Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
Good road game, like Gio said. It sounds like the Flames expected a big push from the Canucks off the bat . Arguably that, plus Ras’ penalty, had the Flames not as aggressive in their play. But I thought they played pretty well defensively in that period.
I’ve heard both Nesterov (on the Boeser goal) and Monahan (on his penalty) described as lazy which I think is unfair. Nesterov hustled to try and break up a breakaway by Boeser, and he succeeded. He and Markstrom both brain cramped and must have thought the puck had deflected away. That’s a mistake. It’s not lazy. Similarly, Monahan had moved back to cover D (responsible) and was doing his best to stick with his man. As a forward covering a rushing guy, he was outmatched but I thought he did a pretty good job until his stick got a little tangled, and the Canuck went down pretty easily as well. Not lazy - just caught in a bad spot and he took a penalty. It happens. Ras’ penalty was way worse.
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Yea both Monahan and Nestorov were covering for Valimaki who was caught deep.
Valimaki has been caught deep a lot or made a lot of bad reads and decisions defensively. That’s to be expected of a young defenseman, but he gets so much love on this board and can do no wrong because he’s the new shiny toy. His mistakes are blamed on others. That’s the benefit of being a hot shot rookie, high draft pick, and being on a cheap contract.
He will be fine, I think he’s going to be a Rob Blake type of defenseman for us but he still has a lot to learn. He’s in the perfect spot as the third pairing defenseman.