Impressions from the game:
Stacked up pretty well against the best team in the league. Fall short, again. I don't know what to make of it. Our special teams need to gear up if we're going to have a chance to go far this year.
Tavares Line - Very good off the rush. Marner was an absolute magician throughout the game. Point ate Tavares alive though, and it felt like they had a distinct territorial advantage. Did I say that Marner is a magician? Because he is.
Matthews Line - Really liked Marleau tonight. Matthews was very, very good again. Kapanen was pretty good too. I feel like all three did good individually though, instead of as a unit. They'd skate well, attack well, and create individual chances well... but there was so few nice passing plays. I guess that's what happens on a line with three shoot-first players.
Nylander Line - Absolutely dysfunctional. Nylander was a ghost. Brown and Johnsson scurried around without winning battles, and when they did there was no help. For some reason, Brown and Johnsson rushed after every puck leaving Nylander up high as an audience, instead of having the normal rotation. Don't know who was at fault there, so I'm going to blame all three equally for being abysmal.
Gauthier Line - Getting owned lately. Not the worst problem you could have, but it's still one you'd like addressed. The thing with Ennis is that when he doesn't find space, he's useless. If he can't twist and turn, he's pretty weak on the puck. He's pretty weak in puck pursuit. He's pretty weak at moving the puck. He's maybe our worst forward defensively. When he gets things his way, he can create offense all alone in limited minutes. I don't know if it's a great thing to bet on. Moore was good though. Gauthier looked like the Goat of yore.
Rielly Pairing - I think they had a pretty strong game. Rielly looked beastly with his outlet passing, and I had no complaints about Hainsey tonight. And that's a good thing with him.
Gardiner Pairing - Gards was a little bit behind, a little bit slow, and still pretty good. The way he takes away space is just beautiful. Even so, I'd see how he looks in the last game and then contemplate easing him in on a third pairing in the playoffs. Zaitsev looked pretty good tonight, I think. It feels like playing with Muzzin has made him move his feet more, create some more space so he can actually make puck moving attempts. I like that.
Dermott Pairing - I think both Dermott and Rosén had strong games tonight. Rosén has that Gards quality of closing off space very well, and so does Dermott. Together, they made things difficult for the opponents despite some mistakes.
Andersen - Good overall, but that GWG was pretty ugly. There was no need for the desperation attempt. Stamkos must have sold the shot completely.
PP - Not sure I like Nylander in the Kadri spot. He's not great at finding open space, and he was way too slow getting rid of the puck there. He was very good at winning the puck back, I liked that one-handed interception he made. As a whole we kind of sucked though.
PK - Looked very nice. This is a key component for us with the first two rounds against top PPs. Marner is a magician btw.
MB - The lineup was fine. The third line was obviously the wrong composition, but it was their first game together so hard to put that on Babs. Feels like he distributed ice time just fine considering. No complaints tonight.
