Not really a good game to watch. Super messy.
A lot of watching instead of skating on zone exits and through the neutral zone.
If our guys came into camp in condition, you wouldn’t have known tonight.
Young guys looked overmatched physically. They didn’t shy away. They just couldn’t get well established that often. Blais looked the best of the three offensively, but he still has shifts off and needs defensive positioning drills.
Kyrou wasn’t using his speed enough for this type of game. He tried to force too many plays. Straight lines would have helped him out. He tried to look around to find plays, but there was no space while he was fairly immobile.
Schenn was bringing the effort but his timing was off a bit. Schwartz looked on point and ready for another good season. I think these two will get back to converting before too long. They were our best line tonight.
Tarasenko exhibited a bit better effort than last year. Still too much waiting around in positions that aren’t dangerous. I would like to see him drive the play more like in his first two/three seasons. Also he should not QB a PP. he is better than Steen there, but still a turnover machine.
Maroon is faster than he is given credit straightaway. But, he is slow to make reads and move his feet. It puts him behind the play too often.
Bozak is going to be a player that flashes on and off throughout games. He can look like a threat one shift and a passenger the next. As a third liner that may be ok, because his flashes are pretty dangerous offensively. Dude needs help on the PK. He looks clueless.
Perron is shaking off the rust. I hardly noticed Steen.
Barbashev looked ok.
ROR was fully engaged. It’s funny that ROR and Schwartz looked the best, but were on the ice for so many goals.
Johnson looked solid. Jake looked like it was his first game.
Dunn looked lax. Bortuzzo looked like he was lacking hockey sense. It was a brain fart kind of night.
Perron was engaged, but his decision making was off.
JBo looks mobile again.
Our PP is still laughable. It’s super predictive to the point where the PKers really just need to stay in position and float in lanes. Yeo needs to either stay far away from the PP or do some psychedelics to open up his mind. Someone who never watched hockey could pick up on the overarching PP concept.
Our PP in a nutshell. Up-down, side to side, shoot into shin pads. Turnover. Recover puck from defensive zone. Slowly move up up ice, preferably with one restart. Struggle to enter zone. Piss away 20seconds. Setup perimeter passing with flat footed players. Get frustrated with no open lanes. Shoot again into shin pads or wide of net.
