Marleau for me has been almost ghost like. He has moments where you really notice him (goals) but other than that something is missing. My take is; Komarov has not started well. He is losing a lot of 1 on 1 battles. Last night was good example, besides Marleau's goal it was one and done for that line. Also I think Kadri's wrist was bugging him all game (after blocked shot in period 1). With how that line has looked thus far, I think we may need to move up Brown, move Komarov down. Whether it is to send a message, or more permanent. Last night Brown was virtually none existent as well. But the 4th line may have had 1 shift in the offensive zone. For me last night we looked slow (outside matthews). It felt like they didnt care, no heart. With all the HNIC buzz, and playing a rival it was a sad display. Good thing Andersen found his game in the third, or we would be talking about a loss. Andersen was real bad, in the 1st. While one goal was a scree, Galchenyuks goal was pitiful. They even zoomed in on him and Patches afterward, and you could see Galchenyuk say "wow that went in," almost questioning himself "no, no it was a good shot," replied Patches. Andersen for me has not looked good except for game 1, most of the Chicago game, and I cannot fault him for half the goals against NY, as 3x for sure, guys were left all alone in front.
Back to Marleau. Notorious slow starter. So that is one. Two as mentioned Komarov is not playing like he normally does on that line (though his PK ice time he has looked real good). There were 2 games, that the Kadri line for me was the most consistent, even though I believe they had 2 pts. You cannot compare the finish of Matthews to any other line we have so that is why I say most consistent. All in all, I think Marleau will be fine and come around. Same as Marner. They are too good. What I want to see is a fire in their pants. Play with some excitement. Last night was the most boring game, I have seen them play in a long time. Worse in ways than against, NJ (NJ they had 50 shots, last night was 22). What that tells me is they need to play in between some where. Against NJ they were too loose, and only cared about offense. Last night they were almost scared to create, but for the most part a lot better defensively. We saw this last year a bit. When Rielly, and Gardiner were told to find their defensive game first, and after a little over half the season Babcock let them loose. I noticed last night, a lot of times, the defense were exiting the offensive zone way early (and both of them not just one). That is where I think our little offensive zone time came from. The largest problem I think we have, or been having. The first pass out of our zone in the neutral zone has been horrendous. Whether the ice is bad, or the puck is bouncing like a ball, it has been really bad. We are a speed team, and you cannot attack with speed if that pass misses, or is to a guy standing still. This is what NJ did real well against us, and this season. They use there speed, not only on the fore check, but through the neutral zone their passing has been really good. If we can fix that, I think it fixes 2 things. One it helps us with more offensive time, or enables us to attack on the rush using our speed. Secondly if that pass is good in the neutral, and does not get picked off, it will help our defense, as we it will limit odd man rushes.