[GranteedEV]

So some thoughts:

1) I didn't think Kylington had a particularily good game, but that's okay. IMO he was still a net positive out there. He's a high event player, and I vehemently disagree with the above (that a pair is doing well if you never notice them). There's no evidence that low event hockey is more successful. Colorado was also doing an excellent job getting in the shooting lanes.

2) Bennett was grossly underutilized. I thought he was incredibly dominant at the defensive end and used that to generate some of our best breakouts. His worst offensive sequence was when he blocked a point shot (there's something we rarely see from this team's wingers) and used that to create a rush. This was bad because as a winger he didn't have much ice to really get anything good going, and it really drove home what a waste it is to have him play wing in the bottom six. He's a center in every sense of the word. He's one of those guys who could be a candidate for one of the three stars any night where he's not down on himself, so I really hope we harness his positive energy before his frustration about his role results in a repeat of the last handful of years.

3) Hamonic was bad. Not bad in the obvious ways i.e. giveaways or getting walked, but bad in the ways that are inherent to his game. He at least twice sent a teammate a suicide pass or botched an easy pass by finding their skates. And I felt I counted at least four, maybe five offensive zone sequences that simply died on Hamonic's stick simply because he doesn't possess the vision and IQ needed to read the play. I've never seen a top 4 defenseman rush so many shots at an unscreened goalie while all four other skaters are nowhere to be found... just bad reads that usually result in an avoidable rush the other way if he would just dump the puck back into his teammates in the corner or find the open man. Even guys like regehr used to read the play better. I'll add that I saw at least a couple sequences where Hamonic could have controlled the blue line by getting to a loose puck on his wall and instead elected to back off. Little things like this convince me that it's time to move Andersson up the lineup.

4) Speaking of Andersson, he and Hanifin were both letting it fly offensively. Really happen with their games last night. Hopefully Hanifin can take that next step because I am still a little traumatized about his play in April.

5) Mangiapane and Czarnik didn't play a whole lot but I liked what I saw. I'm not sure they really work with Janko though, who's become kind of a square peg in a round hole on this roster.

6) Monahan. Holy crap. I can't remember the last time he looked this strong with the puck. Not only was he making plays all night but he looked almost a full step quicker carrying the puck up the middle. That's huge progress for a guy who is generally forced to rush passes and dump-outs through the neutral zone. Dare I say he actually looked like a dominant center, not just a dominant scorer playing center? Honestly might be quicker than Lindholm at this point.

7) Nothing really needs to be said about Frolik. We all saw the penalties, the giveaways, the general poor execution. But what I'm really disappointed in is that Peters didn't do anything about it. So many players were firing on all cylinders and this is where in the first half of last year Peters did stuff about it. It's concerning that 3M has become above reproach, because no line should be.

8) Lucic didn't really had limited ice time due to his altercation, but I did like his play in the context of a bottom six grinder. I think he's pricey, but brings a lot that neither Hathaway or Neal could. Given his history of playing with patient two way centers guys like Kopitar and Krejci, I think Backlund might by the ideal linemate for him.

9) Ryan was pretty invisible. Which I suppose is okay, but I miss the chemistry he had with Eatbread last year.

10) In terms of goals that should have counted, we outscored Colorado. The Backlund and Kylington penalties were absolute garbage, and the Landeskog high stick was embarassing.