Quote:
Originally Posted by ComixZone
Yikes, very ugly night for Ryan, Nordstrom and Lucic - and that matches the eye test. Mangiapane-Backlund-Ryan was ineffective, but Mangiapane-Backlund-Bennett looked great. Lucic-Bennett-Nordstrom was a complete disaster, and Lucic-Ryan-Nordstrom looked no better...but, that's a positive - I think tonight they sorted out line 1 and line 3, Tkachuk-Lindholm-Dube, and Mangiapane-Backlund-Bennett. You take those two lines and move forward...
...but what the hell do you do about Gaudreau and Monahan at 5 on 5 play. It looked like a direct continuation of last season, which was a direct continuation of post-All Star break 2019. They actively hurt the team at even strength. How do you fix this? We're nearing 2 calendar years of them being a liability and that isn't something this team can overcome.
Genuinely disappointed with the team from an emotional perspective. They still lack the ability to counter-punch when they get bopped on the nose. Where is the leadership on the ice?
Markstrom looked good. Tanev honestly surprised me a bit and I found some hope in the Hanifin-Tanev pairing. Does Valimaki strike anyone else as slow?
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I agree. Dube speed on top line will be a huge asset. They need to leave Bennett with mangipane and baclund. They looked unreal. 4th line was bad but they can rotate in and out. Monahan and Gaudreau were bad and that's the part that is killing this franchise.
The d was good. Nesterov was a bit of an adventure
Markstrom was great too