Pre-Game Talk: Sens @ Leafs Feb 1. (7 p.m. Eastern)

[John Holmes*]

Good to see SDC out of the lineup & Kassian back in, Ottawa is going to need him tonight. Hopefully, Stone will be back soon from injury & SDC will be returned to Bingo, then I can turn my attention to trading Condra & Conacher again.

You forgot the white text part.

 

[StefanW]

Leafs suck.

 

[BondraTime]

Park Kassians ass in front of the net and we'll be OK.

The puck won't be in the offensive zone when he is on the ice

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

Ok, this is true, but only for the 3-4 mins of icetime Kassian gets. For the remainder of 12 mins DaCosta could have been expected to get, would he have a bigger impact than the other three center ice men (Spezza, Turris, Zibanejad) that will eat up those 7-9 mins?

I think when you examine the full impact playing Kassian has throughout the lineup, it's a relatively neutral move, though I wouldn't want to lean on the top 9 that heavily over the course of an entire season.

Personally I'd rather have the more dynamic player rather than the safe player in kassian. A da Costa slick move could be the difference between a win and a loss.

I just want us to play our own game and not worry about the leafs game, I think putting kassian in shows the opposite.

I'm very rarely critical of maclean but I don't like the move one bit, we'll see how it turns out.

 

[StefanW]

If Kassian plays he gets 4 minutes, and another player with more skill than DaCosta (not a knock, DaCosta is good) gets extra ice time.

I'm on board.

 

[LatteLarrys]

I understand you prefer big players, but have you been disappointed with DaCosta's play? Imo, he really has been fantastic in his role this time around.

DaCosta has been amazing, but I think Stache is just trying to adapt our lines to the Leafs. Physically will be important this game, so it makes sense to increase the physical caliber. I'm not sure if it's the best approach, but we'll see how it goes...

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

I like good hockey IQ and da costa has it. He might not have physical strength but he knows where to go on the ice at all times and read plays very well defensively, I think he makes a much bigger impact than kassian.

Ding ding ding.

Leafs are brutal in defensive coverage and allow a lot of shots. DaCosta could have given us an ability to pepper them on all 4 lines.

The one reason I am ok with Kassian drawing in is that I see Zibanejad back at center, he should be able to dominate with his speed and physical play.

The bad thing is, Zibanejad is not on Spezza's line and now it looks absolutely brutal.

Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Hammertyme]

If Kassian plays he gets 4 minutes, and another player with more skill than DaCosta (not a knock, DaCosta is good) gets extra ice time.

I'm on board.

I'm with Kassian playing. This game will get FUGLY in Toronto and Decosta would be a target for the Laffs. Remember both his goals weren't super snipes...right place right time. It will be physical and that is NOT Decostas dept. He'd be better against the SMURFS.They will double shift someone.

 

[Tampacuseforever]

Ding ding ding.

Leafs are brutal in defensive coverage and allow a lot of shots. DaCosta could have given us an ability to pepper them on all 4 lines.

The one reason I am ok with Kassian drawing in is that I see Zibanejad back at center, he should be able to dominate with his speed and physical play.

The bad thing is, Zibanejad is not on Spezza's line and now it looks absolutely brutal.

Hope I'm wrong.

And that is why we need a top 6 forward

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

To be honest guys, our forwards aren't what we should be worried about.

At all.

What is more of a concern is our defense and Anderson.

 

[Micklebot]

Personally I'd rather have the more dynamic player rather than the safe player in kassian. A da Costa slick move could be the difference between a win and a loss.

I just want us to play our own game and not worry about the leafs game, I think putting kassian in shows the opposite.

I'm very rarely critical of maclean but I don't like the move one bit, we'll see how it turns out.

I understand your position, and over the course of a full season, I agree that DaCosta adds more value, but my point is that we are not replacing DaCosta with Kassian, we are replacing him with Kassian, more Zibanejad, more Turris, and more Spezza. The later 3 offer far more than DaCosta currently does imo, while DaCosta offers far more than Kassian.

The other thing to point out is that Kassian doesn't mean we're playing Toronto's game; it's highly unlikely you'll see us running around trying to be overly physical because Kassian's in the lineup. The top 9 should play the same as any other game, Kassian's line will likely play 5 mins of trying to be hard on the forecheck and cycle, and should something needing a physical response happen, perhaps we'll fortunate enough that they'll be on the ice at the time (though odds aren't good). Imo, the most likely scenario is nothing happens.

 

[Tampacuseforever]

I understand you prefer big players, but have you been disappointed with DaCosta's play? Imo, he really has been fantastic in his role this time around.

I prefer skill but understand a need for physical players. it's an obsession not a preference.

 

[Harbinger]

Is a win in regulation too much to ask for?

 

[83DIZ65]

Is a win in regulation too much to ask for?

No it isn't. GO SENS GO!!!!

 

[John Holmes*]

It's been so long since we've absolutely throttled the Leafs. Too long.

vcash all in. Make it a 6-0 or 7-1 game for me.

 

[DrEasy]

I understand your position, and over the course of a full season, I agree that DaCosta adds more value, but my point is that we are not replacing DaCosta with Kassian, we are replacing him with Kassian, more Zibanejad, more Turris, and more Spezza. The later 3 offer far more than DaCosta currently does imo, while DaCosta offers far more than Kassian.

Nothing's stopping you from playing your 4th line fewer minutes regardless of who's in it, but why purposely degrade its quality (and jumble all the other lines as well in this case)?

Here's an example:

MoToR
Michalek - Spezza - Ziba
Greening - Smith - Condra
Conacher - Da Costa - Neil <- play this line 4 minutes if you want the other lines to get more ice time.

 

[M4TR1X]

Is a win in regulation too much to ask for?

In a way, Ottawa can't settle for anything less.

 

[Tampacuseforever]

Nothing's stopping you from playing your 4th line fewer minutes regardless of who's in it, but why purposely degrade its quality (and jumble all the other lines as well in this case)?

Here's an example:

MoToR
Michalek - Spezza - Ziba
Greening - Smith - Condra
Conacher - Da Costa - Neil <- play this line 4 minutes if you want the other lines to get more ice time.

Five games in 8 days not to bright to play three guys 4 minutes.

 

[Sensinitis]

To be honest guys, our forwards aren't what we should be worried about.

At all.

What is more of a concern is our defense and Anderson.

Both the defense and Anderson have come a looong way since the beginning of the season, so I disagree.

 

[HavlatMach9]

eagerly awaiting the GDT, that dude who did a terrible preview of the Sens for this season is supposed to do it.

 

[PatrickEaves]

eagerly awaiting the GDT, that dude who did a terrible preview of the Sens for this season is supposed to do it.

It's past the exclusivity time. Anyone can make the GDT by now.

That guy hasn't been online since really really early in the morning anyways.

 

[StefanW]

Both the defense and Anderson have come a looong way since the beginning of the season, so I disagree.

Agree. The D and goaltending are very different now than they were at the start of the season. Right now our biggest problem is that we are essentially a one line hockey club, and unless we get some secondary scoring we are too easy to shut down.

 

[DrEasy]

Five games in 8 days not to bright to play three guys 4 minutes.

I agree with you and that's why the whole idea that putting Kassian in allows us to give more minutes to the top 3 lines doesn't sit well with me. But if you want to do that, at least give the rest of the minutes to better players.

 

[BigBush*]

Agree. The D and goaltending are very different now than they were at the start of the season. Right now our biggest problem is that we are essentially a one line hockey club, and unless we get some secondary scoring we are too easy to shut down.

It looked like Spezza-Michalek-Zib were building some good chemistry to make that second line a real scoring threat. Shame that lines broken up tonight

 

[Sensinitis]

It's past the exclusivity time. Anyone can make the GDT by now.

That guy hasn't been online since really really early in the morning anyways.

Done.