Observations XXX

[NoNecksCurse]

Gonna be about as tough as a matchup there is for that pairing. Carolina is a top 5 skating team in the league. They’re all pros and every team can skate but Carolina is elite for sure. On the road so I expect the canes gameplan will be favorable matchups against gudbranson and harpur.

 

[desmondtootoo]

I like Harpur + Gudbranson, against lines 1 and 2. Carefully, stay at home.
That’s how you slow down the “best skating team”.
Unless of course this concept is too terrible and brutal for you to accept.
In that case, you (we) lose. Buh-bye, see ya, and all that.

 

[desmondtootoo]

Coulda been done by Tinordi + Harpur, but better late than never.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Harpur and Gudbranson sounds a little scary, but then so does having Benning playing up higher too. End of the day, we're obviously not expecting Carrier or Fabbro back anytime soon, so I guess we better test drive this new car and see what it can do.

As much as that pairing "sounds scary", I already know that Davies IS scary. I am more than ready to look at something new, even if it ultimately doesn't work out too well.

 

[PredsV82]

I thought tonight's game demonstrated that we absolutely must have Forsberg and Tolvanen back by the playoffs because we desperately could have used a PP goal tonight.

I also think that, while SC is clearly a superior team right now, all the handwringing that we cant possibly hang with them in a playoff series is overblown, provided we get FF and ET back..

 

[originalpredfan]

I was pleasantly surprised with Gundbranson's play tonight. If he can play that solid against a team like Carolina Poile may have made a decent acquisition this year at trade deadline time.

 

[Tysonson3]

After these two losses were gonna need to pull of the sweep against Chicago if we want a chance to make it in the playoffs

 

[hido]

I couldn’t watch the game. How did Duchene look?

 

[NoNecksCurse]

I couldn’t watch the game. How did Duchene look?

He looked like the most talented forward out there (from NSH) but there were still some individual efforts that made you see why he is kind of frustrating. Had a couple of decent looks but nothing to show for it. Pretty much the same story for his whole season from my view. First game back though against an elite team. Im optimistic about him going forward.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

After these two losses were gonna need to pull of the sweep against Chicago if we want a chance to make it in the playoffs

If we win 2 of 3 against CHI and win our last matchup with Dallas, I don’t see how we don’t make the playoffs. I think we have a very good shot of facing Carolina in the first round.

 

[Pred303]

well it was painful to watch at times, but we actually had a chance to pull off a near miracle win.

...again, we have to win most games 2-1.
...Great effort wasted by saros. per money puck he was expected to give up 6.35 goals.
...Duchene looked pretty good. we have to recognize he's a skill player centering 3rd line grinders at this point
...like far too many nights Josi is all the offense we have.
...despite myself i was impressed that we showed so much fight in the 2nd after that disaster of a first.

...saros made so many great saves that there is no way to really evaluate the defense corps performance. well other than to say it was bad.
...and like in so many of our losses, including almost all losses in this hot streak, the lack of an effective PP cost us a chance.
...wish i knew how to post the "heat map" showing shot location and danger for this one
...2 shots on net in 4 minutes of PP time. good PP's average at least a shot per minute.
...we are such a poor puck possession team
...which is exactly why we are such an awful 6 on 5 empty net team. awful.

...Let's throw this out there. This years team averaging 2.55 goals per game is the lowest scoring pred team in our history. All 21 seasons. Far fewer than even the year one expansion team.

Still, a 5 game winning streak fixes everything. It could happen right?

 

[GoldOnGold]

well it was painful to watch at times, but we actually had a chance to pull off a near miracle win.

...again, we have to win most games 2-1.
...Great effort wasted by saros. per money puck he was expected to give up 6.35 goals.
...Duchene looked pretty good. we have to recognize he's a skill player centering 3rd line grinders at this point
...like far too many nights Josi is all the offense we have.
...despite myself i was impressed that we showed so much fight in the 2nd after that disaster of a first.

...saros made so many great saves that there is no way to really evaluate the defense corps performance. well other that to say it was bad.
...and like in so many of our losses, including almost all losses in this hot streak, the lack of an effective PP cost us a chance.
...wish i knew how to post the "heat map" showing shot location and danger for this one
...2 shots on net in 4 minutes of PP time. good PP's average at least a shot per minute.
...we are such a poor puck possession team
...which is exactly why we are such an awful 6 on 5 empty net team. awful.

A 5 game winning streak fixes everything.

According to Moneypuck that was our worst defensive effort of the entire season so far. Next worst was the game on March 20 when we gave up 48 shots to the Panthers.

MoneyPuck.com

 

[Pred303]

...Let's throw this out there. This years team averaging 2.55 goals per game is the lowest scoring pred team in our history. All 21 seasons. Far fewer than even the year one expansion team.

 

[PredsV82]

The good news, Steve, is we dont even need a 5 game win streak. A 3 game one will pretty much lock things down. We just need to win this next one or I'm afraid we will spiral...

 

[herzausstein]

We absolutely need to win every remaining game against Dallas, Chicago, and Columbus. Outside of that it would be good to go 50-50 against florida and Carolina but I am not sure that’ll happen. Losing out to those two and winning out the rest would have us 6-4-0 in the last ten.

Dallas has 13 games left. Wingsx4, Nashville x1, Carolina x2, Tampa x3, Florida x1, Chicago x2. That’s a pretty rough schedule.

chicago have Nashville x3, Tampa x1, Florida x2, Carolina x3, and Dallas x2. Once again that’s pretty brutal.

Both of them face the top teams in division more than us. Our last games are against carolina. If we win out against Columbus, Chicago, and Dallas we might have a playoff spot secured before going against Carolina. I’d hate to have our playoff hopes hinge on us beating them

 

[MrJoshua]

Once everyone is healthy again I'd like to see something like this in the top six:

Arvidsson-Johansen-Forsberg
Duchene-Granlund-Tolvanen

I think those are the most talented six forwards on the lineup. That gives each line some speed, some puck movement, at least one guy who isn't afraid to go into the corners and dig for pucks, and at least one high-level shooter. Alternately, flip Arvy and Tolvanen - we've seen that Forsberg and Tolvanen work well together on the PP so I wouldn't mind trying them at even strength.

I've really been impressed by Tolvanen's game this year. He's far more physical than I expected, and works harder on his defensive game. If he can improve his skating a little I think he has the chance to be something really special, and at the very worst he seems like the sort of player who can be a productive middle-six winger and PP specialist. We need Forsberg back in the lineup worse, but we need Tolvanen healthy for the playoffs too.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

He looked like the most talented forward out there (from NSH) but there were still some individual efforts that made you see why he is kind of frustrating. Had a couple of decent looks but nothing to show for it. Pretty much the same story for his whole season from my view. First game back though against an elite team. Im optimistic about him going forward.

Agreed, and I think the 3rd line is precisely the right place to play him. It's not like he's going to drag anybody else down from there. Part of the frustration with him previously was that while he was buzzing around and hogging the puck, he would take one or more of our other top producers on a line with him right out of the game by doing so. Whereas it's not like he's really going to drag down the production from Cousins and Haula.

 

[nine_inch_fang]

Agreed, and I think the 3rd line is precisely the right place to play him. It's not like he's going to drag anybody else down from there. Part of the frustration with him previously was that while he was buzzing around and hogging the puck, he would take one or more of our other top producers on a line with him right out of the game by doing so. Whereas it's not like he's really going to drag down the production from Cousins and Haula.

I don't think that's how we want the coach to think about the situation. I'd prefer they work on the puck hog issue and get him working with better line mates.

 

[Armourboy]

I didn't get to watch last night, hung out by the fire with some friends I haven't seen in months and others since covid started.

That said based on checking on the phone I was expecting this place to be a madhouse. I'm guessing we are all figuring out that while we might can compete with teams like Chicago and Dallas with the depleted roster we just don't have the horses to run with Carolina.

 

[nine_inch_fang]

I didn't get to watch last night, hung out by the fire with some friends I haven't seen in months and others since covid started.

That said based on checking on the phone I was expecting this place to be a madhouse. I'm guessing we are all figuring out that while we might can compete with teams like Chicago and Dallas with the depleted roster we just don't have the horses to run with Carolina.

Kind of as I expected. Hoping for a split was just that, hopeful, and the fact it didn't happen doesn't really change my outlook for the team. I expect them to take care of business to get into the playoffs and hopefully be healthy and ready to put up a fight against the Canes by the start of the playoffs, even if they still have some things to figure out those last two games of the season.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I don't think that's how we want the coach to think about the situation. I'd prefer they work on the puck hog issue and get him working with better line mates.

I think that's how you start doing precisely that. Matt Duchene... guess what, you are a 3rd line winger right now. And that's ok, because look around our division and our playoff opponents, teams are rolling 4 lines and they are all good lines, and there shouldn't be that much of a negative connotation involved with some arbitrary "3rd line" designation anyway. If you ask me which line I noticed most in our Tampa series, it was the Goodrow-Gourde-Coleman "3rd line".

Now, here's how you can work your way up. Keep doing this <shows video>, don't do so much this <shows video>, and maybe if a spot opens up in the top-6 again, you'll be the guy we bump up. But you gotta earn it. No more gifts on a silver platter just because you were the golden child who signed that big contract. Meanwhile, it doesn't hurt us to have some threats even on our so-called "3rd line".

 

[Kat Predator]

I don't think that's how we want the coach to think about the situation. I'd prefer they work on the puck hog issue and get him working with better line mates.

I felt he showed many times where he was playing within the structure.

There were other instances though of him pressing (like before the injury). When he tried to "go Josi" and do it all by himself, seemed to take himself out of the defensive structure to chase someone with the puck, try to play Haula's position for him, or was rushing what might have been potential plays and turning them into lost possessions.

Until he can clean up some of those things, Hynes may just leave him on the third line.

 

[Scoresberg]

I think that's how you start doing precisely that. Matt Duchene... guess what, you are a 3rd line winger right now. And that's ok, because look around our division and our playoff opponents, teams are rolling 4 lines and they are all good lines, and there shouldn't be that much of a negative connotation involved with some arbitrary "3rd line" designation anyway. If you ask me which line I noticed most in our Tampa series, it was the Goodrow-Gourde-Coleman "3rd line".

Now, here's how you can work your way up. Keep doing this <shows video>, don't do so much this <shows video>, and maybe if a spot opens up in the top-6 again, you'll be the guy we bump up. But you gotta earn it. No more gifts on a silver platter just because you were the golden child who signed that big contract. Meanwhile, it doesn't hurt us to have some threats even on our so-called "3rd line".

Thing is, if this team wants to have any kind of success, Duchene has to be a top-performer instead of a 3rd liner. If we're playing him on the 3rd line, we're just waiting for this situation to blow up into our faces like it did with Turris.

Rocco Grimaldi won't cut it on the 1st line, Duchene at least potentially might.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

if Duchene and johansen aren’t performing at least a 50-60 point clip for 82 games, we aren’t going anywhere unless saros stays in God mode for an exorbitant amount of time.

 

[nine_inch_fang]

I think that's how you start doing precisely that. Matt Duchene... guess what, you are a 3rd line winger right now. And that's ok, because look around our division and our playoff opponents, teams are rolling 4 lines and they are all good lines, and there shouldn't be that much of a negative connotation involved with some arbitrary "3rd line" designation anyway. If you ask me which line I noticed most in our Tampa series, it was the Goodrow-Gourde-Coleman "3rd line".

Now, here's how you can work your way up. Keep doing this <shows video>, don't do so much this <shows video>, and maybe if a spot opens up in the top-6 again, you'll be the guy we bump up. But you gotta earn it. No more gifts on a silver platter just because you were the golden child who signed that big contract. Meanwhile, it doesn't hurt us to have some threats even on our so-called "3rd line".

Sure, that can be where you start and seems that's what the coaches have done. I didn't get the feeling you were talking about coaching him up to where he is performing like a top 6 player and moving up.
There are definitely a couple open spots in the top 6 right now so no need to wait for an injury.

I felt he showed many times where he was playing within the structure.

There were other instances though of him pressing (like before the injury). When he tried to "go Josi" and do it all by himself, seemed to take himself out of the defensive structure to chase someone with the puck, try to play Haula's position for him, or was rushing what might have been potential plays and turning them into lost possessions.

Until he can clean up some of those things, Hynes may just leave him on the third line.

Agreed, need to clean some things up but his game wasn't all that bad last night. He did create the lone goal with his forecheck after all.

Rocco Grimaldi won't cut it on the 1st line,

Exactly, the faster we can get him back to the press box the better this team will be.