Brouwer shouldn't be on the PP - he is not an option to pass to in order to gain the zone, and he offers little else other than screening the goalie. I think his foot-speed is too slow to consistently race to pucks behind the net or in the corner to retain possession.
My ideal lineup (with Jagr out) is:
Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland - Bennett
Hamilton/Giordano
If you are only playing one defencemen, make him a great 2-way defencemen. I would rather have Hamilton over Stone on PP1, as he can create more, while still being a legitimate threat to score from the point. Ferland can be the net-front presence. Bennett is a good option to gain the zone while carrying the puck.
PP2 should be something like:
Jankowski - Tkachuk - Backlund
Giordano-Brodie
The defencemen have a tonne of experience working off one another on the PP, and can set each other for 1-timers, fake one-timers to pass off the boards, etc. Giordano has a legitimate shot too.
Jankowski can be the net front presence. I would rather invest the time in him learning that aspect than keeping Brouwer on the PP who is fairly one dimensional. Tkachuk can be that net front presence and switch-off with Jankowski.
I really do think that the first unit right now suffers from a lack of options at carrying the puck into the zone, suffers from having teams cheating knowing that Brodie is not much of a threat to score from the point so they are more likely to collapse around home-plate, and a lack of foot-speed to get into the corners and dig pucks out.
As for 5vs5, this team either plays well defensively and has their offence neutered, or ends up playing a more shinny-type of game. Way too many defensive breakdowns tonight, and still not generating consistently enough. They did manage to really pressure the Sharks for a while, but that didn't last long.
I liked the change-up in the lines. I thought Bennett and Jankowski were really good tonight. I didn't put that loss on Smith - Gaudreau should have passed the puck sooner, but Braun just did a really good job at trapping Gaudreau anyways. Just a terribly timed goal.
This team is not scoring enough. This team still has trouble playing consistent defence. I think the team needs to simplify more as they look slow and predictable out there. I really believe that this is a fairly quick team, and there are two strengths:
Passing and puck-moving offensive defencemen. I think they need to throw that puck around more, start skating and have the defence support the offence more and jump into the play a bit more. Defence is the backbone of this team, but these aren't stay-at-home defensive defencemen. I think the team needs to utilize their strengths more than PERHAPS the system allows (still trying to figure out if it is the system, or the players not playing to the system enough, or just being rattled/confidence issues).
Looking forward to the Nashville game. Maybe Gulutzan will have some epiphany by watching them, and see how Nashville utilizes their D. Flames SHOULD be playing a similar system to them, and arguably being even more successful at it since the forwards are a bit better.
One thing that didn't surprise me is the lack of pressure at the end of the game. This team seems rattled. They have seemed rattled all year.
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