A little time to gather my thoughts what I saw last night and here I go. The Flames didn't show up for the first 5 minutes and I was getting concerned for another Pens fiasco. The line that turned it around was Janks, Bennett and Neal. From there the team took off for the most part taking control of the game. There were some sloppy plays but either Ritter or the guys did what was needed to fix their mistake.
This game would not have been close if it weren't for Hutton.
The first line was very good again dominating their possession numbers. Johnny has really bought into the chip and chase when there is nothing there and you can see him, Lindy and Mony all enjoy putting pressure on the oppositions D.
The bad:
- I will give them a small pass but the turnovers in the neutral zone were a problem at times.
- Back's is injured and his line's effectiveness has completely disappeared. Think the team needs to look at giving him some time to heal.
- 0-5 on the PP though it looked extremely dangerous last night.
- Would like to see more secondary scoring.
- DUbe needs to go to the AHL. That is 2 brutal hits he has taken because he is not ready. Yes it was a charge but like Johnny he has to stay aware and he isn't looking out for himself.
Gio is the star of this team. Much goes unseen but the man is always in the game. Brodie look comfortable last night and has lost his hesitation when making plays. Whatever Brodie and Peters chatted about really works as TJ has been getting better and better for the last 3 games.
This is a ridiculous conversation but look no further than Holtby last year. Grubauer was all world all season then sucked in the playoffs. Smith and Rittich need to be platooned. THe hotter of the two gets the start.
Yeah and the Flames are at risk of making that same mistake with Dube.