jackets4life
Registered User
In all, much less confidence, decisiveness and purpose than in the Detroit game. Is that a function of something LA does? Is it a matchup thing? Is it simply on the Jackets not being fully engaged?
I think some of that was on the Jackets last night, honestly, didn't have any fire after the LA goal on the first shift of the second period. They are fragile, they feel defeated easily. Instead of responding after some of the unfortunate events (Dubinsky hit, Great saves by Quick), they play with their tail between their legs the rest of the night. Some of that is to be expected with so many kids out there, but there are plenty of guys who are fully capable of being leaders who seem afraid to take hold of that role when things go poorly: making the job of deciding on a captain a lot easier at least.
All that being said, LA isn't the kind of team we are built to win against. They play a lot like the Blues with the way they forecheck and scrum the puck up against the boards. The third period was irrelevant. They knew we couldn't get any shots so they were happy in just grinding us out with board play and dump and chase hockey. In that way, this game was extremely reminiscent of the debacle against St. Louis last Thursday.
All we can hope for is that Dubinsky isn't suspended for too long, our injured guys get healthy soon, and the rest keep games respectable until then. Go Flames on Thursday!