Remember when smith got injured and everybody said we would be fine? Let's wait and see before proclaiming that jankowski is ready.
Regardless of what a few people think, Backlund doesn’t have that sort of impact. A #1 goalie that carried a team, that wasn’t very good, for extended stretches, with an unproven rookie backup, verses a low scoring, shutdown 2C, who’s been OK, at best this year, on a much better team, that actually plays defensively by committee. The two aren’t comparable.
The worst thing about it is the timing. We’re already banged up and in my opinion, regardless of outcomes, I think it’s been 3-4 games since I actually saw this team play well.