No doubt about it, Hanifin was disappointing last night, at least in the 1st 1/2 of the game. Even on a couple of plays they didn't score on, like the save on Eriksson-Ek, he was out of position. He just looks like he fell asleep or misjudged Stewart's speed on the breakaway. That Staal break-away I put more on TVR than I do Hanifin though. Not sure what he was thinking when 3 forwards were caught deep, the Wild with the puck and numbers. Hanifin could have played it better, but I can't imagine any defenseman is thinking TVR is going to rush forward at the puck in that situation. I thought Hanifin was much better the 2nd half.
Pesce, struggled until they changed the pairings as well. That 1st goal was all on him as he got out-muscled on the board and then was lazy getting back into the play. Once he saw Zucker was by him and going to be wide open, Pesce skated hard to catch him, but it was too late.
That last play in regulation was about as poorly officiated as you can get. Yeah, I get that they swallow the whistle, but how on earth is the crosschecking, tackling and mugging that Staal gave to Kruger not a penalty? And how is what Dumba did not considered goaltender interference. Oh well, in the end it doesn't matter since the loser point went to a team in the West.
Sloppy and not well executed game, but that's not too unexpected given it's their 1st game. A bit of a character builder though and hopefully they can take out of this confidence in that they know they can come back from adversity and win.
