Another great game by Lilly. His game is night and day different from the beginning of the season. So many times today he showed great poise when he got pressure from multiple forceheckers. His ability to weave around players and carrying the puck out of the zone is beautiful. I counted 3 times, Marincin pinched or got trapped up the ice and Lilly had to play the odd man rush coming at him and he played all 3 of them absolutely outstandingly. I thought we had gotten past these drills since Rosen was no longer paired with Lilly but I guess Lilly just has that effect on his d-partners.
My only complaint about his game today is he would've been better served to pass the puck off to his teammates when he has a lane instead of hanging on to the puck a little longer while he's skating it up the ice. Though, the two times I saw him skate into the O-zone and dump it deep/ turn it over was when the forward group went for a change. Maybe it's a designed play for a line change.
Overall though, I'm super giddy watching him. One more quality year in the AHL and this kid will be ready to handle a big role with the buds.
Other than Lilly, for the fwd group, Bracco looked good today, got absolutely robbed on a gimme play (I think it was on the PP, tho Marlies wrecked the Laval team in o-zone 5 on 5 possession). Grundstrom had a standard Grundstrom game, good on the body, always hounds the puck and gets in front of the net. Engvall's speed is very noticeable and he looks like a good player that could potentially develop for us. Moore was good too, the kid has some underrated skill. Timashov finally looked good (other games I've watched he was underwhelming). Goat looked like he has a whole different gear right now. The kid looked pretty damn fast, tho maybe my eyes might be deceiving me.
For the D men, Borgman is just a ton of fun to watch. You can tell the guy is clearly a notch above the rest of the guys. He pretty much makes plays at will and carries the puck fearlessly. I know we saw the odd puck rush from time to time from him with the Leafs but Babs seems to have killed his creativity quite a bit trying to turn him into a shutdown type guy. All in all, I think we have a real impact d-man with Borgman. He might be a quality 2 way PMD if we allow him to play with more creativity and risk. Other than Borg and Lilly, the rest of the D was alright. Holl and Marincin were steady. Loverde looks very good and seems to be a good team guy for the kids. Rosen got a goal but wasn't too noticeable for me which I guess is a good thing because he tends to be a turnover machine sometimes.
My only complaint about his game today is he would've been better served to pass the puck off to his teammates when he has a lane instead of hanging on to the puck a little longer while he's skating it up the ice. Though, the two times I saw him skate into the O-zone and dump it deep/ turn it over was when the forward group went for a change. Maybe it's a designed play for a line change.
Overall though, I'm super giddy watching him. One more quality year in the AHL and this kid will be ready to handle a big role with the buds.
Other than Lilly, for the fwd group, Bracco looked good today, got absolutely robbed on a gimme play (I think it was on the PP, tho Marlies wrecked the Laval team in o-zone 5 on 5 possession). Grundstrom had a standard Grundstrom game, good on the body, always hounds the puck and gets in front of the net. Engvall's speed is very noticeable and he looks like a good player that could potentially develop for us. Moore was good too, the kid has some underrated skill. Timashov finally looked good (other games I've watched he was underwhelming). Goat looked like he has a whole different gear right now. The kid looked pretty damn fast, tho maybe my eyes might be deceiving me.
For the D men, Borgman is just a ton of fun to watch. You can tell the guy is clearly a notch above the rest of the guys. He pretty much makes plays at will and carries the puck fearlessly. I know we saw the odd puck rush from time to time from him with the Leafs but Babs seems to have killed his creativity quite a bit trying to turn him into a shutdown type guy. All in all, I think we have a real impact d-man with Borgman. He might be a quality 2 way PMD if we allow him to play with more creativity and risk. Other than Borg and Lilly, the rest of the D was alright. Holl and Marincin were steady. Loverde looks very good and seems to be a good team guy for the kids. Rosen got a goal but wasn't too noticeable for me which I guess is a good thing because he tends to be a turnover machine sometimes.
