Please, so tired of the "boo Desharnais, poor Eller" narrative on this board. Desharnais plays with Pacioretty because it works and has worked for more or less since their entire time together in the organization. Eller's dip in production started while he was still on the EGG line, and to shoulder the blame off him and onto everyone else (Desharnais, Therrien, Eller's linemates) for Eller's 1 assist in 30 games or whatever it is is just ridiculous.
Team's winning. Desharnais' line is clicking. Eller has to figure it out for himself. The end.
How did you like Briere Bourque and Weise? I thought they were pretty useless all night.
I agree, the whole DD vs Eller discussion is beyond Pejorative Slured.
So none of what I say has a thing to do with DD. But Eller had already figured it out for himself last year. As much as you want to say DD earned himself some trust because he performed well with MaxPac in the past, well Eller earned himself some trust for getting out of the dog house all by himself last year.
I don't have an issue with him being scratched yesterday. I do expect him to come back and be given better wingers though. Not only is it in Eller's best interest, but it's also in the team's. Having a productive 3rd line helps everybody.
To say that he had stopped producing while on the EGG line is misleading though. He had a drop in production, which 3rd liner (or even 2nd liner) doesn't go through streaks?? After they got split up, he played with Galchenyuk and Prust, he scored 4pts in 9gp, then Galchenyuk was removed from his line which is when his dip took a hard hit with 4pts in 33gp. Over that stretch, he got no playing time with top 6 players except for a couple of shifts with Gally when he came back from injury. That's it. Is that a coincidence?? Well no. I don't think it is.
Scratch him as much as you want, if Bourque keeps playing as he is and we give him Moen or Weise, Eller will only collect a point here or there, especially considering are grinding style. That's it.
Eller went through a little streak while on the EGG line. But they weren't playing poorly. Eller and Galchenyuk even explained their drop in production to the press after a game as they discussed how it was a little harder now that they were given tougher match ups and responsibilities. But instead of sticking with them, and letting them adapt, they got split up, with Eller getting the shorter end of the stick.
Does this mean Eller played his best hockey over this bad stretch of his? Of course not. But his line was such a poorly constructed one. I mean really..
Getting Vanek is great for us. I'm hoping Therrien doesn't crap the bed though.
I want to see Eller back in the line up, with Galy on his side with Briere there to start (if Briere can't keep up, alternate with Prust or Bourque, see what fits best). Hopefully that will help our depth and we can go back to being a more dangerous team offensively.
