Quote:
Originally Posted by hurtin_albertan
What a hideous game to watch. It felt like the Flames were handling pucks at the end of 10 foot long sticks. The puck was seemingly in a constant state of bounce in the Canucks end. We couldn't get a thing going - every single puck was contested and hacked at by a gang of players until it finally bounced out of the zone. Mega frustrating.
The top line was downright BRUTAL. Hudler has to be injured, the guy is totally invisible. I'm not sure what's going on with Monahan but he's been pretty ineffective. Gaudreau, while showing a few flashes over the course of the series, was an absolutel liability last night. The Canucks are turning him away with ease when he tries to stickhandle through 3 defenders, and last night he made at least 5 blind passes that landed right on the sticks of Canuck players. All 3 guys are passengers right now.
Saturday's game is absolutely massive; I think it's must-win territory for the Flames. If we're honest with ourselves they've been dominated in Vancouver and were fortunate to win game 1 there. If it goes back to Vancouver for game 7 having lost all momentum I really don't like our chances.
We need to bury these dinks in front of what is sure to be the most raucous crowd at the dome in over a decade.
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As far as Gaudreau goes, I get the impression he doesn't have much faith in his linemates right now. He's trying to do way too much on his own right now, and it's making it too easy for Vancouver to double team him and strip him of the puck. Unfortunately every pass he dishes to Monahan/Hudler right now ends up going back the other way.
Don't know what's going on with those two, but it might be time for Hartley to mix the lines a bit. Of course the Ferland/Stajan/Jones line and the Bennett/Backlund/Colborne line have both been very effective. I don't know what a good option is at this point.