Guys, instead of putting the loss on a single player, its really the fault of our collective forward corps, who did not manage to get a single puck past Darling.
While i personally see the Richards situation as a very hesitant play from Glass, that was not really what lost us the game, it was our inability to score. If you dont score, you dont win.
You're barely scraping the problem of last night, the Panthers game, and perhaps a few games further back.
It is not the inability to score that anyone should really be focusing on. In fact, I've actually wanted this team to go through a stretch like this for the last 1-2 weeks.
The problem they are facing right now is no different than the problem(s) they've faced earlier in the year. You only need to listen to the interviews to get a grasp.
Right now they are complacent with their effort. And they are overconfident in their ability to win games, even when they're not pushing.
They're a remarkably dangerous team when they give their all and attack. With an attacking mentality they drive possession, score more goals, pin teams in their own zones, tire opposing teams' defenders out. And that mentality boils down to their complacent effort. They don't feel like they need to hunt anymore. They feel like they are the hunted and are succeeded in doing just enough to stifle opposing teams rather than go out and bring it to them.
That's fine, as long as they get it out of their system now. A few losses to bring them down to earth and remind them that they need to go out and hunt to succeed is fine with me.
It's not a goal scoring problem. They're fully capable of scoring.
It's an effort problem. And that should be fine come playoffs.