While it would still be nice to see more scoring from the forwards, the puck movement was outstanding, the forechecking, backchecking and pinching was reminiscent of the Pens game, and Peter Mueller showed some real signs of life out there tonight. I have a sense that once he gets his first he'll go on a tear, and pairing him with Doan is the key. The Captain's style of play seemed to inspire Mueller tonight, and he was hitting, chasing, passing and even shooting with a lot more confidence.
Daniel Winnik is approaching that point after 11 games where you can no longer say his play is a "surprise." He has been rock solid virtually every night and his skating looks so improved over last year. And with Fiddler and Winnik going hard in the corners, cycling the puck behind the net, and Pyatt beginning to show he loves to hang out in front of the net, that is a physical 4th line that can do some damage as the season progresses.
Yandle certainly shined tonight and is beginning to look like the power play quarterback we all expected him to become. The puck movement was tremendous by all the PP lines tonight and it was great to see the defensemen jumping in to the dots and not sitting passively at the blueline to make sure the puck was held in or they didn't get beat going the other way. There is enough speed on this team and physical, aggressive checking to slow down any rushed going the other way. Those plays will certainly happen, but more aggressive play and 5 players focused on getting the puck to the net will result in more goals than we'll give up. Absolutely loved the PP tonight.
The penalty kill also looked much better tonight, but LaBarbera deserves a lot of that credit. He was stellar all night long but looked particularly focused on the PK. Played a very controlled game, and seems to be learning well from Sean Burke to better use his size and positioning to block shots. He looks nothing like the disaster he was with the Kings. I'm sure it's a combination of maturity, getting the opportunity to come in to a team where he can legitimately challenge for 20-30 starts in a season, and to finally have a coach who understands what JL can and cannot do, and focus on making him better in those specific areas of his game. Safe to say Sean Burke is coaching like he played, and has been able to impart that knowledge both to Bryz and LaBarbera.
As well as all played tonight I think the bigger takeaway from this game is that it comes on the heels of Monday's disaster. Columbus is a very good team that plays a very similar style to the Coyotes. Same is true of the Rangers though they have more firepower than either the Yotes or Jackets. But to be able to put together an effort like tonight after Monday, and do it on the road has to be a huge boost of confidence for everyone. And not just because they won, but how they won.
Shaking up the lines reinforces the importance that this team needs to play 60 minutes of solid hockey every night and it can be in every game. Being able to develop chemistry between players who can then be interchanged to take advantage of the nightly matchups is a huge advantage, and one that is key to most successful teams in the league. We're not going to have scoring lines like Ovechkin, Crosby, Heatley, Kovalchuk, Datsyuk, Nash, and Kopitar night-in-and-night out. But we can certainly roll out lines that match-up to slow those scoring lines down as much as possible, and allow our speed and physical play on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th lines to take advantage of those scoring opportunities when they present themselves.
Doan will likely get his 70 points, but I won't be shocked if we have 6-8 guys scoring in the 30-50 points range. It's not flashy, but it's enough to win games if the goaltending continues to shine, the defense continues to improve, and the PK and PP develop more consistency.
The playoffs are certainly still an outside shot in a very tough Western Conference, but after 11 games in which we've had the chance to earn points well into the 3rd period in all but one of those games, the pattern is one to breed optimism.
Knock on wood we don't get clobbered by injuries going forward, but there is a difference between this year and last if the happens. Turris, Porter, MacLean, Boedker and Tikhonov and logging tons of ice time in San Antonio and responding well by putting up points and learning to be more effective two-way players. When they're called up they'll be better prepared than last year and should be oozing with confidence and determination to prove they deserve to stay with the big club. That wasn't even on our radar last year. With the versatility of Winnik, Fiddler, Mueller, and Lombardi to rotate effectively between the forward positions, we'll be able to call up the best forward available from SA, and not have to be limited by calling up a center if a center goes down.
I'm still not getting too high or too low on this team yet, but you have to like 14 points of 22; 8 of 12 on the road; and only 2 out of 22 points you never had a shot at.
I say roll out Labarbera again tomorrow, and roll with the same lines. Oh, and I loved that Lang goal to close it out. It was one of those moments when it hit you that, "Oh, yeah, I forgot he can do shit like that. That was sweet." Found the open spot, knew exactly where he was going with the shot, and had his stick ready and waiting for the feed. Did you see that effortless lift and flick? I did, but I know Steve Mason didn't.
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