GDT: (Oct. 7) Home Opener: Jets @ Flames

[Rangediddy]

So many great things about that game:

-Brodie. Don’t have to say much. His pass to Johnny showed so much IQ and maturity. Not many young players (dmen especially) would choose to pass so close to the net when going for a hat trick)
-Smith was solid. Those passes are so scary, but I’m ok if a couple of those go bad if it means we have a whole season of dmen able to break out quicker and not have to battle in the corners for loose pucks.
-GG showing he can actually adjust his lines! Loved the Johnny Benny Lazar line.
-I really hope this game got Jagr excited to play here. The energy in the building last night is something we can be proud of vs what he’s had in Florida.

Can’t wait for Monday! Let’s end this streak!!

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Yeah that pass from Brodie, was very Niedermeyer like. It was a thing of beauty.

 

[Anglesmith]

I was already calculating what a loss would mean to this team by the end of the 1st and no way did I think we could bounce back. Glad they did! And now there is some momentum and confidence, something the team can take with them to Anaheim. Would be amazing to finally win there and begin to slay that monkey for good. One regular season game wont do it but it would be a start.

See, you start mixing metaphors, and the next thing you know, an innocent monkey is dead.

But yeah, bring on the Honda Center. Anaheim is without Ryan Kesler, Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen. Still a dangerous team with the likes of Getzlaf, Perry and Rakell, but we're not likely to get a better chance than this for years.

 

[MonyontheMoney]

Getzlaf is also day to day and hasn't played either of the Ducks first 2 games, which would be big if he couldn't go again tomorrow night.

 

[Dertell]

Based on tonight:

Gaudreau - Bennett - Lazar worked beautifully. Why not keep it?

I mean sure, but I don't know if that's a sustainable 1st line or anything. I guess they earned one or two more games for evaluation purposes.

Versteeg - Monahan - Ferland was great, but mostly because of Versteeg and Monahan, I think.

I liked Ferland a lot. That goal was 66% Versteeg tho (an extremely rare case for a secondary assist)

No reason to break up 3M.

Yep.

Glass - Stajan - Brouwer was a good fourth line.

vehemently disagreed. I was paying close attention at even strength to them in the n-zone, d-zone. They started all their defensive faceoffs with the first pair, which was a great thing because they along with Smith did some nice work to move the puck on the other side. The three forwards were really awkward and bad. just no chemistry, losing every puck battle, bad positioning (Stajan is usually as good at this as anyone on this team not named Mikael Backlund).

I think the first instinct is to try to put Jagr in Ferland's spot, and move Ferland to the fourth line. Sorry Tanner.

Or they could just go with what they were running in practice.

Honestly I just want Glass out of the lineup. This might be very well be best case scenario.

 

[FlamerForLife]

If Jagr isn't ready for Monday then stick with the same lines that we ended yesterday with. If Jagr is ready for Monday then run with this imo:
Tkachuk-Backlund-Frolik
Gaudreau-Bennett-Lazar/Ferland
Versteeg-Monahan-Jagr
Lazar/Ferland-Stajan-Brouwer

 

[Volica]

The next game is against Anaheim... I would probably scratch Glass if Jagr plays.

Tkachuk - Backlund - Frolik
Versteeg - Monahan - Jagr
Gaudreau - Bennett - Lazar
Ferland - Stajan - Brouwer

Honestly, Glass is pretty much Brouwer except physical at this point.
Brouwer was a guy who could score 15-20 goals a season and play relatively responsibly. His play fell off a cliff; he's -3 (deserved), no points and looks lost out there. At least with Glass you're getting a guy who'll throw his weight around and protect his team.

 

[Baxterman]

I would like to see:

Gaudreau-Monahan-Lazar
Tkachuk-Bennett-Jagr
Frolik-Backlund-Versteeg
Glass-Stajan-Ferland

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Honestly, Glass is pretty much Brouwer except physical at this point.
Brouwer was a guy who could score 15-20 goals a season and play relatively responsibly. His play fell off a cliff; he's -3 (deserved), no points and looks lost out there. At least with Glass you're getting a guy who'll throw his weight around and protect his team.

Glass sucks.
Brouwer sucks.
Stajan is not young enough to carry them.

It sucks so much that our AHL 1st line (Mangiapane-Jankowski-Hathaway) is better than our NHL 4th line. That should never be the case. Those three are just tearing the lower levels apart, we even have Hathaway completing filthy dangles because he knows he's too good for the minors.

 

[CraigsList]

Honestly, Glass is pretty much Brouwer except physical at this point.
Brouwer was a guy who could score 15-20 goals a season and play relatively responsibly. His play fell off a cliff; he's -3 (deserved), no points and looks lost out there. At least with Glass you're getting a guy who'll throw his weight around and protect his team.

I know, but Brouwer was part of the team in the playoffs last season, which is the only reason why I would put him over Glass. He needs to show some physicality, if not, then he'll sit.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I would like to see:

Gaudreau-Monahan-Lazar
Tkachuk-Bennett-Jagr
Frolik-Backlund-Versteeg
Glass-Stajan-Ferland

I'd keep Monahan split from Gaudreau - not sure why you'd want to split up the Bennett Gaudreau Lazar line after last night lol.

 

[MonyontheMoney]

I would like to see:

Gaudreau-Monahan-Lazar
Tkachuk-Bennett-Jagr
Frolik-Backlund-Versteeg
Glass-Stajan-Ferland

Monahan and Versteeg seem to have some decent chemistry, honestly. I've said it before, but I'd stick with what worked last night for a bit to see if it's something that could work long term.

I still have my doubts that Lazar can play as a top 6 RW all year, but we're going into a place we haven't won at in a long time, against a team who is icing their worst lineup in a long time due to injuries. I think that confidence from last night post line tweets could be massive in helping bust that streak. Ending the Honda Center curse may seem trivial at this point, but it could go a long way in the success of this season/playoffs.

 

[Baxterman]

I'd keep Monahan split from Gaudreau - not sure why you'd want to split up the Bennett Gaudreau Lazar line after last night lol.

Because Bennett had nothing to do with any good plays so put the two guys who worked well together (Gaudreau and Lazar) with the best center we have who showed good chemistry with Gaudreau.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

But Monahan had an assist and Bennett got nothing...

The way people stick to narratives is pretty hilarious. Definitely one of the best aspects of this site.

 

[Mr Snrub]

Worked last night so I missed this one and of course it sounds like a great game... from the highlights and from what I saw in the opener it really looks like Brodie's shot is very different from last year, he has never had a slapper like this before.

Also, his pass to Gaudreau from the dots was vintage Giordano.

 

[Baxterman]

Monahan and Versteeg seem to have some decent chemistry, honestly. I've said it before, but I'd stick with what worked last night for a bit to see if it's something that could work long term.

I am not convinced that Versteeg can play 1st line minutes. I think he is good in a limited role and minutes.

 

[djpatm]

Id like to keep those lines together for a couple games to see if it sticks. Its very possible that it was just a bit of a shake up that woke up the Flames but who knows, maybe these new lines will work.

Nothing would be better if we could split up Gaudreau and Monahan and have them both continue to perform, giving us 3 solid lines that could all play the same amount.

 

[Calculon]

Monahan looks visually better when away from Gaudreau; he's more engaged and the play starts going through him rather than him getting a bad case of Iginla-itis and letting Gaudreau do most the work.

Besides, despite how people like to sell him short, Monahan is more than capable of producing away from Gaudreau. He does so quite well in fact. Same for Gaudreau; if he's as good as people think he is (and he is), he won't have a problem producing without Monahan. He certainly didn't last night.

Not sure why some are so married to the idea of keeping them together forever and forever. Do they just hate having depth that much? Is the idea of change just that scary? Look at Chicago; Kane and Toews play on separate lines and they're all the better for it. Late in the game, down by a goal, then they load up a line, but otherwise a balanced attack is better than being a one line team like the Oilers.

Basically, having three lines going is better than just two. It's all about what makes the team better at winning more games.

 

[DFF]

I have much more confidence in Monahan creating his own offense than Bennett. That's why I like to see Bennett with Gaudreau to see if he is any good with good players

 

[Dack]

But Monahan had an assist and Bennett got nothing...

The way people stick to narratives is pretty hilarious. Definitely one of the best aspects of this site.

Bennett's line was far better at everything than Monahans. Team success > individual stats that why we weren't breaking up Monahan and Johnny remember. Johnny was better away from Monahan he seems to skate faster when he plays with fast linemates. I'm not confident they'll keep it up but they were great last night.

Also even though Bennett didn't end up getting an assist he was involved in the play (gave Lazar a tap in that he missed) and making great plays defensively, it was nice to see. If he continues to play like he did tonight the points will come.

 

[Mr Snrub]

Really hope we can build off of this and finally wreck those clowns at the Honda Center on Monday. So angry that I missed it, looks like last night'll end up as one of the best games of the season.

 

[Baxterman]

The 2nd period will likely be one of the better periods for the team.

The 1st period was awful and 3rd period was pretty blah just playing out the game.

So really it was just a great period you missed.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Bennett's line was far better at everything than Monahans. Team success > individual stats that why we weren't breaking up Monahan and Johnny remember. Johnny was better away from Monahan he seems to skate faster when he plays with fast linemates. I'm not confident they'll keep it up but they were great last night.

Also even though Bennett didn't end up getting an assist he was involved in the play (gave Lazar a tap in that he missed) and making great plays defensively, it was nice to see. If he continues to play like he did tonight the points will come.

Bennett's ability to control neutral ice and the defensive zone puts Gaudreau in a position to succeed. You won't see it watching highlights or last night's points column but it's blatantly obvious if you watch with your eyes and not a slide rule.

It's basically like what Bergeron was doing for Marchand and Pastrnak last year... or what Backlund does for everyone. Sometimes the production will be there too, but far more important is that the line can dominate as a unit. Another solid, although not-as-good example of this, and it's kind of gross because it's an Oiler, was Ryan Nugent Hopkins' play between MacKinnon and Gaudreau a year ago at the World Cup.

Monahan as a pretty one-dimensional player basically needs to be directly involved in the scoring play. And he can do that on the third line with Versteeg as his assist last night showed (can anyone name a single other "thing" Monahan did all night?), or on the wing with a Jankowski to carry the load.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Monahan looks visually better when away from Gaudreau; he's more engaged and the play starts going through him rather than him getting a bad case of Iginla-itis and letting Gaudreau do most the work.

Besides, despite how people like to sell him short, Monahan is more than capable of producing away from Gaudreau. He does so quite well in fact. Same for Gaudreau; if he's as good as people think he is (and he is), he won't have a problem producing without Monahan. He certainly didn't last night.

Not sure why some are so married to the idea of keeping them together forever and forever. Do they just hate having depth that much? Is the idea of change just that scary? Look at Chicago; Kane and Toews play on separate lines and they're all the better for it. Late in the game, down by a goal, then they load up a line, but otherwise a balanced attack is better than being a one line team like the Oilers.

Basically, having three lines going is better than just two. It's all about what makes the team better at winning more games.

Good post Calc. Also, 82 games is a long season. No one should be married to any line combinations over a period of that length. Also, do people know why line combos are juggled? Opposing teams game plan coming into a game against a particular team, when you line juggle it throws some of the strategy out the window and that’s why you can see a sudden surge like last night because it gives defences a different look throws them off. Monahan and Gaudreau will play together again this season guaranteed, but for now we should explore the Bennett/Gaudreau combo. I’m also happy for Lazar.

 

[Skobel24]

Gaudreau - Bennett - Lazar
Versteeg - Monahan - Jagr
Tkachuk - Backlund - Frolik
Glass - Stajan - Ferland

That's what I'm hoping to see.