Zacha actually started getting better as the night went along but his line mates were not in sync with him. He is very good at handling the puck but I saw one instance where he overhandled it and the other team took it for a breakaway.
That was my observation as well, that he got better (and more confident) as the night went on where he was kinda lost in the mix during earlier portions of the game. I liked his skating and stick handling once he woke up and I think that one time he simply got a little too fancy and positionally left himself vulnerable to a breakaway. I don't mind that though because rookie mistakes like that are the ones that stick with someone, feeling the sting of a glaring error. What's encouraging though is seeing he has some underlying skills.
I also thought Kalinin didn't look so bad out there and didn't quite get how he was as awful as people thought early on last night. Now make no mistake I get that he's a role player but he also seemed like a decent skater that brings a physical game and I can imagine our revised attack philosophy needing that role at times.
I liked that our face-offs kept pace and SOG topped the opposition. Sucks we got shut out but at least the goals came from Irwin who is a regular in the NHL already and they were both on the PP against us. Some of the disappointments were penalties, 0-6 PP (which I realize is a work in progress), and that some of our returning roster did not really stand out from the rest of the crowd last night (which in part goes along with the 0-6 PP). I get not having practiced our power play yet but I also expect to see better decisions on the puck from our regular roster members, especially with a man advantage.
I'll chime in for those who say we shouldn't get too down on Gelinas yet. He really got worked last night and it is the 1st preseason game after all. Honestly I felt Gelinas had more impact on the ice than Severson did all night, plus he had a couple bomb slaps that were right on time but just happened to not get past their goalie...but the shot was there. Given that we got shut out I'd call that a bit more contribution than most had out there last night.