FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Goal scoring continues to be a major issue for this hockey team. Just one goal last night and now they’ve scored just 5 goals in their last 4 games. If there is a silver lining to that troubling trend it’s the fact that the scoring chances are there. Bobby Ryan had three great chances in the game and I thought Rinne made some good stops throughout the game. The team’s best players have just all gone cold at the same time. They bury a couple of the early chances and this is a different game.
-One thing that’s going to need to change in a hurry is the presence of Tom Pyatt in the top six. It’s a disservice to Pyatt, who can thrive in a bottom six role, and it’s dragging down both Kyle Turris and Mike Hoffman. I get that Pyatt is one of Boucher’s guys but he’s just not a fit up there. Unfortunately, there aren’t many other options right now. I’d start with Ryan Dzingel though.
-As we progress further into the Guy Boucher era, it’s abundantly clear that this is a defence-first system. And the good news is it’s been fairly successful on that front. They are doing a great job of cutting down on high-quality scoring chances and their defending better as a five man unit. One issue though- the reigns need to be taken off Erik Karlsson just a little bit. It’s not easy to do and they have to find a balance but Karlsson is spending a little too much time defending right now.
-Interesting to watch the usage in the team’s bottom six forwards. At this point, Guy Boucher is pretty much just rolling three lines and ten forwards. Both Matt Puempel (5:56) and Chris Neil (7:21) were used sparingly while Chris Kelly took shifts on that fourth line but was also rotated in on the third line and on the penalty kill. During Training Camp, Boucher talked a lot about wanting to roll four lines but he seems a little reluctant to do so right now. Obviously a lot of that has to do with being down in the game.
-We’ve learned over the last year or so that this site and this comment section can be about a lot more than hockey. There is an incredibly active community here and a wide range of opinions. That was on full display all day yesterday as people shared their thoughts on the American Presidential Election. There are some smart people on this site (on both sides of the debate) and I actually learned a lot reading through the comments. I wanted to thank everyone for a mostly (although definitely not entirely) civil discussion on last night’s elections.
–Boucher’s Post-Game Comments
–Boxscore
–Advanced Stats
–Upcoming Schedule
