sophie Wexler	54	2	FLA	62
245	192	189	197	Stephen Weir	60	0	STL	60
121	159	189	197	Ryan Slack	60	0	WSH	60
171	159	189	197	Brandon Poitras	60	0	WSH	60
121	167	192	200	Mike Melanson	59	0	WSH	59
184	167	192	200	Chris Smith	59	0	FLA	59
90	167	192	200	Tom Sheahan	59	0	WSH	59
251	238	192	200	Paul Groba	59	0	LAK	59
131	167	192	200	Joel Borgida	59	0	WSH	59
138	167	192	200	Allan Boynton	59	0	LAK	59
90	167	192	200	Paula Brinston	59	0	WSH	59
106	174	201	207	Paul Baran	58	0	WSH	58
221	219	201	207	Aaron Curtis	58	0	CHI	58
112	174	201	207	Kevin Hinch	58	0	WSH	58
171	174	201	207	Stacy Martin	58	0	ANA	58
112	174	201	207	Frank Pileggi	58	0	WSH	58
171	180	209	212	Paul Martin	57	0	WSH	57
121	180	209	212	Edward Levens	57	0	WSH	57
112	180	209	212	Tim Billingsley	57	0	CHI	57
138	186	212	215	Della Santin	56	0	CHI	56
184	186	212	215	Jeff Wener	56	0	WSH	56
202	186	212	215	Jeff Ware	56	0	CHI	56
138	192	216	218	Gabe Pretto	55	0	CHI	55
163	192	216	218	Kristoff Porebski	55	0	LAK	55
184	197	219	220	Al Champsi	54	0	ANA	54
159	197	219	220	Dryden Craig	54	0	CHI	54
221	236	232	220	Linda Veryzer	49	1	LAK	54
250	246	240	220	James Smith	46	3	DET	54
159	202	222	224	Richard Crowe	53	0	WSH	53
159	202	222	224	Larry Coole	53	0	WSH	53
171	205	224	226	Bryan Hill	52	0	ANA	52
214	205	224	226	Ryan McLennan	52	0	LAK	52
163	209	226	228	Brad Hotson	51	0	DAL	51
202	245	240	228	Noah Bloedow	46	1	FLA	51
202	211	227	230	Dennis Clayton	50	0	LAK	50
214	211	227	230	Hung Dang	50	0	CHI	50
202	211	227	230	Brad EJ Hotson	50	0	DAL	50
241	211	227	230	David Hart	50	0	LAK	50
202	211	227	230	Blair Miller	50	0	LAK	50
195	219	232	235	Patrick Mitchell	49	0	NYR	49
221	231	232	235	Richard Gretzinger	49	0	WSH	49
163	219	232	235	Alvin Gainforth	49	0	WSH	49
208	219	232	235	Peta Allard	49	0	LAK	49
241	226	237	239	Laurena Clark	48	0	LAK	48
256	241	237	239	Emma and Andrew Fielding	48	0	PHI	48
251	238	237	239	Andrew Mckenzie	48	0	LAK	48
230	234	240	242	Dave Spedding	46	0	LAK	46
234	241	243	243	Nolan Coole	44	0	NYR	44
214	238	244	244	Elena Noble	43	0	NYR	43
245	252	250	244	Sanjay Talwar	38	1	FLA	43
230	243	245	246	Rachelle Gaudet	41	0	DET	41
241	243	245	246	Ted Kennedy	41	0	LAK	41
256	246	247	248	Judah Gould	39	0	LAK	39
245	246	247	248	Brendan Hoey	39	0	NYR	39
251	246	247	248	David Van Kula	39	0	CHI	39
249	250	251	251	James Yanyk	36	0	LAK	36
221	251	252	252	Thomas Smith	35	0	ANA	35
234	252	253	253	Jordan Reznick	33	0	NYR	33
251	252	253	253	Aidan Hoey	33	0	NYR	33
234	252	253	253	Marie Loop	33	0	LAK	33
256	256	256	256	Andrew Johnstone	32	0	CHI	32
260	256	256	256	Mike van Steendelaar	32	0	CHI	32
248	258	258	258	Brenden Kennedy	30	0	PHI	30
259	259	259	259	Stacey Hartley	29	0	CHI	29
251	260	260	260	Sohee Kim	27	0	NYR	27
261	261	261	261	Hanna-Marea Kennedy	23	0	DET	23