I believe they both failed. Foligno 1st to gerbe and then Gerbe to Foligno. Both should have been goals.
Agreed there, but still, that line looked REALLY good for the first two periods. I think we might have something there, and I'd like to see Ott skating with those two.
Prevailing sentiment: Lindy Ruff IS the issue. Things have gotten stale, he just doesn't have IT anymore, and he needs to go. We're a young team, we're supposed to have energy coming out our ears. But for some reason, Ruff no longer seems to have the ability to elicit that enthusiasm from his players. When you compare his demeanor from 6-7 years ago, you no longer see him pumping his fists, hugging and shaking his coaches, and the fire in his eyes. It's just gone. Aside from that, I think he has badly mismanaged the lines and players ice time all year, outside of striking gold w/ HPV of course.
My solution: approach him very professionally, and ask him to step down w/ the assurance that the organization will acknowledge his efforts and successes, honor him w/ a place in the rafters if need be, and move on. Give James Patrick the opportunity to interim the rest of the way, and in the offseason, either remove that interim tag if he performs or if not, identify your best/most passionate candidate, whip out the megawallet, and write a blank check.