I enjoyed that game, that is my biggest takeaway, watching my team compete with and attack the other team. So my first star of the game is Phil Housley.
I don't know what you guys were watching but I saw a good effort by Eichel, he should have had a couple of assists. I'd like him to shoot more and drive to the net more, 3 shots for Jack is low. Since turning pro he has had difficulty meshing with linemates, he's not easy to play with, he's hard to read for his linemates. He needs a pure sniper. Rodrigues while not a sniper meshed well with him at BU, I'd like to see him get a chance to play with Jack.
The 4th line was terrific, all 3 of them. I thought Reinhart was fine, looked quicker and stronger, carried the puck more. Not a fan of Pouliot, took a bad penalty which I understand from Oiler fans is a trait of his. I strongly disagree about Bailey, thought he had a strong game, first in on the forecheck, disruptive, speed and size on display, had chances to score. Girgensons was very good. ROR was ROR. Same with Kane, showed all his strengths, 8 shots/attempts on goal/8 hits and mixed it up with the biggest 'goon' in the league, and showed his flaws.
The defense did what we hoped they'd do under Housley, joined the attack, took risks and were much better at keeping pucks in the o-zone than in any game during the Bylsma era. With that there were a lot of mistakes/turnovers turned into odd man rushes. We have to live with it, these aren't elite dmen and if you're going to ask them to be risk takers you have to expect you'll come out on the losing end of the gambit sometimes. Which means our goaltenders will need to be very good, Bylsma's system gave up shots but reduced high danger scoring chances. Johnson was not up to the task last night. Antipin looks like he can play in the NHL, he's small and lost puck battles in our end but overall he was a plus on the ice. Falk had a strong game.
We outshot Pittsburgh's regular season roster without Ristolainen or McCabe in our lineup.
I'd rather they lose 5-4 than win 2-1 games playing as they did under Bylsma. Of course I'm hoping playing this style under Housley we win enough to be in the playoff hunt.