Boyle is still competent when he has the puck. Staal and Girardi will occasionally make a nice block or pokecheck but you need to be good when you have it.
Marc was terrible and a few forwards were invisible. Missed an empty net, injured Lundqvist (to the extent that he missed the last periods), and did **** all on the 1st goal. That was just the 1st period. I get that people don't like Dan Boyle but he's a much better option for Marc's partner than Girardi.
Yeah, Boyle is slow and not great in the D zone, but he can effectively move the puck up the ice. It's why Staal played so well with Stralman. Staal is a very good 1on1 player, he has a great stick for breaking up passes and has pretty good gap control. His issues come on the 50/50 pucks and being able to not only clear the zone, but to effectively transition the game. With Stralman (and though he is an inferior player, it applies to Boyle) it gives him someone to defer to in those moments who can get the puck up the ice.
AV should go with Staal-Boyle and Skjei-Girardi as the third pair.
Staal-Girardi are just an atrocious pair. They play worse together and their mistakes are magnified because their partner is equally inept in the same facets of the game.
I actually think that Marc Staal is still a legitimate middle 4 defenseman. He just needs a partner with relative foot speed and the ability to move the puck. Girardi is just worn down and the style of the NHL is phased him out, his regression compounding that.
Boyle is the right option now. He's slow, but he has decent enough footwork and is savy enough to make good escape plays in the D zone and, again, most importantly he can move the puck up the ice.
The defense is not being fixed this season. Right now it is about AV admitting the faults and trying to put together the bets pairs that he can. To make it work, they're going to need to forwards to do a good job in the D zone.