GDT: 2/24 Hurricanes @ Islanders

[mgilmartin]

Uninspiring wins are still wins last time I checked. It doesn't matter how you played a game on 2/24/2013 if you're playing hockey still on 5/12/2013 or some other date in the playoffs. You take the two points, address the weak spots from your performance, and move on in the hunt for another two points.

I certainly won't complain about a win (no matter how ugly it may have been) if it ends a three-game skid and puts us back in third in the conference pending the outcome of the Tampa game.

This sounds pretty on target to me.

 

[mgilmartin]

I will say that Murphy is the first 'Canes player defenseman in a long while that doesn't telegraph every ****** play he is about to do. He passes when you think he's going to shoot, and shoots when you think he's going to pass.

It's nice to have a player who thinks beyond "Shooting lane? HAMMER TIME WARUGHHGH!!!!111" and then watch as the shot gets blocked/goes wide right.

 

[geehaad]

Because he's playing a supporting role, and on this team the bottom-6 isn't doing anything on offense that can really be supported.

Last night, LaRose's best offensive plays involved simply being in a position to exchange passes with Eric Staal (which is harder than it sounds, as we saw with Boychuk). If instead of Staal it's Riley Nash or Jeremy Welsh, passes are a non-factor because the line is probably pinned down in their own zone instead of making an offensive play in the first place.

Maybe, but what I saw that I hadn't been seeing was pep, and more commitment to battling along the boards. Hit laid a hit or two that wasn't completely ineffective. He looked like he was interested again. I hadn't seen much (if any) of that this year, but last night he looked like he was on his game again. I'm not sure that being in the right place(s) really matters much in respect to the differences that I saw. Being pinned in your own end certainly can affect things, but it's not like he spent all 10-15 minutes pinned in his own zone.

 

[Oenatzu]

The real Staal brothers decided to show up last night. The ones that score important goals and don't just roll around on the ice after losing another faceoff.

The real Cam Ward also decided to show up. That means the one that gives up a couple of easy goals per game.

Semin took this game as a warm up for the vengeance he's planning for the Caps.

Paul Maurice showed up dressed as Kirk Muller and immediately placed LaRose on the first line. Nobody suspected a thing.

Bobby Sanguinetti has 2 points in the last 2 games. Does that mean he can actually play hockey?