i thought benching him was harsh, his performance wasnt
that bad, but as a fan of his i still cant say it was particularly great either. a surprising lack of consistency with his passing today, a couple misfires, some critically so. really seemed to struggle to generate chances both from that and an inability to effectively drive the net. his puck carrying in transition was as great as always, but even that showed some uncharacteristic trouble with entries today. on the plus side, the effort level was still high, he was still quite competitive along the boards, and even through some mishandlings i didnt find him rushing plays or trying to avoid playing through contact to compensate. besides, all of this was a ploy to ensure he makes it to 10 anyway
just as a quick hit, i liked mbn's game today, he was extra fast off the rush. very high pace and very willing to crash the net and open himself up for scoring opportunities. highly competitive in puck battles, as always. maybe not as involved defensively as im used to, and certainly had a couple mishaps with the puck, but nothing super egregious. solberg was quieter compared to his last game, but still quite solid filling in that top role for norway. excellent physical edge, not even just to punish guys but also more proactively fending off forecheckers and buying space. very confident puck carrying per usual as well