Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandman
I would dispute this. PK Subban got alot of the press in regards to his feud with Crosby (the Listerine thing, playing him extra hard, etc) but the Josi-Ellis pairing saw more ice against the Crosby line, at least at home where they had last change. I'm pretty sure it was the same in the other series'.
I don't know if anyone could look up these numbers, but I'll eat crow if I'm wrong.
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You're correct, but logically speaking Ellis is a better matchup against Crosby than he is against Malkin, whereas Ekholm is a better matchup against Malkin than he is against Crosby. I am not sure this proves anything other than the Preds have two strong pairs. We know that objectively Ekholm-Subban is a better pair, and are almost obviously the Preds' top pair. Josi-Ellis got kicked in pretty hard against the Ducks too, whereas Brodie-Stone acually held their own. Not that that means much but I think people overrate Josi overall. Whether it's Josi-Weber or Josi-Ellis there have been some concerning trends in the defensive zone that people seem to overlook. No he isn't a mess in his zone and yes he is a #1 defenseman - but there are at least ten better defensemen.