Stat Line of the Day: March 29th

Temmu Selanne (ANA): 3 goals, 2 assists, +2, 17 min vs. Colorado

Even at 40, Selanne is still producing for the Ducks

We venture onto the ice for the first time here at SportStatistics to honor a 40-year-old right winger, and boy what a night he had. His first of the day was a penalty shot 47 seconds into the second period--his first penalty-shot goal in 18 years. The second came 8 minutes later courtesy of Cam Fowler, and Selanne put in his 28th goal of the season with five minutes remaining in the third period to give Anaheim a 5-3 lead. That goal proved to be the difference-maker, however, with the final score at 5-4. Selanne has had quite the year for a 40-year-old, his 75 points the most he's had since 2006 (the last time he played more than 65 games; he's already played in 67 out of 76 games this year), and his big night helped the Ducks stay 4 points up on 9th-place Calgary in the Western conference. Anaheim is in 7th with 6 games to play, though they do have a game in hand over those Flames. The five-point game was the ninth such achievement of Selanne's career. 

Honorable Mentions:

Carmelo Anthony (NYK): 39 points (12-26 fg, 2-6 3pt, 13-17 FTs, 10 reb, 2 ast, 3 TO)

On a night where you could almost see the Knicks season spiraling out of control, it was their new star who had to pull them out of it in overtime. Did this game turn the Knicks fortunes around? That remains to be seen. But Carmelo had one of his best games of the season--he's scored 39 two other times and 50 once--against a Magic team without Jameer Nelson (15.0 PER in 30mpg) and J.J. Redick (12.87 PER in 25.6mpg), on a night where the Knicks maybe shouldn't have needed it. New York got some help in overtime when Dwight Howard fouled out and then got called for a technical on the same play, so to win at home in those circumstances is nearly a must if one wants any sort of confidence for the rest of the season. As good as 'Melo is, the Knicks are still only in the 7th slot in the Eastern Conference, looking at a first-round matchup with the Celtics--not exactly a rosy situation for what was supposed to be a season-changing trade. 

Kansas City Royals: 17-for-39, 10 runs, 3 walks, 0 strikeouts

What, an entire team can't have a great line? This really was the definition of a team hitting effort by the Royals: of the 14 hitters with a plate appearance, 12 of them got hits, 8 had an RBI, and 10 of them scored a run. That's right, a different player scored all 10 runs for Kansas City, and only one batter (Kila Ka'aihue, who had a 3-run homer) had multiple RBIs. Also impressive was the lack of strikeouts, the number of home runs (four), and the fact that no player had any more than two hits. I don't want to say too much about the Royals--we're going to spotlight them later on today.