Again at game and would make the following observations.
Team started very well but ran into some hot goal tending and few bad bounces. Then they ran into huge penalty problems and the game turned around. Team looked bagged by the third and stopped playing like a team. Huge gaps developed in their play and play got very fragmented.
The Good
Subban - superb skater and smart with the puck. Made some great stretch passes and again was clever on the PP. Unlike others there was little fall off in his play as the game went on. Though small, he doesn't get pushed around on defense. Has to be turning the heads of Canuck brass.
Jensen - Had great first period and overall not bad. Got very individualistic in the third and tried to do too much. However, always seemed the most likely to score.Would however say that he remains inconsistent and needs more mental toughness
Horvat - thought he was solid. Showed good vision with the puck and made some excellent set ups. Showed good strength along the boards. Did note that late in the game he got behind the play when team turned over the puck but by that point team had to take some chances. Really got very little help from his line mates and seemed to get burned out killing penalties in the second.
Corrado - again showed his mobility and quickness. Showed the wheels and puck movement skills to have belief that he can move on to a higher level. Like Subban and Tommernes had to continually cover up for the poor play of his defensive partners and some of the forwards.
Friesen - was very good on the pk and strong defensively. Much better than Mallet and should be ahead of Mallet as a defensive center in Utica.
Tommernes - moved game up tonite. Sometimes too casual with the puck and adjusting to smaller playing area but very smooth skater who creates good angles for his giving and taking passes. Might question physical toughness around the net.
Meh
Shinkaruk - trying to force the play too much - needs to let the play come to him more. Looked frustrated and out of sync with others. Skill here but will need to learn how to use it better. Seemed like the harder he worked the less he was getting done. Did not look good on the pk
Blomstorm - never accomplishes much. Like last year in Chicago shows the occasional spurt but at other times seems to be trying to figure out where he should be and what he should be doing.
Mallet - again illustrated lack of puck skills. Looked gassed by the second which makes you wonder about conditioning.
The Bad
Hall - knocked on his butt all night. Play, especially on PP, died on his stick. Little point playing him further.
McEneny - looked slow and weak on the puck. Hard to see up side here.
Franson - in over his head in this company. Just nothing in his play to suggest much potential.
Guimond - fumbled with his passes, telegraphed everything, little movement off the puck, turned over pucks at the blue line leading to odd man rushed. Subban had to spent lot time trying to cover for this player. Given a chance, failed badly and time to move on.
Liberati - looked nervous and showed little ability to keep proper spacing. Held back when he should have been moving up and then rushed into situations when he shouldn't have. Hurt the play of Corrado
Overall the team had too many holes in the lineup. Made a good push in the first but this was mostly the result of the good play of a few players. Once the penalties started the better players got tired and couldn't compensate for the poor play of others
I agree with a lot of this. A few things to add...
Subban showed well, but he at times skated himself into poor situations, being overaggressive without the support. One instance stands out where he got caught between decisions at the offensive blueline after rushing with no support and gave up the puck.
I think you are really underselling Jensen's game. He was everywhere. Multiple takeaways in the defensive zone both on the PK and 5 on 5.
A few perfect set-ups: 1. pass from behind the goal, between defender's legs to Mallet in front of the net for a prime scoring chance 2. against an immediate body check, pass from just outside the trapezoid into the high slot for a wide open quality chance on goal 3. he initiated the play where Horvat was robbed by drawing the lone Dman and passing the puck to Shinkaruk on one side of the net who fed it across to Horvat on the other side.
He was robbed once in tight but almost jammed one in during another goalmouth scrum. A couple shots missed high but the rest were dangerous - one of them fluttering into the slot after catching just the corner of the goalie's equipment.
He was pretty clearly the best player on the ice - particularly during the power play where the effectiveness really jumped up a notch once they started featuring him (at both the high left slot and the right halfwall - I dunno if the use of both was by design or intuition but it was working) instead of Subban at the point.
I would add that I felt Franson was having trouble keeping up with the play of Cassels and Jensen at times. It seems like people either want to knock him for being too individualistic or for not making his mark on the game enough. I don't think either label fit in this game - though he was clearly trying to do more himself when the team went south(IMO this was the right decision - not a selfish one).
Speaking of Cassels - he's awesome. The setup to Jensen early in the first was pure art, turning the defensmen around and sliding a backhand pass right underneath him to Jensen in the slot. Extremely smart stick. He's always ahead of the play and turning it towards where he thinks it should go. He also takes stick liberties (hacks to the legs) like Bieksa, Kesler, and Burrows - that was what led up to his cross-checking penalty which was him losing his head a bit. He showed a sneaky Sedin-hook on the hands that went uncalled too. The other penalty was an effort penalty IMO where his stick got to high when he tried to play the puck carriers stick. What I liked most was that after all that cheap stuff, he attacked the crease and was expecting, even looking for contact. His puck handling and passing is very very good as well. I think he has top 6 potential.
Horvat had a couple Higgins like moves on the boards where he initiated contact and moved the puck with control at the same time.
I definitely agree on Friesen. I feel like he's going unnoticed but he had a really good defensive game. He was extremely active and positionally sound at the same time. A few times he identified where the play was heading and used his excellent skating to angle off the outlet player.
Mallet did look a bit drained towards the end but I don't agree about his puck skills. He has one on one ability and average to above average vision. I also really like that any mistakes he makes with the puck happen going forward. That's a nice habit for a bottom 6 player.
Tommernes impressed me the most of all the D. Corrado is excellent with his decision making but Tommernes can really open up the ice with his skating and understanding of the play.
Also agree Liberati and Guimond were miserable. Liberati looked in over his head - slow poor decisions compounded by a lack of high end puck handling. It seemed like Guimond was chasing around the whole defensive zone at times.
Last thing I'd like to add is that Shinkaruk has a ways to go but over the course of the last two games I've been impressed by his play without the puck. He reads the play well, he supports his teammates, he passes well and willingly with good vision. Most of all he's impressed me with his ability to pressure in the offensive and neutral zones. His offensive game isn't quite clicking but I hadn't expected him to be this rounded a player.
