Takes on last night:
-Halak was outstanding after the first minute. Can't really fault him too much on either goal. Stole a point the team really had no business getting.
-Team looked tired last night. 82 game season, these kinds of games were bound to happen, they were lucky to get a point. Not only was the ice bad, they kept trying to make stick plays on bouncing pucks and that led to a lot of the rushes against. Fox had one of his worst games of the season last night. Miller wasn't far behind.
They did not attack the neutral zone with any speed last night which is why they struggled to generate offense. Despite that, and despite what was an underwhelming performance, the ridiculous number of posts and crossbars last night they could have easily won.
-Vesey's missed open net last night was pretty embarrasing. He's not a finisher, and this is the reason I don't love him in the top 9, although I'll take him on the 3rd line. Enjoyed 10-16-91 though and think that merits further exploration. That said, Vesey's miss of a wide open net is a terrible reason to demote him to the 4th line if that's what GG did. Vesey is playing as exactly who we knew he was, and on a cheap contract no less, can't blame him for not playing like a 20 goal scorer because he's not a 20 goal scorer. Putting Goodrow with 2/3 of the kid line was stupid and I'm glad GG walked that back before the end of the game.
-I'm thrilled that Alexis Lafreniere will not become the first 1OA forward since Garry Monahan who actually played in the league to not score a PP goal in his first 3 seasons. Great effort to follow up on the play and force it over the line. He had a decent game again last night, although he was a little bit less willing to carry the puck which I think when he does adds a different dimension to his game.
-Mikkola proves every day why he's a massive upgrade over Harpur. Better skater, better instincts, better strength along the wall, less of a spaz.
-Tarasenko had some good chances last night. I really want to see the team get better at creating space for him in the O zone so he can walk off the RW half wall and rip it his twisted wrister with traffic in front. He's scored a lot of goals in this league that way.
-The penalty on Miller in the 2nd period was questionable because it looked like the play was offside moments before.
-The lack of calls on Calgary for interference away from the puck were staggering. Numerous forwards were being blocked/interfered with on the forecheck pursuing the puck and they only called one of them. Horrible officiating again.
-The non call on Lucic pissed me off. That did not look like "trying to avoid" Chytil as Micheletti claimed. That looked like a career cheap shot artist scrub who had a couple of good seasons a decade ago and has somehow managed to stay in a league that has long since passed him by taking a cheapshot on a skill player because he's too much of a wuss to fight Trouba. Want to see vintage Lucic? Here you go:
What a little bitch. I'd love to see Trouba Scott Stevens his ass the next time these teams play, but Lucic doesn't control the puck enough for that to happen.
-Panarin was engaged physically again...good to see some fire from him. I liked that the refs didn't call a penalty on him in OT as both of them were going at it, and the Fox high stick was just the excalamation point on one of 23's worst games of the season.
-Jake. Leschyshyn. Is. Useless. Did he even touch the puck once last night?
-I like the changes to PP1 in personnel, but Calgary does not concede the cross ice pass so easily and it would've been nice to see them try more different looks out there. That unit really struggled to get pucks through traffic. Panarin had a few shots to rip it from the RW circle and didn't. Zibanejad could've faked the shot with a defender in the lane and gone for the net front pass to Kreider. Or tried to find Tarasenko in the middle (who can actually score from there unlike Trocheck). This unit needs to be more creative and less formulaic/set play but I like the personnel much better. Trocheck on the 2nd unit also addresses one of that unit's biggest weaknesses which is faceoffs so these changes are good for both units.
For Monday, I'd like to see:
10-16-91
13-72-24
20-93-74
12-21-26
Just to mix things up a little.