My thoughts on Robby's game last night:
Tough start I thought. couldn't seem to find his edges and was noticeably weak on the puck. Simple nudges sent him to the ice. He must have fell in the neighborhood of 20 times. Not sure if that had anything to do with his demotion to the 2nd line or not. I imagine he is still getting his leg strength back, as it was an LBI that cause him to miss almost a month. Nevermind the fact that this was only his 7th pro game (1 of which cut short due to injury). Even amidst his early game struggles you could see real flashes of talent. Pucks follow good players, especially goal scorers, and Robby made a nice move at the end of the period and was robbed by the Moose tendy.
The 1st shift he played on the 2nd line he scored a goal that was truly a Matthews like goal. The puck squirted out to him, and he beat the goalie clean with his elite shot. Was not a heavy release, it just happened way to quickly for the goalie to react.
It seemed like the goal went straight to his legs, and he was pretty noticeable thereafter. Clearly stronger on the puck, and seemed to regain his edge work to some degree. Displaying it on his assist to Rubins.
overall assessment of his game, was that he will likely need a couple more games to get his legs back, and more importantly get used to the pro speed. Was very impressed with his in game adjustments, and really seemed to settle in after the demotion to the 2nd line. Some players would crumble, Nick seemed to elevate. I'm not sure why exactly he was demoted, maybe it was nothing more than a shakeup after being down a goal at the time. But if it were about his play, it would have had to have been regarding him falling all over the ice in the first 25 mins of the game.