Well, so far we are definitely competing for wins.
I thought Sanford, Brown, Tierney, MDZ all had pretty good games for being the Lightening rods.
I thought Pinto made a rookie mistake by not finishing his shift, pain or no pain. No one talked him into playing, he obviously convinced the trainer he was good to try, and there is no way DJ would put him in a tie game if he was that questionable.
Not harping on the kid, and he won’t get any flak, but it was a rookie learning experience. If you tell the trainer you’re good, and you want to get back in the game, then you have to finish your shift. You have to at the very least get into position.
Unfortunate play but the kid will learn, and we’re once again in a good year for these kinds of lessons.
Bran would not have helped win as he would have been destroyed by the heavy checking in this game. He’s not ready in the slightest to be the saviour, unless he can sit on the bench all game until we have a PP.
Brady is going to take some time to get his timing. You could see that he was focused on getting his game going instead of being a wrecking ball. It’s as the tales go with players who miss camp. Still, he got a solid assist making EK the blunder boy, and was more dedicated to his defensive game than in previous years which was good to see.
Murray looked good. His positioning was sound, so that even dealing with what must have been some jitters he was always in the right spot. Some real solid multi save moments for him.
Love Ennis. Just always moving and always in the mix. It as good to see him pissing guys off and still going and going.
The Ex Sens guys were ok, some decent play here and there. EK was nothing to write home about, and it was definitely not a ‘one of the best players on the planet’ performances. Brent Burns was far more effective. EK helped with a goal for each team.
Jimmy had some serious moments in this game. As soon as he finds a way to bury one of these glorious sequences it will be awesome. Jimmy also needs to acquire a one timer. So many times he has an open net to shoot, but corals the pass for a wrister into the crest once the goalie has time to recover. Gotta hammer that right away Norris (Ovie if I’m being greedy) style. Heck even McDavid has decided to add a one timer to his skill set.
Brown and Paul are pretty epic as middle 6 guys. Just relentless and focused on puck retrieval, cycling and playmaking. Paul has some pretty sweet moves.
Props for Zaitsev for blocking shots and being fearless in that regard. He was always more of a stick guy than a hitter, and they have neutralized that this year (somewhat) so that hurts his game. Him and Watson are shot blockers.
Holden was steady.
The team still has some holes, and we have some guys in the pipeline to fill them. Sanderson obviously, and Kleven to have our own mean SOB on the back end that can play. So far we don’t have a guy that has shown to have a knack for scoring in bunches, but maybe Jarventie (or Sokolov) is that guy.
Personally I hope that we don’t make a panic move to patch this injury situation. Stay the course. If we can push forward on a move for a piece that has mid to long term implications for us, that we have been holding back a bit for, fine. But this is another season where we can ride this out, let other guys try and step up, and take the consolation prize of whatever pick we get if things fall off.
Pierre says competing for wins is the goal this year, not making the playoffs, so don’t be a 60 second guy and miss the marathon.
