Opportunistic game brought home the win, but I wouldn't say it was a good game to be honest. You're expected to be a bit on the receiving end of possession when you play with the lead, but it felt like Detroit really owned this game, except that we scored on our chances and they didn't.
Great
-
Good
Matthews - Some uncharacteristic giveaways in his own zone, but provided an important goal, and ended up with two points on the night.
Nylander - Mostly spectacular work by Nylander, but the line struggled a bit in their own zone tonight. Nylander actually ended up with the worst CF% among forwards, which is probably the first and only time that'll happen in his career. I don't care much for CF% in one-game samples, but that's quite unusual.
Hyman - Hyman got two points and was a beast on the PK. He's now on a pace that would have put him top five in scoring league-wide last season, if you don't count PP production. The argument against him was lacking scoring, he does this, and the GDT still has people mocking him. He can't win.
Kadri - Kadri had a very strong game again, and that goal was an absolute beauty. People always talk about our big three. Well, Marner and Nylander hasn't separated themselves from Kadri yet. He's playing like a #1C nowadays.
Zaitsev - I really liked Z tonight. Had a rather bad play on one of the goals, but otherwise he was everywhere.
Rielly - Another good, good game from Rielly. Not playing murder minutes really lets him showcase his talent.
Average
Komarov - Strong on the PK, decent 5-on-5.
Marleau - No points, big night, but a solid effort from Marleau.
Brown - Scored a goal, but that was flukey. There are signs that he can help out his line, they look better balanced now and he seem to work well with Bozak.
Gardiner - Some nice breakouts. Most of all, he's starting to make snap decisions when warranted, which is pretty often. Seem to be coming out of his early funk.
Hainsey - Decent enough game. One thing we always heard about Hainsey was how much he was going to annoy us. Through good and bad shifts, it's been the exact opposite.
Bad
Bozak - Spent most of his night in his own zone, and didn't provide the scoring or chance generation to make up for it. With that said, could have easily been a two point night with a bit of conversion. Still, this is the wrong night to complain about that.
JVR - Mostly MIA. Had a terrific pass to Brown early in the game though.
Fehr - Babcock didn't seem to like what he saw from the fourth line, and proceeded to hide them. Fehr is losing the battle for #4C quite clearly.
Martin - A few minutes of mediocre hockey. Hard to say anything good about that.
Marner - Largely ineffective, but who can blame him. Babs need to find a new spot for him. Had a beauty feed on the PP.
Borgman - Borgman had a rather rough game, had a couple of early turnovers and couldn't really make a difference even in soft usage.
McElhinney - Not exactly a great game, but not awful either. Could have put him as average, but I really didn't like how he played that first goal. That one was on him.
Awful
Carrick - Carrick is supposed to be the stabilizer on that third pairing, but he isn't right now. Had two rough games in a row. I wonder if they'll look at Swede - Swede for Saturday?