It's a silly line to draw. They weren't suddenly a different team in game 11. It's all the same team.
If you look at team stats, there's an obvious inflection point at game 11, which is not surprising, they were playing a new scheme, lines were being shuffled, and some players were injured. Took time to both become accustomed to a different style of play and different roles.
It's not like they became a great team, but they stopped being a putrid team carried by great goaltending - which everyone noted at that time, so it's not like I just discovered this.
As far as Cates, he's not a top 6 center, he has no business being matched up against top lines, but there aren't a lot of good alternatives this season. However, he's shown enough to be a viable 3C down the road as a defensive specialist, a Pageau type. Though he's probably good enough to be a top 6 LW. Shows what adding a couple top six forwards could do for slotting other players in situations more conducive to their talent level.
Nor is Frost a top 6 center right now, he's improved but most of his points have come against defensive deficient teams - which isn't surprising, he's just a better player with space to work, and he's still learning how to generate space against better defenders. That's something G could do instinctively, Frost is still a work in progress.
