http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/p....php?pid=62478
Two games so far... probably the go-to guy while Tokarski is up.
What happened to Dubnyk? Is he getting any playing time in the minors?
Without me, it's only "aweso".
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/p....php?pid=62478
Two games so far... probably the go-to guy while Tokarski is up.
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Tokarski was more than decent in ANH. I'd have been tempted to ride that a bit while Budaj irons some stuff out..
I would have liked to see Vanek with Desharnais and Galchenyuk back with Gallagher and Eller... Eller needs a spark and Vanek has zilch chemistry with Plucky so far..
Blades of Steel
9 Team Full Keeper - Pts Only (G,A,W,SO)
Crosby, Wheeler, Bergeron, Forsberg, Connor, Kopitar, E.Lindholm, Pastrnak, DeBrincat, Fiala
Jones, Klingberg, Hamilton, Theodore, Letang
Saros, Shesterkin
Garland, Vrana, Bjorkstrand, Verhaege, Backstrom, Karlsson, Perunovich, Spurgeon, Pulock, Hellebuyck
There isn't much gap between low-end starter and the minors. Dubnyk isn't an established backup like Budaj and Ellis types and nobody wants him as their starter so that leaves very few spots for him. Tokarski might suffer from the same thing when it's all said and done.
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Blades of Steel
9 Team Full Keeper - Pts Only (G,A,W,SO)
Crosby, Wheeler, Bergeron, Forsberg, Connor, Kopitar, E.Lindholm, Pastrnak, DeBrincat, Fiala
Jones, Klingberg, Hamilton, Theodore, Letang
Saros, Shesterkin
Garland, Vrana, Bjorkstrand, Verhaege, Backstrom, Karlsson, Perunovich, Spurgeon, Pulock, Hellebuyck
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Blades of Steel
9 Team Full Keeper - Pts Only (G,A,W,SO)
Crosby, Wheeler, Bergeron, Forsberg, Connor, Kopitar, E.Lindholm, Pastrnak, DeBrincat, Fiala
Jones, Klingberg, Hamilton, Theodore, Letang
Saros, Shesterkin
Garland, Vrana, Bjorkstrand, Verhaege, Backstrom, Karlsson, Perunovich, Spurgeon, Pulock, Hellebuyck
Montreal looks awful tonight. Missing the net on shots like nobody's business...
The PP looks ridiculously bad. Get Vanek out there with Desharnais and Pacioretty already and park his ass in front of the net so he can bury rebounds like no tomorrow.
Horrible.
Blades of Steel
9 Team Full Keeper - Pts Only (G,A,W,SO)
Crosby, Wheeler, Bergeron, Forsberg, Connor, Kopitar, E.Lindholm, Pastrnak, DeBrincat, Fiala
Jones, Klingberg, Hamilton, Theodore, Letang
Saros, Shesterkin
Garland, Vrana, Bjorkstrand, Verhaege, Backstrom, Karlsson, Perunovich, Spurgeon, Pulock, Hellebuyck
I think the Habs powerplay is something like 1-for-21 in their last five or six games.
Writer of the weekly Top 10 column.
12-team Keeper pool, straight points for forwards & dmen. Goalies get: 2 points per win, 3 per shutout, 1 point per assist & 1 point per shootout loss.
League champ in 2013, 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2022.
Top 8 forwards, 5 dmen and 2 goalies count.
We keep 15 players (any position) plus two rookies.
Forwards: Panarin, Ovechkin, Kopitar, Stamkos, Tuch, Rust, Marchessault, Pavelski, Miller, Bertuzzi, Stone, Kakko, Brown, Stankoven, Kovalenko
Defence: Hedman, Fox, Matheson, Thrun, Jiricek
Goalies: Kochetkov, Talbot, Vasilevskiy, Campbell, Schmid
Blades of Steel
9 Team Full Keeper - Pts Only (G,A,W,SO)
Crosby, Wheeler, Bergeron, Forsberg, Connor, Kopitar, E.Lindholm, Pastrnak, DeBrincat, Fiala
Jones, Klingberg, Hamilton, Theodore, Letang
Saros, Shesterkin
Garland, Vrana, Bjorkstrand, Verhaege, Backstrom, Karlsson, Perunovich, Spurgeon, Pulock, Hellebuyck
Bruins 4, Canadiens 1
Note: My attention was not 100% on the game as I was writing a Capped article. I did see enough to get a gist of what's going on though.
Overall thoughts
It was a better effort than last game. Still, the team has to do better converting chances into goals. Not enough desire to go just a bit farther to make it count. Bruins did a better job taking advantage of their opportunities.
Petr Budaj
He made some good saves but still allows one bad goal per game. This is what separates him from the guys able to carry their teams. It's nice having a backup that is good in his role but this team is not going anywhere without Price playing most nights.
Brian Gionta
Nice job by Benoit Brunet pointing out a lazy back-check from the captain on Bergeron's goal. He stopped skating at the blueline when he could have evened the numbers defensively. Had Subban done this he would be benched. Gionta is like the old Game Genie for Nintendo. Unlimited chances.
Tomas Vanek
Nice outing for him. The numbers have not been there yet (tonight was his first point) but he is shooting and getting chances. He also does good work around the net.
Lars Eller
Needs to stop taking dumb penalties. That is all.
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Contact me for Frozen Tools bug reports and inquiries
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Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust
I'd say that's a pretty good summary. I watched the game in detail, so if I may, I will add my observations.
Habs played a decent first period but have an incredible lack of finish, from Gionta and Plekanec, to Eller and company. Awful. Not sharp at all on the finishing in the slightest. The stats showed Rask was busy, but he wasn't troubled that much at all. He looked calm, cool and comfortable the whole game. He likely made most of those saves in his sleep and on the rushes where the Habs had their best chances, they actually missed the net outright. Gionta is a master at this. He is not a very good hockey player anymore and I think the Habs know this, but he's the captain so......
Second period and beyond was just terrible. The Habs were feisty at times (Gallagher, Subba, Emelin) but not enough. Moen, Prust, White or anyone not named Galchenyuk, Gallagher, Pacioretty and sometimes Desharnais were just brutal. I'll get to Vanek in a second.
Budaj was what he was, a decent backup. The goals were not really his fault and were more of a result of the Habs playing like they were overmatched or didn't care. Lucic's goal is a 50/50 if you ask me. Some nights it goes in, others no. Budaj is not elite so I don't expect him to stop all of those. I don't know how you blame Budaj for letting in the 3 on 1 goal. Tinordi had a great view of it, instead of chasing back hard to take out his man. There was a lot of that.
Vanek. He is more skilled with the puck than anyone on this team by a mile, except maybe Subban, but he plays defence. I kept telling myself all game, if only the Habs had a forward as good or dangerous on offence as Subban is from defence. He has the team's best shot. Too bad he can't be a forward and has to pass to them instead. Vanek was usually in the right position, threw the puck to dangerous areas when he had it or made nifty plays to keep control of it when in trouble.
Problem is Vanek is not what the doctor ordered for this team. Yes, he is what they needed because they needed a skilled forward with size, but for all the goal scoring he used to do, he looks like he wants to be a pass-first player now, instead of a shooter. Since his move to long-island actually, which is no surprised he morphed to that playing with a shooting centre like Tavares. He was heading that way a bit in Buffalo lately as well.. He just doesn't look to have the drive to score goals as much (kinda like Ovechkin's hiatus for a while there..). He needs to shoot more, and a lot. The Habs need a Jarome Iginla circa 2002-03 to 2009. That's what they need. Vanek is not that. I understand those players don't grow on trees.. but still. It's what they need. About two of them, to push down guys on the depth chart and push guys like Moen out. He is terrible. Best days long behind him.
We need Gorges back.
I would trade Eller or really teach him how to be a defensive C. This is where his career will be. He is not a No.2 or a No.1. Not even close. He also has a weak shot for a guy his size.
Plucky is stuck playing defence, I don't blame the guy for this year. But he should convert a bit more and would be the first to admit that.
I would hang this loss on the total lack of effort from many of the Canadiens, but really, it looked more like a total lack of skill. Like when Nashville wins games, many times effort compensates for lack of skill (and also a lot like the Canadiens when they win..) and having an elite goalie helps teams like that (again, like Nashville and the Canadiens) but this team needs skill if they're gonna drop games the way they did last night. Vanek is a skilled addition, but I don't think his skills can mix with this group. At least with Kovalev, he shot the puck more and when he was "on" was physical and was a hound for it..
This team needs skill. Hard noses with skill. I think Galchenyuk can become that. Told myself last night it was too bad Bourque couldn't be/play like Gallagher, because then he'd be effective. But that's like asking someone to be someone else. Ain't gonna happen. You're stuck with what you're stuck with, until you build through the draft.
Good luck Bergevin and compagnie!
Blades of Steel
9 Team Full Keeper - Pts Only (G,A,W,SO)
Crosby, Wheeler, Bergeron, Forsberg, Connor, Kopitar, E.Lindholm, Pastrnak, DeBrincat, Fiala
Jones, Klingberg, Hamilton, Theodore, Letang
Saros, Shesterkin
Garland, Vrana, Bjorkstrand, Verhaege, Backstrom, Karlsson, Perunovich, Spurgeon, Pulock, Hellebuyck