was PPG Arena as much of a mortuary as it sounded over the tv? A library sounded louder...
It was bad. Possibly the quietest its ever been when I've been there.
Anyway, thoughts and stuff
- Both Simon and Guentzel have played better games of hockey. Both messed up on a lot of plays you'd normally bet on them to make and that was a big part of why it took so long to beat Dallas. Yet both figured in goals because they kept going to the right areas and trying to do the right things and they got rewarded for that. I feel exasperated that they got rewarded and Sid didn't, but I feel like there's a lesson there in terms of rating players; even on bad days, they can make a difference.
- Until McCann scored his goal, I was coming to the impression that he was Sheahan as a C; defensively responsible, offensively reliant on his wingers. Not that the goal actually changed my opinion. Kahun impressed me; he's a guy who can buy his team mates space. Horny didn't impress, but I know what he's doing even when not impressive. If that line failed to fire, I'm blaming McCann a lot. Goal aside, I thought the line wasn't much more than okay.
- Solid effort from ABT but not much more. I didn't think Bluegers was as bad as some seem to think but they rarely connected with each other as a line.
- I can't decide what I think of AJ. If he won a single board battle, I think he missed it. Yet I like his hands and IQ. And his speed to negate that icing! Blandisi and Lafferty were decent.
- I think Sully was trying to put Schultz-Pettersson with Sid and I'm not sure I appreciated it. I actually thought Letang was a bit careless with the pcuk at times last night but incredible game overall. Dumo had a fine game too. Whole of the defence really.
- That said, Murray rescued us. Too many grade A performances that he had to shut the door on. And he did.
- Fantastic team spirit. You sense that the team is super clear on its aims. That's the most fun part right now. People aren't wrong about that being a game we lose last season.