GDT: No Spezza? Inexperienced Defense? Backup Goalie? 5-1 Loss.

[Identity404]

Wow, the defense really stepped up tonight. Lets hope they keep it up. Ellis was solid when called upon. If Cam was playing he would have left in a softie and we would have lost in overtime.

 

[snakepliskin]

nice win-well played-cant believe our D was accesory to a shut out! Semin -keep em!

 

[bb99]

I think I <3 Dan Ellis a little bit.

 

[Lazyking]

Wow, the defense really stepped up tonight. Lets hope they keep it up. Ellis was solid when called upon. If Cam was playing he would have left in a softie and we would have lost in overtime.

You don't know that considering not many if any of Cam's goals against have been soft.

 

[Unsustainable]

Faulk is the Defense.

We will win or lose on him.

 

[CanesAvs16]

Faulk is the Defense.

We will win or lose on him.

agreed.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Good defensive game by the Canes. Even Corvo had a respectable defensive game tonight. Did Ellis have to face any breakaways or legitimate shots from 2 on 1s tonight?

Also, I'm starting to wonder what the Canes really see in Dalpe. I'm not seeing much from him.

 

[CanesAvs16]

Good defensive game by the Canes. Even Corvo had a respectable defensive game tonight. Did Ellis have to face any breakaways or legitimate shots from 2 on 1s tonight?

Also, I'm starting to wonder what the Canes really see in Dalpe. I'm not seeing much from him.

Dalpe is fast, a lot faster than many of our players. I see him more as an "open up room for Skinner" type of player (even though he lack physicality like Jordan has). I like him on the line with J. Staal and Skinner. I don't think any of our other players would quite fit into the role he does.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Dalpe is fast, a lot faster than many of our players. I see him more as an "open up room for Skinner" type of player (even though he lack physicality like Jordan has). I like him on the line with J. Staal and Skinner. I don't think any of our other players would quite fit into the role he does.

He might be fast, but IMO, his speed hasn't really been a factor as he hasn't really used it to create much. I haven't seen him open up room for anyone yet. It's still early though, but I think the Canes will need more out of a top 6 forward as the season progresses.

EDIT: It was a win so I'm not trying to be negative, just wondering what others see in Dalpe. The team defense was very good tonight, Ellis played well and the PK was excellent. Hopefully the PP can get going (although Ottawa's PK and Anderson had a say in that).

 

[OntarioFisherman*]

How did Chantel do tonight? I was at the game with my mouth agape watching a shut out happen.

 

[SeaBasstian]

am i the only one who thought Jordan could have been our most useless player on the ice tonight? maybe i missed something, but i dont think i saw him create ANYTHING except the one chance he got flying down the left side that one time. i saw him skating slowly, giving up pucks (which he hasnt been doing much this season) and many plays were just dying on his stick a la LaRose. at least, thats what I saw

 

[Tony1028]

Semin was the best player on the ice...I love what he brings. I thought Dywer was solid also tonight.

 

[cptjeff]

Didn't know that.

But yeah, I think he missed it by a solid half a second.

Saw it happen once when there was an empty netter with something like 3 seconds left. The teams (forget who they were) had been going at it all night, so the refs decided it was probably better to just send 'em to the rooms then have to deal with a line brawl.

 

[DaveG]

Faulk is the Defense.

We will win or lose on him.

Bingo. This is a completely different team with him in the lineup. Faulk just seems to have a poise to him anymore that completely changes the way the team plays. That and when the forwards actually buy into two-way play (how many great DEFENSIVE plays did we see out of the Staal-Semin duo tonight?) are a recipe for very good things with this team.

I honestly feel Ellis wasn't quite as sharp as he was in Buffalo tonight. Mostly because he didn't have to be, all 19 players that saw the ice (yes even Corvo) were buying in in their own zone tonight. Have to feel good about a win like that, should hopefully do a lot for the defensive confidence of this team. Nodl also adds a new element that actually allows the team to roll 4 lines. Feels good to see that again.

 

[Tony1028]

am i the only one who thought Jordan could have been our most useless player on the ice tonight? maybe i missed something, but i dont think i saw him create ANYTHING except the one chance he got flying down the left side that one time. i saw him skating slowly, giving up pucks (which he hasnt been doing much this season) and many plays were just dying on his stick a la LaRose. at least, thats what I saw

Yea J Staal wasn't on his game. Hopefully he is better tomorrow night.

 

[cptjeff]

Wow, the defense really stepped up tonight.

Faulk back and better chemistry after 3 good days of practice.

Ya know, despite the injury scare, it's really, really nice to have drafted and developed a guy that can make that kind of a difference.

 

[Swag Surf Aho]

am i the only one who thought Jordan could have been our most useless player on the ice tonight?

I think so.

He and Dwyer were superb together on the PK, breaking up numerous chances with the stick. I believe the one good play you are referring to is the one where he took a stick to the face and still delivered a pass to skinner from behind the net, leading to a one time shot off the post.

 

[tomdundo]

THAT is the type of game I'm expecting to see from Semin. I thought that aside from his assist to Staal on Monday, that he was looking rather disinterested and slow, but tonight he was pretty much perfect. Really creative with the puck with his pass, shot, and skating ability. Solid defensively, hustling back to cover for his mistakes or a bad pinch by the defensemen. A general threat on the ice pretty much every shift.

 

[My Special Purpose]

You guys will enjoy this. So I was confident in our Canes tonight, but I didn't like that they were favored on the money line. But if I gave up 1 1/2 goals, they were +220, so I put $50 on them minus 1 1/2.

So for a few minutes, I was up $110. But now I'm down $50. I'm hitting refresh on the box on nhl.com every couple of seconds, but it's not looking good.

I made the same bet on the Red Wings and they came through with a three-goal third (their empty-netter counted). I had given up on that one. The Wings were +260, so I won $130 on my $50 bet, so I'm up $30 with the Blackhawks still to go. A Vancouver win and it's not horrible. But a Chicago win and it's a good night.

If Bowman has shot half a second earlier, it would be an AWESOME night.

 

[normalpsychology]

defense looked good tonight because you can tell they are much more comfortable with Danny between the poles

 

[HisIceness]

So yeah, we usually beat Ottawa at home.

 

[Novacane]

Very solid win. I was somewhat impressed with Nodl this game although it may have been a product of me focusing on how he looked after being sent down. Faulk looks like himself which is nice to see. Semin had a great game. Really wish Jordan could have buried that empty netter. And I'll admit it. We should ride Ellis as long as he keeps his play up.

 

[DaveG]

defense looked good tonight because you can tell they are much more comfortable with Danny between the poles

Actually I'd argue the opposite. They play a much "looser" game with Cam between the pipes. The coverage isn't as tight because they believe Cam can and will bail them out. Now whether or not they should be doing this right now is up for debate, I'm leaning a hard NO on that one.

 

[HisIceness]

That 4 minute PK was huge.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Gotta say, as great as the defense played, you could tell Ottawa had no real interest playing this game.

Their top center out for a while, their team fighting off the flu (you could tell Karlsson was nowhere near game shape), they were completely deflated after that 4 minute kill (which, btw, was the highlight of the night). Picked it back up near the end, but couldn't get it done.

A win's a win, and I'm not complaining, but I'm not putting a lot of stock in this game.