Very entertaining game; getting a win doesn't hurt either. Though there were some lapses, there were also some plays that showed a beautiful combination of creativity and structure (like the Brassard-Zuccarello goal), as opposed to -- in the words of the great Patches O'Houlihan -- the usual "bunch of Pejorative Slurs trying to hump a doorknob." Still, as much as I hope this win is our season's inflection point, my skepticism (perhaps cynicism) prevails; this win could be an outlier rather than a new phase. One thing's for sure: the start of a turnaround would certainly be one helluva Christmas / holiday present.
Outside the obvious, after watching DZ the past few games, I'm starting to think there may actually be a place for him on the team. He is definitely prone to defensive lapses -- no question about that -- but he makes some incredible stretch passes. Considering our generally having at least one fast or strong skater on each line -- CK, Nash, Hags and (to some extent) Moore come to mind -- the No. 4's stretch passes could produce some breakaways (for us). And, if not, at least the other team would have to respect that possibility. In my humble opinion, DZ is a serviceable defenseman, but we (in the royal sense) need to take into account his weaknesses if we want to get as much as possible out of his strengths. Returning him to LD was a smart move; pairing him with a defensively responsible partner is all the better. With that in mind, perhaps a top-four of [#27 - #6] and [#4 - #5] is worth exploring, even if just for one game. (I don't know if AV has tried that combo.)
On a separate note: Could someone explain why Kreider has been getting benched recently? I'm not asking rhetorically or out of annoyance. I still see him skating hard and making some good puck decisions. Have I missed any glaring mistakes?
