Whoops, shouldn't have written Preds there...my bad.
It’s okay, I just feel the need to pump the tires of those guys and what they did in those playoffs. The 2016 Predators aren’t very similar to the 2019 Predators anyhow. Sven in a down year, Subban showed tonight that he is so much better than Weber was at that point. There are other areas where their team has improved as well.
I agree with the gist of your post. This team has spurts of forcing point shots for an entire game and getting most of them blocked. The Burns point shot system is not dangerous anymore and I worry that a strong tactician behind an enemy bench could easily neuter our offense for 4 out of 7 games if the offense isn’t able to adapt.
At 5-on-5, Burns and Karlsson are 1st and 2nd among defensemen in individual shot attempts per 60. Yet they’re 89th and 162nd in goals per 60. This season, their shooting is not working; they are just not dangerous shooters from the point.
Karlsson is shooting way more than he ever has; he’s taking over 19 shot attempts per 60 and he previously hovered around 13-15 in every full season. Burns has cut his rate down to 19.5 when it was above 21.5 in the past two seasons but it’s still too high. Burns is 4th in league assists and Karlsson has finished 1st in the past. Burns showed exactly what his playmaking abilities are tonight on Thornton’s goal. The coaching staff needs to emphasize Burns pushing the play down low and creating offense through playmaking. When Karlsson gets back, the same must be done with him. That will prevent games like tonight from happening frequently.
Hertl and Meier have consistently shown up in these kinds of games and created a lot of offense, even when the team has struggled. That is very encouraging and makes me more optimistic about them as our guys up front going forward.
Speaking of Meier; not only does he have 60 points, but he has 50 even strength points in only 69 games. That even strength production is already 11th in franchise history. Thornton has scored over 50 ESP 8 times and holds the franchise record with 60 in 2006-2007. Marleau and Heatley with 54 and 51 in 2009-2010 are the only other Sharks to score over 50 even strength points. Hertl also has 49 in 67 games; both of them could potentially break a franchise record this season or next season if they play together.