I'm not gonna appoint Monahan as "back" just yet, I feel like every time he gets a new line he does something killer in transition and I say "if he keeps this up it's great" then bam, he's gone for the next 5, lines get shuffled, rinse and repeat. However, even just seeing the 2nd goal has me feeling a little more confident in his use as a depth forward. I love the concept of the Mangiapane and Coleman grouping as two guys that can play elite defence and make smart, deft passes (ala the Backlund pass down to Coleman in the corner before the Coleman goal, calls back to 3M line for me), then Lucic and Dube should be inseparable. I think Backlund's defensive presence works a lot better flow wise with the 2nd line, the top line is inseparable imo, and Monahan just needs to find his niche again on the 3rd line. He's playing an all around better game, and as an F3 with a deceptively fast Lucic on the forecheck with a legit fast Dube, he can utilize finish more. I think putting him back with Gaudreau while Lindholm is still under the weather kind of defeats the point of getting Monahan going. He's not here to score so he can earn back being a #1 C, he's here to score on a more dedicated scoring 3rd line with some grit and grind, while the top 2 lines can take hard matchups. If he's playing well, good. We need a secondary scoring threat in a centre, let's keep him as a secondary threat that can get with Gaudreau post PK's.
Otherwise, thank god Andersson scored. I've really thought he's been more aggressive and getting chance after chance pulled off the goal line was frustrating. Now that he's got that first I hope he feels comfortable going for more shots and skating it in a little bit more. Markstrom was also blessed today. Bennett's goal was a little bit... meh, but it was scrambly, and he made great saves around that. One of those games you really want to see to feel confident in him going forward.
Finally, god bless the 4th liners being put on the 4th line. Now all we need is to cycle in Ruzicka or Phillips every now and then to see how they crack it and get a cycle going where every couple games a young guy replaces an oldie as a rotation, i.e. Phillips in for Ritchie, after a bit Ritchie/Pitlick come in for Phillips and Ruzicka takes Richardson's spot. I'd rather just have the young guys play but I'd be surprised if Sutter wants more than 1 "untrusted" guy on his 4th line.