Granlund needs to stop getting thrown out
Granlund is cheating BIG TIME because he has a top 30 faceoff guy on his wing. It's part of the strategy. Granlund gets two chances to cheat and win the draw and if he can't, then Cullen who's a 55% guy gets in the circle. Same thing Koivu does except with a better backup plan...
I still think Backs **** the bed last night and there's just no getting around it. He made two decisions; coming out to play the puck was a good one, but trying to clear through Erat's legs (if that's what he was going for...?) was a cringeworthy one.
He wasn't, he was trying to swat the puck to the boards. That still wasn't an easy play for Erat either, there was a lot of luck going his way.
Look at the first few seconds of your clip. Please explain what Spurgeon was doing. He's way deep heading at an angle towards the net, totally abandoning the point. WTF is that?
Spurgeon was probably driving towards the net thinking Parise was going to feed the puck through the slot. This happens ALL the time. If the puck squeaks through or a Nashville defender tips it, that's a high percentage scoring chance for Spurge.