Is it crazy to think they overachieved and went on a Cinderella run? Or is it just a bad start and they haven't recoverd from losing to the Hawks yet?
I would say it's the latter. That team has too much talent to continue at the rate they're playing. They're definitely underachieving.
If there's one game that can snap them out of their slump and every single one of their players will get up for, it's against us. We're leading the conference, we just played a grueling 7 game series. Their players will definitely be up for this one.
As to the previous PGT, I made a point about Nash that even when he's not scoring, he opens up the ice for Brass/Zucc and that was dismissed by his critics as "7.8m is a lot for a decoy." Him opening up the ice isn't him being a decoy. He's a dangerous player, the most dangerous forward on this team outside of Zuccarello. The other teams not only have to key on him and try and take his space away, but he often creates coverage problems for them and is a beast on the boards and cycling down low with his ability to drag defenders on his back and still get off high percentage shots. That's not being a decoy, calling him a decoy is a very simplistic way to look at it. He's still a very important cog in our first line, that line doesn't function as well as it does if Nash is replaced by an inferior player. I understand being frustrated with him not scoring, but he's just getting unlucky and shooting way below his career average shooting %. He's going to start getting a little bit of luck and all the posts and near misses he has are going to start going in in bunches.
To call him an expensive decoy is just not a fair way to look at it. He's a dangerous player and he is making solid plays and that doesn't always show up with his name on the scoresheet, but as long as the team is scoring and his line in particular at that, I don't see the problem.