[Cali Panthers Fan]

How's the suicide watch going after that one?

This is why I avoid this forum after losses, especially to Edmonton. Rationality is out the window, and nobody can put anything into context.

Listen, I saw what I wanted to see last night. I saw Mike Smith play a great game and make big saves when his team needed it. I saw Hamonic fit into his role flawlessly, and get better as the game went on. I saw a team that was playing composed and structured hockey and not panicking even though McDavid was doing his best to break down the defense single-handedly. I saw them try to play a defense-first road game, but couldn't overcome McLellan line matching advantage with McDavid's line.

I was disappointed by the effort in the offensive zone, but this team needed to improve their defense and goaltending drastically from a year ago, and I saw that tonight. The offense will come when players find their groove and get a little more comfortable. If you looked at the Oilers, nobody outside of McDavid was generating a lot of offense for pretty much the same reasons: It's early and players haven't worked out chemistry yet.

This team will score goals once they get into the full swing of the season, so it's pointless to worry about game 1, even if it IS against the Oilers. There's 81 more of these to go, and the season really is a marathon, not a sprint. The good news is that the goaltending looks rock solid and the defense pairs have solidified a lot (as long as Brodie picks his game up). I'm reasonably confident that this is going to be a pretty darn good team this year, especially with the addition of Jagr in a few days to a week.

Take a deep breath everyone.