A few observations about last night's game:
- it's really nice to win a game without stellar goaltending required. DeSmith was mediocre at best last night. Yeah he made a few key saves at critical moments (what goaltender on a winning side of the scoreboard doesn't?), but two goals were positively AHL-level goals to give up. Of course, two goals scored on the other end of the ice were ECHL-level bad. That certainly did not hurt.
- The bottom six looked fantastic once Kessel and Rust flip-flopped. The second line with Rust was an abomination. I sincerely hope Mike Sullivan does not think the lines we had in the third period last night are the winning recipe, but somehow I think he will. I think we need to prepare ourselves for two weeks of Geno disappearance and frustration. I do admit there seems to be something there between Aston-Reese and Kessel. Some chemistry. I suppose polar opposites really do attract sometimes. But Pearson and Malkin could really use a sniper, creative offensive type to complete the second line if Kessel is to remain on the third line. Gee, if ONLY we had one of those lying around, doing nothing but eat popcorn in the press box. If only...
- Am I the only one frustrated with how Sullivan utilizes the fourth line? When Sprong is on the fourth line, we play three lines (when clearly Sprong needs minutes to be able to produce like he can, like he will, and like we need him to). When Garrett Rowney Wilson is on the fourth line, we play balanced, four-line hockey. The coach has it bass-ackwards. He loves the gritty, grinding types and that's when he plays four lines. And yet, when we had the best fourth liner in the NHL (Ryan Reaves), he played three lines. And then we sat him because we were a four-line team. The whole thing is really frustrating. We could have had Reaves patrolling the fourth line. We CAN have Daniel Sprong. The coach wants Garrett Wilson and his ilk.
- Of COURSE, all of this would be resolved if the coach played Sprong higher than the fourth line, which is what everybody needs for the situation to work itself out. But 41 is now looking at two weeks of popcorn time after last night. When we lose and he is in the lineup, it's his fault and he sits out. Our next loss, however, will NOT be because of the fourth line. Why? Well because they are fourth liners, what did you expect? It's terribly unfair and biased but there is nothing we can do about it. Trading Sprong before he actually busts out screams of Markus Naslund to me, so all we can do is keep him and hope the next opportunity is the right one. I think JR will need to start sending him down for two-week conditioning stints. Bring him back up after he puts up 11 points in 4 games to get his confidence back.
- I think Riikola is starting to really assert himself in the league. Still not sure what we have in him, but I think he is capable of playing any role required and doing it effectively. I don't think he should be taken out of the lineup when Schultz returns, and I think the only reason he should be the No. 7 is if we can deal Maatta in an upgrade trade. Otherwise, I think Riikola is the better Finnish blueliner for this team right now. Maatta is No. 7 when Schultz returns, imo. Johnson is steady and Oleksiak makes an impact as a perfect No. 6. Dumoulin needs to improve and then I think we will be fine on D. Maybe use Dumoulin with Schultz when the latter returns and go back to Johnson-Letang, with Oleksiak and Riikola as the third pairing. Something like that.
- I think Tristan Jarry has a real chance tonight to cement the No. 1 job for the foreseeable future. A win in the thin air of Denver on back-to-back nights would be a very nice statement by the kid.
- Please do not touch Line 1, ever. I implore the coach. Simon is exactly where he needs to be, Crosby loves playing with him, and Guentzel provides so much of the intangibles (plus the sniping ability). It really is a perfect unit, so naturally Sullivan will find a way to mess with it when they go in a bit of a bad stretch. Which is inevitable. But damn, that line is nice and fun to watch. Sid really loves playing with them, it is pretty obvious to the naked eye.
My son doesn’t believe I pay for center ice cause all the games arent in hd. I tell him takes me back to the good old days of watching the game on channel 53 without aluminum foil on my uhf antenna
