Useless may be a harsh word, since he always does his job on the PK, but I honestly thought the intensity dropped from his game after Boudreau made the switch. He also missed the coverage on his guy on that 2nd Preds goal. What hurts a player like Cogliano is that he doesn't own a great defensive instincts. He does his best work when he has gritty and great defensive forwards like Koivu and Winnik supporting him. It's just not a good fit for him to play on a line with Bonino and Palmieri.
I don't think the intensity dropped from his game, I think the chemistry dropped from all three Cone Heads. The "Pass, shoot, score" chemistry evaporated once all three where thrown into the four winds. All three players play the grinding, nitty gritty style for offense and defense with puck possession in mind. That's why they find each other often. All three don't mind going to the corners and battling it out. When they're on the offense, we pin the opposing team down. That Cone Head line gave us a legit scoring prowess outside the top line with the Twins.
Winnik on the top line, he looked a bit off because the Twins play a different type of game. They're a cycling type tandem.
Cogs, I feel bad for him because he's stuck with other smallish players.
Koivu, I feel the worst for because he's the only one grinding and battling for the puck while Ryan stays out on the perimeter and Teemu circling around the center of the ice, both wingers not getting their hands dirty and simply waiting for something to happen.
The Cone Head line scored 9 points in three games, and that included the shutout that Schneider put on us. Even during the shutout, the Cone heads had a lot of great chances that were stifled out by Schneider.
But BB changed the lines to get Teemu going. So instead of going with Rakell at 2c, he went with his old buddy Koivu. Thus sacrificing the amazing chemistry of the Cone heads.
It looked like Ryan and Perry found their game after the 2nd period, but Selanne continued to be ineffective and that's 3 in a row I thought he hasn't looked good at all. I'll give him some time, but he needs to get it going.
Ryan was invisible tonight. He wasn't as physical as last night. Teemu... He needs a center that's big, works the nitty gritty, and has some offense flair in him where his name is not Koivu. That's where I think Holland would fit in. Heck, Rakell too. Bones is just a pylon out there.
Fowler was good and Sbisa played much better as well. I also love the play of healthy Toni Lydman. Allen rebounded nicely after the 1st, but Beauch is still struggling a bit I think. He seems to be just a little bit late to every play. It's nice to see though that his game hasn't gone completely down the crapper after his injury, and I expect him to only get better.
OMG. Fowler is just getting better and better! Ryan got the goal, but it was a tip in from a Fowler shot from the top of the ice! Fowler just gets it. And man is he quite fast as he's gliding everywhere, going from end to end without difficulty. Reminds me of Scotty, but dare I say faster!
Lydman has played great: physical, takes great angles to seal off an opponent, very aware. Beauch... not so much. Sbisa was trying hard to make up for last night. I think he knows better and will be more aware so he doesn't get beat. Allen's physical-ness is well appreciated. A lot of people don't think Allen's done much, but being the stay-at-home type is what allows Fowler to pinch down more often. Allen knows his role and makes sure he adjusts himself to accommodate a free-wheeling Fowler, plus his hard checks makes a huge psyche difference. Souray's been silent. That's good because it shows he's not missing assignments or getting beat. It's bad because he's not helping to create offense.
Koivu was the best Duck tonight. Great debut from Fasth, and I especially loved a few of those stretch passes when they were on PP. Hiller never does that.
Koivu deserved the third star last night. He worked well with the Cone heads and continued to work his arse off being the only person on an island on the Ryan-Teemu waiting on cherry picking express line. Koivu also drew a penalty call while Ryan and Teemu simply watched from afar as Koivu was battling for the puck along the boards behind the net.
Aside from the fatty rebound, Fasth played a very good game. One of the commentators was denoted about Fasth's stick handling of the puck so well and not scared of it. Hazy supported it by saying Fasth's confidence level is way high to be stick handling like that. And with an answer, "That's why I want to be the goal tender." or something to that effect got a kick out of me and made sense.
Overall a solid win and I hope we see even more effort against the Sharks. That team is dangerous.
I don't know about solid win. We were battling, but not generating much on offense. I thought we were in the defensive end too much. Our defensemen are playing better and our PK finally put up zero's. The two goals we scored was a scrambling tip in from Fowler's shot from the top of the ice and a 2-on-1 breakaway because Nashville fell asleep during a line change. All the line changing and lack of cohesion on all four lines threw me off. The top line was getting chances and the third line has been amazing. The second line has always been a no show. The four line was an energy line, but tonight it revealed why Staubitz should always be a healthy scratch! I'll gladly take back a somewhat lazy DSP because he adds something to the team, unlike the blackhole of Staubitz. :::shudders:::
Return the Cone head line, demote Bones to 4c and replace him with Holland or Rakell, and bring back DSP or replace him with Sexton, but not Staubitz.
