The problem with the team on offense is they're just not meshing right now, and they're missing shots, they were trying to go high on Bennington and missed two or three shots that went just over the net. And they had a number of passes in front of the net that were just off, or deflected wide. Could have scored 4-5 goals if they make those connections. In the Minn game, everything clicked, last two games they had to grind out wins.
Ersson has his mojo back, it helps that they're blocking a lot of shots but he came up big when he had to.
Sanheim - Risto playing as well as York - Sanheim, and both are holding their own as 1st pairs.
Drysdale is still an adventure, but not as bad tonight, still a lot for Seeler to cover.
Andrae moves well, playing better than Zamula, but not ready for top 4 duties.
Michkov is really struggling, too early for the "wall," I think it's playing a bunch of physical, checking teams, he's just not used to the NHL pace and probably needs to hit the weight room next summer. He got knocked around a bit, finesse is nice but good defensive teams don't give good offensive players a lot of time or room.
Poehling had a spectacular rush culminating in the Hathaway goal. He's just a solid bottom six guy, always flying around, if only he had skills.
Frost is off to a horrible start, GF/GA 2/10, some of it's bad puck luck, some of it is he just doesn't look that explosive in his skating and doesn't finish plays.
Couts is not going to be a 1C anymore, but he's still a solid veteran center, and down the road he'll be a solid veteran LW. But he might want a shorter stick, seems to fumble a lot of pucks.
Brink since he returned to the lineup has played with a much higher motor, he's no longer waiting for an offensive play to come to him, he's back checking, forechecking, blocking shots, going into the corners after pucks. Lost his man on the St Louis goal but redeemed himself. Playing faster and more physical than last season.
Farabee had a nice pass for the goal but seems to be struggling with his skating, he wasn't a speed demon but now he looks slow.
If Ersson continues to play like this, it's closer to a 90 point than 80 point team, even with the 1B goalie(s) struggling. The problem on offense isn't the defensive play, they got a number of rushes off blocked shots, it's just a matter of finishing plays consistently.