So the good thing is I went off on vacation camping and had zero internet for the last week, nothing. So I didn't watch the last two games until after i got back. Holy f'k nuts. I thought we were headed in the right direction of getting on track after game 2, I thought that was the best game Murray has played in the playoffs since we won a cup. But nope, he couldn't shut it down in game 3 (not entirely a fair statement) and game 4 all of our offense disappeared. If we had generated 50 shots on net and price just played out of his mind that's one thing. but low 20's in a do or die game? what the hell?
Murray should be gone next season, all indications are that he wants PAID and we should not be the team to do so. DeSmith actually was pushing him for the starting job the previous season and should be fine for our backup, let Jarry have the reigns and see where it goes. Hindsight is always better, but you gotta wonder if Jarry had started from game 1 on wards if the outcome would've been different.
Malkin. what do we do with him? when he gets angry he is still a force on the ice, we have seen time and again where someone ticks him off and he just kicks it into high gear. Why the hell does it take someone goading him to get him to play at that level? Sid was obviously trying but was also obviously not 100%, which is really troubling this long after surgery.
Tanev and the Bart line, what happened to our buzz saw line? Why couldn't we just put them out there and they skate like heck, dump the puck and forecheck like mad? We did it all season when all 3 were healthy and rarely saw it in the playoffs. 3rd line was a mess, McCann turned into McCan't and Marleau showed that he's just too old to be effective anymore, speaking of which is a 34 year old Hornqvist going to be effective next season, I'd keep him as he does stir up a lot of crap in front of the net but it's a huge question mark.
What the hell was letang doing on the game/series winner. that's his guy, at least lift the damn stick and be aware. we literally out manned them 4-2 in that play.
If we get the #1 overall pick, that would sooth our pain some, but still he's a LW and we are staring at the fact that our #1/#2 centers are gonna be in their mid 30's. Our #1 defensemen has very much lost a step, he is still elite skating wise but in the past Letang could chase down all but the fastest skaters in the league, which helped cover his mental gaffes.
We do have Marino which is incredible to help on defense, but Schultz is gone (good riddance), JJ needs to not play for us anymore and Pettersson was just meh this year.
My points are.
Our centers are getting old and will be capable of Elite play but only in bursts, and unknown if we will ever see elite play out of them in the playoffs again as we have not 2 post seasons in a row now, and only spurts 3 seasons ago.
2 of our top 6 defenders need to be jettison'd
a 3rd is questionable as a middle defender but *should* be ok next season.
and our #1 defensemen is pushing his mid 30's and father time catches all eventually.
our former #1 goalie needs to go unless he is willing to work a deal, so we'll have a guy who never had to handle the load for the whole season. I have confidence that Jarry can do it but it hasn't been proven.
our 3rd line needs blown up, our 4th line needs to actually show up.
SO how the heck do we fix all of that and be able to make one last run before Sid/Geno really are to old to drive play. I think we can get another year out of them at an elite level but at this age players tend to fall off a cliff all of a sudden.
Or are some here just saying, meh the team is solid but didn't have enough time to get their legs back and re-gel before the "playoff/play in round"
We win the lottery, what the heck go for it. Otherwise we need to start making some hard decisions.
