Pre-Game Talk: Panthers @ Hawks

[ShootIt]

Petro has been good. Dropping him makes no sense.

Then if Brickley doesn't play next game, that wouldn't make any sense!

Kulikov has been great, and the points are bound to come with a little puck luck.

Our D will start putting up points soon enough. I might be old fashioned, but I prefer our D to work best preventing goals. I'm more concerned about our 2nd and 3rd lines. Time to mix it up a bit.

+1 The goals will come eventually for the defense. Our only threat from the blueline is Ekblad, and the other teams know that.

Dare I say even consider Brickley at #2 LW.
Maybe his hustle can be contagious for Bjug

 

[RainingRats]

I think we're doing well and need to be patient to give some time for the lines to gel. Despite a lot of people being histrionic about this team, we've definitely improved from last year and so far haven't gotten off to the slow start that dooms us. If we needed to shake up the lines, I would go with...

New lines
Smith-Barkov-Jagr
Hubs-Bjugstad-Trochek (hubs has been fine and he is a good fit on the top line but it may be good for Bjugstad to get new wingers)
Brickley-Mackenzie-Howden (they deserve more ice time)
JJ-Bolland-Pirri

I wouldn't change the d-pairings up. I would play Mitchell and Gudbranson less. They should almost never start in the o-zone.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

They've played ok as a team, pretty sure almost everyone had them around 3-2-1 at this point (it's what I had) they look like a similar team to last year, and with the crappy east there's a decent chance they get in.

 

[I am not exposed]

I think we're doing well and need to be patient to give some time for the lines to gel. Despite a lot of people being histrionic about this team, we've definitely improved from last year and so far haven't gotten off to the slow start that dooms us. If we needed to shake up the lines, I would go with...

New lines
Smith-Barkov-Jagr
Hubs-Bjugstad-Trochek (hubs has been fine and he is a good fit on the top line but it may be good for Bjugstad to get new wingers)
Brickley-Mackenzie-Howden (they deserve more ice time)
JJ-Bolland-Pirri

I wouldn't change the d-pairings up. I would play Mitchell and Gudbranson less. They should almost never start in the o-zone.

I like those lines.

 

[adam graves]

I think we're doing well and need to be patient to give some time for the lines to gel. Despite a lot of people being histrionic about this team, we've definitely improved from last year and so far haven't gotten off to the slow start that dooms us. If we needed to shake up the lines, I would go with...

New lines
Smith-Barkov-Jagr
Hubs-Bjugstad-Trochek (hubs has been fine and he is a good fit on the top line but it may be good for Bjugstad to get new wingers)
Brickley-Mackenzie-Howden (they deserve more ice time)
JJ-Bolland-Pirri

I wouldn't change the d-pairings up. I would play Mitchell and Gudbranson less. They should almost never start in the o-zone.

Where do i sign for this?

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

While I'm beating the drum of Dmen deployment:



Surprise, surprise the stats back it up. We're playing Willie and Guds way too much.

Kulikov is our best defenseman by that chart no? He's grown a lot from being a whipping boy just 2 years ago.

 

[CanadianPantherFan]

Eh, dunno bout that. Petrovic and Kulikov have played quite well this year. Going up against a west team that has some size, keeping Petrovic would be the best option. Maybe Petrovic will cause Kane not to fight for pucks around the boards

I believe Kuli/Petrovic pairing are key vs fast /strong teams in West. Guds and Mitchell are our shutdown pair but I don't see them matching up as well versus P Kane, McDavid, Seguin line etc. This will free Ekblad and Campbell up especially with home games last change. Gallant has to play our top pairing more especially 5 on 5 with top line like he finally did last game.

 

[ShootIt]

Kulikov is our best defenseman by that chart no? He's grown a lot from being a whipping boy just 2 years ago.

Eh not a fan of that chart in its current setup. Who were those pairings facing? Top lines, middle 6 or 4th line opposition?

If Guds and Mitchell are going up against the Voracek, Benn, Seguin, Giroux of the opposition, they will give up more shots than another blueline going against bottom six caliber players. Granted we have seen Mitchell struggle in clearing the net, those guys are going up against the top lines from what I recall.

 

[Android 16]

While I'm beating the drum of Dmen deployment:



Surprise, surprise the stats back it up. We're playing Willie and Guds way too much.

And none of those guys have provided any goals. Can barely defend and doesn't provide offense. That's a sub par blueline.

 

[FrolikFan67]

New lines
Smith-Barkov-Jagr
Hubs-Bjugstad-Trochek (hubs has been fine and he is a good fit on the top line but it may be good for Bjugstad to get new wingers)
Brickley-Mackenzie-Howden (they deserve more ice time)
JJ-Bolland-Pirri

was going to comment with the same thing. i want smith on that first line and trocheck on the 2nd. the only things that are working and have chemistry are barkov with jagr obviously, and the 4th line. everything else can be tinkered with and wouldnt be a big deal, if anything it might prove beneficial.

 

[FrolikFan67]

Seguin and Benn are scoring against everyone!

of course they are, theyre incredible. just illustrating the point that we're doing a lousy job shutting down the top guys. we even knew for a fact that crosby was going to score coming into this game.

(btw, detroit's losing to edmonton 3-0 in the 3rd, thats good for us)

 

[Android 16]

of course they are, theyre incredible. just illustrating the point that we're doing a lousy job shutting down the top guys. we even knew for a fact that crosby was going to score coming into this game.

(btw, detroit's losing to edmonton 3-0 in the 3rd, thats good for us)

Flyers won though and are now tied with us. Giroux blasted in a powerplay game winner. They have officially overcome a horrible 7-1 blow out first game. Flyers aren't as weak as people think, imo. Plus, their kids are absolutely killing it in the lower leagues. They are gonna have a much better blueline very, very soon.

 

[FrolikFan67]

Flyers won though and are now tied with us. Giroux blasted in a powerplay game winner. They have officially overcome a horrible 7-1 blow out first game. Flyers aren't as weak as people think, imo. Plus, their kids are absolutely killing it in the lower leagues. They are gonna have a much better blueline very, very soon.

they'll absolutely have a sick blue line very very soon. provorov, sanheim, morin, ghost, hagg, thats insane! they have a solid offense but they won't sustain where theyre at for the season tho. not with that d. they'll finish somewhere around 9th or 10th from the bottom, league wise. keep in mind the division their in too, they have to face nyr, nyi, pit, and washington regularly. I'm more worried about ottawa and detroit than philly.

 

[EnforceTheLaus]

they'll absolutely have a sick blue line very very soon. provorov, sanheim, morin, ghost, hagg, thats insane! they have a solid offense but they won't sustain where theyre at for the season tho. not with that d. they'll finish somewhere around 9th or 10th from the bottom, league wise. keep in mind the division their in too, they have to face nyr, nyi, pit, and washington regularly. I'm more worried about ottawa and detroit than philly.

They were also playing the Bruins who are an absolute mess. Watched some of the game, and Tukka looks lost. Crazy how far they have fallen in less than a year.


Edit: As far as competition goes I think the biggest threat will be OTT, PITT, and Cbus coming up. I had reservations with Detroits start but they look like less than a bubble team outside the first 3 games.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

Flyers won though and are now tied with us. Giroux blasted in a powerplay game winner. They have officially overcome a horrible 7-1 blow out first game. Flyers aren't as weak as people think, imo. Plus, their kids are absolutely killing it in the lower leagues. They are gonna have a much better blueline very, very soon.

It's 6 games in. They're a mediocre team with meh scoring and zero defense. Are you honestly paying attention to who is tied with the Panthers in October?

Edit: As far as competition goes I think the biggest threat will be OTT, PITT, and Cbus coming up. I had reservations with Detroits start but they look like less than a bubble team outside the first 3 games.

Pittsburgh will qualify easily. I would say Ottawa is most obtainable, but if Detroit keeps getting injuries, maybe it's possible. I am not sure why people underrate Pittsburgh, they are a very good regular season team.

 

[austropanther]

Eh not a fan of that chart in its current setup. Who were those pairings facing? Top lines, middle 6 or 4th line opposition?

If Guds and Mitchell are going up against the Voracek, Benn, Seguin, Giroux of the opposition, they will give up more shots than another blueline going against bottom six caliber players. Granted we have seen Mitchell struggle in clearing the net, those guys are going up against the top lines from what I recall.

That is exactly the point. The chart does not take into account who they were up against AND where the shots actually came from.

In my opinion they can let up 10 times more shots than the others, if they all come from the sideboards with free view for the goalie and clear the rebounds.

Not to forget is that they play between 1:30 and 2 min more on average each game than the other D-pairs plus Soupy and Ekblad have a lot less PK but a lot more PP time.

Sorry, but this statistic is no valid proof to me at all. How about their Corsi's and so forth? Would tell a lot more

I think we're doing well and need to be patient to give some time for the lines to gel. Despite a lot of people being histrionic about this team, we've definitely improved from last year and so far haven't gotten off to the slow start that dooms us. If we needed to shake up the lines, I would go with...

New lines
Smith-Barkov-Jagr
Hubs-Bjugstad-Trochek (hubs has been fine and he is a good fit on the top line but it may be good for Bjugstad to get new wingers)
Brickley-Mackenzie-Howden (they deserve more ice time)
JJ-Bolland-Pirri

I wouldn't change the d-pairings up. I would play Mitchell and Gudbranson less. They should almost never start in the o-zone.

Everybody seems excited about these line combinations. I agree on the first 3 but the 4th with JJ-Bolland-Pirri is a complete nightmare. All 3 of them are struggling. Dangerous way to "jump start" them.

About the not scoring Dmen, it is more of a tactical problem. I'm sure that GG does not give his guys a free hand to join and move up as much as they want. Even Ekblad is holding back and we know what he can do. I believe it comes from coaching directives...