Observations XIX

[drwpreds]

I think it's the preds section of the NHL app

Correct....

 

[Armourboy]

After reading the Hawks GDT I don't think I will complain about negativity anymore. At least the negative that is posted here has some merit behind it, that over there is just astounding. One guy who thinks the coach cost them 3 other cups, one guy who thinks Nashville plays nothing but trap ( I still haven't figured out where this even comes from ), blaming Crawford for that loss ( apparently Jarnkrok's goal was a softy?), and a ton of them calling to fire the coaches ( ok been guilty of this in the past myself). That doesn't include the players ( some of which played a decent game )

I mean I know we have our problems on the bottom pair, and most of us aren't happy with Jarnkrok, but at least those are tangible facts.

So I guess what I'm saying is thank you. Thank you for at least being level headed with the bad stuff and having valid reasons for that.

 

[Scoresberg]

This team is really composed. Not trying to get behind excuses but exclude the firsty two games of the season and we're 5-1-2 and that's a good record.

And if you look at the losses:

The Chicago screwjob, no way we should've lost that. Played really well in that game.

The MSG bottom pairing failing night. Limited NYR to 15 shots and still lost because of WIBE. Other than that a great game.

The Calgary loss the other night is the only loss I can admit that we were absolutely the worse team, but still could've won because of the PP. But a point there is good.

What I'm trying to say, even though we've had our issues (lack of depth scoring, bottom pairing, injuries) we've been able to find ways to win. That's a mark of a good, poised team, we haven't always been able to do that.

 

[GoldOnGold]

Too bad I had to miss the game tonight.

I think once Bonino comes back Jarnkrok should become a fulltime wing. That'll squeeze out Aberg probably, but we have too many underperforming wingers.

Forsberg - Johansen - Arvidsson
Fiala - Sissons - Smith
Hartnell - Bonino - Jarnkrok
Watson - Gaudreau - Salomaki/Aberg

 

[Roman Yoshi]

Too bad I had to miss the game tonight.

I think once Bonino comes back Jarnkrok should become a fulltime wing. That'll squeeze out Aberg probably, but we have too many underperforming wingers.

Forsberg - Johansen - Arvidsson
Fiala - Sissons - Smith
Hartnell - Bonino - Jarnkrok
Watson - Gaudreau - Salomaki/Aberg

I couldn't agree more with this, though I would actually switch Watson with Jarnkrok.

 

[Pred303]

It might not have been pretty. But that was still sweet. Any win over Chicago always is.

Rinne is playing the absolute best hockey of his career these first ten games. The best.

And then the two goals are scored by our whipping boys. Lolol.

 

[triggrman]

Rinne is playing simple, more now than ever he's just being big and it's cut down the overreactions that generally cause his problems.

Again, I thought Watson and Fiala had good games with no results.

Aberg looks lost, the games has to slow down for him or he'll never make it in the NHL. He plays with constant panic.

 

[David Singleton]

Rinne was fantastic and was reading the offense very well. (btw, Chris Mason is a huge improvement on the analysis side. Huge.)

Thought Ekholm, Arvidsson, Smith and Gaudreau had very strong games last night as well. Gaudreau had several strong offensive shifts and played a very savvy defensive game.

I thought Emelin had a good night overall. Josi and Weber were fine. Girard didn't look great paired with Josi, but was better once moved. Had a great sliding shot block with about 3 minutes left in the third. Essentially a good growth game for him as he had mistakes and experiences to learn from without being a detriment to the team.

Thought Subban played his worst game that I have seen last night. He was frequently slow to make a decision with the puck (a habit of his), but just as frequently made poor decisions.

Trig, I agree that Aberg just looks lost out there. He's pressing much too hard right now.

Two shorthanded breakaways allowed while on the PP was rough.

 

[Pred303]

In that pitiful first period the only two scoring chances we generated were both by gaudreau. Great pass to forsberg and a great break in and backhand athletic try.

 

[Pred303]

5-1-2, 1.86, .940.

 

[PredsV82]

5-1-2, 1.86, .940.

Hope he doesn't run out of gas. Really want Saros to play well and win today. We really need to be able to give Peks regular rest throughout the season

 

[NoNecksCurse]

we can't ride pekka too much but man this is the best start to a season for him in a long time that i can remember.

good games by gaudreau, smith, jarnkrok, emelin... pretty much the guys i shit talk on a daily basis. ekholm was good as always. i would like to see someone else in aberg's spot on the wing.

was good to see girard in and not make any mistakes that cost us points. it's much more enjoyable to watch him play on the back end than a couple of pylons.

 

[Pred303]

To simply state the obvious, we really need to win this one tonight with the long trip and tough stretch still ahead of us.

 

[adsfan]

we can't ride pekka too much but man this is the best start to a season for him in a long time that i can remember.

good games by gaudreau, smith, jarnkrok, emelin... pretty much the guys i **** talk on a daily basis. ekholm was good as always. i would like to see someone else in aberg's spot on the wing.

was good to see girard in and not make any mistakes that cost us points. it's much more enjoyable to watch him play on the back end than a couple of pylons.

Remember last season? Aberg scored 31 goals. Joey had 14. Past performance does not predict future results. Nashville has always been goal challenged. You need to get as many goals as possible into the line up.

 

[Scoresberg]

Aberg/Salomaki over McLeod over any day.

 

[Armourboy]

Aberg/Salomaki over McLeod over any day.

Agreed, unless you think it's going to be a slugfest.

 

[Pred303]

Well, that really sucked. Hard.

...one has to worry if Saros is the answer at this point.
..tried to tell everyone that judging a young goaltender is the hardest thing to do of any position.
..every game you expect saros to get beat up high a time or two. But he simply cannt be beaten 5 hole or side to side too.
..no matter what some think, many of those goals were shots that needed to be saved.

..in some defense of saros, our ‘2 goal offense’ sucks. No matter how well a goalie plays, 2 goals a game isnt gonna win many.
..as is obvious, right now we are a two guy team. Rinne and forsberg.
..it was good seeing smith pot that meaningless goal nevertheless
..hurt to watch the pk get abused like that after being so good.
..fiala is beginning to show some signs, but man we need goals.
..aberg. Not sure we will see anything.
..subban. No wonder everyone hates him. Lol. He’s borderline dirty.
..we continue to be highly undisciplined.
..obviously that late bad third goal killed us. And to make sure the 4th one finished us 17 seconds into the 3rd
..we deserved to be booed off the ice
..we need so much more from johansen.
..we look so bad 5 on 5.

Not the game we needed before this trip.

 

[Armourboy]

It was pretty bad all the way around.

I've said it in other threads, Saros is very young for a goalie, the kid needs to be playing every day, even if that means he is facing easier competition in the minors.

Could be wrong, never know about goalies, but I think his major issue right now is lack of playing time.

I would bring Lindback up, he at least has filled a back up roll successfully in the past, even if that means leaving Saros in the AHL or losing Lindback to waivers at some point.

 

[FossilFndr]

Tough upcoming road trip for a team with inconsistent scoring and a back-up goalie who is not ready for prime time. Mixing up the lines hasn't helped and a reliable back-up goalie isn't obvious. Pekka is one hip injury from ending his career. And good health doesn't diminish natural aging. Maybe a healthy Bonino and Ellis would make a difference. If I remember correctly Saros though moved well laterally last year but the book on him became shoot high. Feels like we are hanging on to middle of the pack by fingernails.

 

[adsfan]

It was pretty bad all the way around.

I've said it in other threads, Saros is very young for a goalie, the kid needs to be playing every day, even if that means he is facing easier competition in the minors.

Could be wrong, never know about goalies, but I think his major issue right now is lack of playing time.

I would bring Lindback up, he at least has filled a back up roll successfully in the past, even if that means leaving Saros in the AHL or losing Lindback to waivers at some point.

Saros won about 90% of his AHL games. He needs to play in the NHL to develop. If he doesn't play once a week he isn't going to be sharp. Maybe he needs a week or two in Milwaukee to get his game together and then start a few NHL games. You can call up Lindback, nobody else in the NHL wanted him recently. I doubt that most NHL teams would sign Lindback, but you only need one to lose him.

 

[Armourboy]

Saros won about 90% of his AHL games. He needs to play in the NHL to develop. If he doesn't play once a week he isn't going to be sharp. Maybe he needs a week or two in Milwaukee to get his game together and then start a few NHL games. You can call up Lindback, nobody else in the NHL wanted him recently. I doubt that most NHL teams would sign Lindback, but you only need one to lose him.

Doesn't matter where but Saros needs to play. Sitting on the bench in Nashville obviously isn't doing much.

 

[GoldOnGold]

We have been awful 5v5 for the entire year. I'm not sure what happened, considering the past couple of seasons we've been a top-tier 5v5 team, but our numbers are dismal.

We're 30th for scoring chances per 60.

23rd for high-danger corsi for per 60.

And 26th in expected goals per 60.

Rinne has pretty much saved our bacon so far.

 

[Pred303]

there are even more simple, basic stats that show our pitiful offensive play;

..we are 26th in total goal scoring per game. 2.45 goals per game is an awful number.
..we are dead last in the league in actual 5 on 5 goals scored. only 12 in 11 games now. for example Toronto has 30.

and how's this... we have now scored 12 pp goals... and 12 5 on 5 goals. no team in the history of the league has ever scored as many pp goals as 5 on 5 goals in a season.

and to further depress us, of our 12 '5 on 5' goals, one was an empty netter, and another was on a 6 on 5.

 

[bdub24]

Nobody's claiming Anders f***ing Lindback off waivers. Dudes ship has sailed. He was a mental patient as a starter.

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

Nobody's claiming Anders ****ing Lindback off waivers. Dudes ship has sailed. He was a mental patient as a starter.

If he has a few solid games and the Pens backups continue to be an abortion I don't think they'd hesitate picking him up.