The bright spot was Berra. Looked great again.
The thing that was most perplexing to me was the ineffectiveness of the Monahan-Hudler line. Hartley believes strongly in the duo philosophy and will rotate the third man through on the line. He's obviously identified Monahan and Hudler as the guys with the chemistry together. I think he's wrong in his assessment. I think the chemistry was between Monahan and Baertschi, and Hudler just fit into that mix very effectively, like he did on several lines in Detroit. Without Baertschi the efficacy of Monahan has slipped and that line has looked lost. I hope Hartley reassesses his thinking and takes another look at his pairs.
|