First, I agree that while Atkinson certainly was solid last night, I don't think the team made any big leap forward with him in the lineup. He played very well, but we've been playing much of the same game since the SJ home victory. We've just been coming up short, losing 3 road games basically by a goal in each.
The PP looked good, much better than say the LAK game. Having a semi healthy defense helps.
Calvert - Dubinsky(Anisimov(MacKenzie)) - Foligno is a solid line and I hope those two and which ever healthy center have, stay together. Calvert has been hands down the most pleasant suprise for me this season. Woops i forgot Letestu
MacKenzie has been great, strong utility player for the bottom six, that actually can impact the outcome of games. I like him more every night.
Its very cliche, but this team has been the victim of injuries. You look at this 5 game stretch, the goal tending has been good (not great), the defense, when healthy, has looked pretty good, and offense (when healthy) has been sticky and productive.
I think we're going to see Kekalainen wield more of scalpal when revamping this team and less of a hatchet. I know I'm an optimist and I tend to look for the strengths in this team while downplaying the weaknesses, but I like the feel of what we have here, and hope guys like AA, Vinny, Dubinsky, Foligno, Calvert, Atkinson, McKenzie, Letestu, Dorse, and Boll will be part of the future. Brassard I'm less optimistic about, and RJ at this point has 30 or so games to work out his game (I think its coming around at last). I don't see RJ being a good candidate to move at the deadline, mostly because the return won't be good.