Seems good. Pretty sloppy game defensively against a team that doesn't exactly have a lot of punch. Happy to head into the break on a high note though. Their goalie was really really good, even if a lot of our shots weren't really that dangerous.
Great : Tanev, Kylington, Coleman, Backlund, Gaudreau were all very strong in this one. Like to see a couple go in for Blake, really settling in nicely here after a somewhat underwhelming start. Johnny could have had 5 pts, looked like he was having a blast out there.
Good : Tkachuk, liked his center drive. Andersson was forced to cover a lot for Hanifin and his breakouts were crisp and on target. Mangiapane really used his linemates effectively in this game and look what happens. Zadorov. Markstrom was tested and made some big saves, shot totals may not show it but we gave up a lot of prime slot chances.
Not bad : Gudbranson struggled a bit with the puck but shut down cycles effectively. Kicked that guys ass standing up for a teammate which I like to see. Ruzicka pretty decent, taking some shots and gaining confidence. Lewis had a bit of jump. Looch a bit of a quiet night but finished his checks. Lindholm uncharacteristically sleepy in the DZ, but finally buried a Gaudreau feed.
Not good : 3rd line was mostly invisible. Dube, Monahan weren't awful or anything but just going through the motions mostly. Too many turnovers.
Bad : Hanifin really sloppy, that pass Kessel missed a wide open net on went right under his stick. Forgivable to have a cpl off nights considering the amount of quality minutes he's given this team so far. Ritchie just immediately killing any OZ possession giving the puck away. This can not be the best 3rd line RW we can put out there.
Imagine this team without Kylington. WOOF
Don't even have to imagine. We've seen it the last couple seasons and it was no bueno. Kyller needs a 7 or 8 year extension as soon as Tre gets off his ass.
