Frustrating game. Not sure why all the animus against Laf. He's a kid who needs minutes. Talk to him about doing a stint in the AHL to work on some things, build up his confidence and then come roaring back.
My biggest frustrations:
Trouba--I've been impressed with him all season, but this game was an abomination. On one of their earlier goals (can't remember offhand which one--the double dose of the Covid booster and the flu shot has me feeling pretty miserable right now), Trouba tried to stick check McDavid. McDavid ices him and the result is a goal. On the game tying goal, McDavid is going in on goal with speed. Trouba again tried to stick check rather than take the body. Then in overtime, he got burned AGAIN by trying to stick check McDavid, and the only reason it didn't wind up in the back of the net is dumb luck. Making the same mistake three times in one game is inexcusable. He's been phenomenal all season thus far though, so I chalk this one up to the "everyone plays like crap from time to time" category.
On the game tying goal, Trouba wasn't the only one I had issue with. Nemeth was the other D in position to do something. Two of the guys who are supposed to be able to throw hits and all they could do if flail their sticks around. Yeah, it's McDavid. Yeah, he still had to bring a truckload of skill to make that goal happen. But Trouba/Nemeth made it just a little bit easier.
Finally, on my shit-list for that GTG is whoever it was that looked at the ice, SAW McDavid right outside our blue line with the puck, and staring right at him, and then opted to go for a change anyway. Seriously, McDavid watched him, and the second he started towards the bench, McDavid entered our zone. I couldn't make out who it was, but based on the laziness of the play, I'd guess Panarin or Strome.
On the GWG, I don't know why Kreider sat there and watched the loose puck for five years before deciding maybe he should try and collect it. He had the angle, the space, and he just sat there, not going for the puck until Nurse was clearly going to beat him to it. Same thing with Zib. Yeah, he fell, but if he'd been aware of where Draisaitl was on the ice, he could have been in better position. He didn't try to close him down until AFTER Nurse was cueing up the pass.
Panarin continues to glide around and cherry pick. More than once, I saw him stay by center ice while Edmonton had a controlled zone entry. He was literally not even trying to defend. At least twice, he also tried to pull a cutesy blind pass to Strome that ended up just going right out of the zone, resulting in Edmonton getting sustained zone pressure. That line doesn't even seem to WANT possession. He, Strome, and Kakko, incidentally combined for zero hits in this game.
These were the new-ish things I noticed. The issue of giving the puck away immediately after getting it out of our zone was recurring issue that has plagued the team all season.
It's still early, and it's a good thing that the team is picking up points as they make this adjustment, but at some point--soon--there needs to be some sign that the team is making that adjustment. Right now, they seem to keep making the same mistakes night after night, especially in the top two lines. If they can't turn the corner, then at some point the question has to change from "when will these guys start playing the way their coach wants them to" to "when will Drury replace guys who refuse to adjust their game"?
I'm not usually this harsh, but that double vaccine whammy is knocking me for a loop.