Observations XXVI full ** v. XXVII started

[FossilFndr]

Nearing 1000 again. Hoped this would get to the 20 game mark before looking at this stuff but

What is it about the first period scoring??

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[GoldOnGold]

Season save percentage for the team is .886%. No matter how poorly we've played in our own zone, that's not good enough.

 

[101st_fan]

Season save percentage for the team is .886%. No matter how poorly we've played in our own zone, that's not good enough.

Don't look at Pekka's sv% when we're on the kill. It's ugly.

 

[PredsHead]

One thing that is really sticking out to me is the lack of communication on the ice and on the bench. I understand some of the line juggling could be causing that, but most of this team has been together long enough that they should be pretty familiar with each others game. Aside from swapping Subban for Fabbro all of the defense is the same so not sure why they would be having so many issues knowing what their assignments are.

 

[Armourboy]

Eh defense is more than just the Defensemen, and often times it's just flat out on the forwards not covering their man. Pekka and Saros have let in some stinkers for sure, but our D overall has just been bad. I don't know if they have tried to change something up, seems they have tried that on the PK, or it's just poor execution, but it's definitely bad.

It also doesn't help out much when your top two lines ain't putting crap in the net.

 

[predhead1]

The problem is we've hit the point in each of Lavy's prior coaching stops that he lost effectiveness. His track record is pretty damn clear - first year or two with a new team, they play lights out (SC champ and a couple of conference championships); year 3 and 4 are marked by great regular season success, with a playoff flameout; after that, things hit the skids and he gets canned. Unfortunately, his stint in Nashville is proving to be consistent with his pattern. Time for a change. The sooner the better.

 

[sparkle twin]

What happened to Duchene with Forsberg and Granlund on one line? After Forsberg and Duchene were injured and out for a few games the lines changed. But both are back so why can't we go back to that line?

Forsberg and Duchene had some real nice chemistry right away and even Granlund was looking good.

I get putting JOFA back together to try to jumpstart certain players and the offense when it dried up after the injuries, but that ain't working anymore either.

 

[PredsHead]

The problem is we've hit the point in each of Lavy's prior coaching stops that he lost effectiveness. His track record is pretty damn clear - first year or two with a new team, they play lights out (SC champ and a couple of conference championships); year 3 and 4 are marked by great regular season success, with a playoff flameout; after that, things hit the skids and he gets canned. Unfortunately, his stint in Nashville is proving to be consistent with his pattern. Time for a change. The sooner the better.

In his defense, time has proven that he wasn't the root of the problem in those situations. Carolina fired him half-way through the season and went on to have a nice playoff run that season, then they missed the playoffs for several years. Philly fired him after three games, have missed the playoffs as often as they have made them since then, and have not been out of the first round the years they did make it.

 

[Scoresberg]

Lavy needs to wake up with these line shufflings, we need to get our top guys going and figure out the defensive structure.

Also, goaltending needs to be a lot better, feels like they can't make a big save right now whereas the opposition goalies bail them out time after time. Although, our high shooting% was bound to drop.

Look for a fix on the 3rd pair. Hamhuis can hold his own, but 7 and 52 are not enough. Irwin needs to not see the ice.

Forsberg - Duchene - Granlund
Turris - Johansen - Arvidsson
Grimaldi - Bonino - Smith (only line that has clicked lately)
Jarnkrok - Sissons - Watson

Let's go back to the top line that carried us early. Also, long-term we have to get Turris going and get him some more minutes even if it is to up his value on the trade market next summer. Jarnkrok was good there for a while but has regressed since and looked like his old self.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

In his defense, time has proven that he wasn't the root of the problem in those situations. Carolina fired him half-way through the season and went on to have a nice playoff run that season, then they missed the playoffs for several years. Philly fired him after three games, have missed the playoffs as often as they have made them since then, and have not been out of the first round the years they did make it.

He wasn't the problem? Hm, well he wasn't the solution either, right? That they subsequently didn't find a better solution doesn't necessarily absolve him.

I think that's about where we are at too. Laviolette is a good coach. He won't have any problem finding another job in this league, that's for sure. But he's not finding a way to take this team to another level. It is 2+ seasons of floundering inconsistency on the ice now. I think Poile has given him a roster of talented players and made big changes to address needs and done about as much as could be asked from upstairs. But despite that, things just aren't progressing on the ice.

So I think the trend to pointing at coaching is warranted.

But then here's where it gets tricky. Because who is going to actually step in and provide the solution that Laviolette can't seem to? That's the where most coaching changes stumble. Sure, you do get some Berube success stories. But I'd bet historically the odds of that kind of immediate payoff are miniscule. And the odds of even a more medium-term payoff are probably not great either. So you have to factor in the availability of a candidate who you firmly believe has a chance to beat the odds.

Who is that candidate? I don't think we can brandish our torches and pitchforks TOO vehemently until we have some idea what better option we have. In the off-season there were some names bandied about. But probably many of them have other jobs now? I mean, I'm on board with the idea that it's looking like it might be time for a coaching change, and it's certainly a valid topic of discussion. But we don't want to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire here either.

 

[Legionnaire11]

Like I said in the GDT, deferring to "Which available coach is better?" isn't really a problem of mine, that's a Poile problem. If Laviolette isn't working, I can absolutely say so without the need to offer up a better candidate in the process.

That said, I also believe Laviolette is here through 2021, which is a better argument against discussing a coaching change too much right now.

 

[Predsanddead24]

Lavy needs to wake up with these line shufflings, we need to get our top guys going and figure out the defensive structure.

Also, goaltending needs to be a lot better, feels like they can't make a big save right now whereas the opposition goalies bail them out time after time. Although, our high shooting% was bound to drop.

Look for a fix on the 3rd pair. Hamhuis can hold his own, but 7 and 52 are not enough. Irwin needs to not see the ice.

Forsberg - Duchene - Granlund
Turris - Johansen - Arvidsson
Grimaldi - Bonino - Smith (only line that has clicked lately)
Jarnkrok - Sissons - Watson

Let's go back to the top line that carried us early. Also, long-term we have to get Turris going and get him some more minutes even if it is to up his value on the trade market next summer. Jarnkrok was good there for a while but has regressed since and looked like his old self.

I agree that these lines make the most sense, and more than anything we just need to pick something and stick with it for a while win or lose. We aren't winning games with the line shuffling so just commit to something and see how it works out. Jarnkrok has performed well this season but as you mentioned seems to have slowed down along with the rest of our offense. It just makes more sense to move him down and Turris up from a line construction standpoint because I can't think of a worse combo than Sissons-Turris-Watson, whereas with the lines you suggested we can employ Jarnkrok-Sissons-Watson as a shut down line and roll the other three as scoring lines.

I have to imagine that Poile is trying to make a move to fix the third pair but hasn't really found any suitable options. In the absence of a trade I think you have to give someone from Miluawakee a shot to fill one of the third line spots. All of our third pair guys consistently make "rookie" mistakes so I'd rather have an actual rookie making them and to see what we have in them than continue to trot out the same guys we know aren't getting it done.

As far as goaltending goes I'm not sure what the fix is. Saros has performed well in his last three starts (he's been bad in relief but that I can somewhat excuse) so I probably give him the nod tomorrow night and just roll with him for a bit if he continues to play well.

 

[nine_inch_fang]

I wasn't able to watch the game Saturday and couldn't bring myself to watch a replay of it yesterday so I can't speak to that game specifically but the problem in the defensive zone is the man-on-man they play.

At this point the team is no longer made up of middle/bottom six forwards that are really good defensively. It is long past time to go back to a more simple Dzone structure. There is absolutely nothing wrong with playing the classic zone defense down low and man-on-man at the points. All of these players have played it since they were 5 years old. Make the Dmen play D and make efficient passes out of the zone to the forwards and let them do their job of getting up ice and scoring goals.

This is a simple coaching problem. I'd give the coach that fixed the power play by simplifying it and making the players play faster a chance to fix the rest of the systems.

 

[101st_fan]

Does Santini get a shot on the 3rd pairing tomorrow night? Why was Olivier called up?

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[Predsanddead24]

Does Santini get a shot on the 3rd pairing tomorrow night? Why was Olivier called up?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Have to imagine Santini will be on the third pairing. My guess is Olivier is just a placeholder in case we have an injury during morning skate since we sent Salomaki down. Looks like lines are staying the same as well.

 

[FossilFndr]

Rinne only has one win in last 5 starts and pulled twice, in a way I want him to work it out rather than sit on bench thinking about the losing stretch. If the 2 OTL's had been wins he would have had 10 wins in a row to start the season.

Saros only has 1 win this season, preforming well and still losing isn't the answer.

At this point being in 12th place in the west and 22nd in the league is maddening.

All that hype about Duchene being the second line forward now giving the team 2 power lines and being the answer hasn't panned out.

We've dropped to 3.68 GF and 3.42 GA. Goal Diff of +4.

Had 2 games won by 5
Had 2 games lost by 5

 

[Flgatorguy87]

I think Olivier is one of the better penalty kill forwards in Milwaukee so I assume that is where is value will be if he is thrown in the lineup. I also don't think he will be in the lineup.

 

[101st_fan]

Rinne only has one win in last 5 starts and pulled twice, in a way I want him to work it out rather than sit on bench thinking about the losing stretch. If the 2 OTL's had been wins he would have had 10 wins in a row to start the season.

Saros only has 1 win this season, preforming well and still losing isn't the answer.

At this point being in 12th place in the west and 22nd in the league is maddening.

All that hype about Duchene being the second line forward now giving the team 2 power lines and being the answer hasn't panned out.

We've dropped to 3.68 GF and 3.42 GA. Goal Diff of +4.

Had 2 games won by 5
Had 2 games lost by 5

View attachment 279223

The Preds are 8th in the west in points percentage with up to four games in hand on the teams that currently have more points.

 

[Legionnaire11]

I'd like to see Olivier in action, but who sits if he's in? Despite the team's struggles, it's hard to pinpoint a forward who has been noticeably bad and needs to come out.

 

[AintLifeGrand]

Apparently Johnny Hockey could be available ... would be great if we could offload Turris, Tolvanen, and sell high on Jarnkrok or Sissons to get him

JOFA
Johnny Hockey-Duchene-Granlund

 

[Flgatorguy87]

Apparently Johnny Hockey could be available ... would be great if we could offload Turris, Tolvanen, and sell high on Jarnkrok or Sissons to get him

JOFA
Johnny Hockey-Duchene-Granlund

Fun to think about but probably in the "pie in the sky" category.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Santini is coming in at a good time... the bar isn't high and the team is slumping... if he plays half-decent and keeps his game simple and the rest of the team gets back on track, it should be pretty easy for him to stay in the lineup for a little while.

Would be interesting to see Olivier get in somehow as well. Dunno if I could have pointed at our recent slump and concluded that the team needed more size/physicality per se, but if they had him and Santini both in the lineup it should be good for a few more hits.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

If they dressed them then I think size is a logical reason as it matches up with Winnipeg.

 

[herzausstein]

Apparently Johnny Hockey could be available ... would be great if we could offload Turris, Tolvanen, and sell high on Jarnkrok or Sissons to get him

JOFA
Johnny Hockey-Duchene-Granlund

If we could turn Turris, Tolvanen, + some into Johnny Hockey you do it.

 

[PredsHead]

He wasn't the problem? Hm, well he wasn't the solution either, right? That they subsequently didn't find a better solution doesn't necessarily absolve him.

I think that's about where we are at too. Laviolette is a good coach. He won't have any problem finding another job in this league, that's for sure. But he's not finding a way to take this team to another level. It is 2+ seasons of floundering inconsistency on the ice now. I think Poile has given him a roster of talented players and made big changes to address needs and done about as much as could be asked from upstairs. But despite that, things just aren't progressing on the ice.

So I think the trend to pointing at coaching is warranted.

I would say that he was part of the solution since those teams have not repeated the success they had with him since they fired him. Both teams largely left their cores intact for several more years, but never were as good as when he was there.

Unless Subban was just that key of a cog in our defensive game, I don't think most of our issues are coaching related. This is pretty much the same team and staff that was the best team in terms of GA/GP over the last two seasons, did they all of a sudden change their entire defensive structure? Unless they did, I would put this much more on the players and leadership group than on the coaches. We may get a temporary boost from getting rid of Laviolette, but I don't think that is addressing the real issue and we will probably be right back in this same situation with the new coach.