I had to miss the first period of the game, so I'm not sure how the effort looked out there, but the one player that was noticeably giving a crap effort in the 2nd/3rd period was Simmonds. I'm not one to ever say, "This guy shouldn't be on the team, or let's trade him," and I'm not saying that but the effort needs to be there on a game like last nights. The only decent play was his hit on Abdelkader, which sprung Giroux's slap shot from the slot, but the rest of his effort was horrendous, especially for a guy who has an A on his jersey. While Jake needs to put more of those pucks on net on that PP in the 2nd period, Simmonds blew two pretty good opportunities because he looked like he just wasn't ready for a pass and didn't react.
Other Notes:
- As somebody else mentioned, Ghost has got to be tired. Given that he played in the NCAA and his injury last year, he's played significantly more games in this period of time than he has in his life and it's showing. There's just not as much going on with the breakouts or even with his creativity from the point. Not really anything you can do about it but just something to be cognizant of.
- Mason haters are the worst. He's been playing lights out. The first goal was a fluke and he nearly made the save on the break away for the second goal. He's the best goalie we's had in probably 25-30 years and it's not really close IMO.
- Voracek looks like a different player from last year. There's no confidence in his play, a lot of mismanaged pucks and he hasn't been creating like he did last year. I'd like to see him put back on the first line with G and see if that can spark him.
- Gagner and Read have been horrendous. I personally didn't really buy into Gagner's hot streak. He doesn't really show up for the strong majority of the game and then he may have a nice play or two but he's horrible defensively, soft and inconsistent. I'd imagine there's no way he's back. Read has been an offensive black hole and a bit too passive defensively for my liking. The defense isn't really a concern for me but we can't paying this guy 3 million a year for this level of play. Not sure if he has any value but I'd be more than OK with unloading him this offseason.
- Vandevelde has impressed me recently. However, take this for what it's worth. Comparatively, he's been playing a lot better the last few games than he has for the rest of the year. He's still not bringing any offense but his forechecking and PKing has been better the past few games than it was earlier in the year. This is the first time all year I can say that he's been playing the best hockey on his line (not that the competition is all that fierce).
Lastly, I don't think we're going to make the playoffs but I hope I'm wrong. I know the odds are still in our favor but I think we're too worn down and simply not good enough to sustain the level of play that we were putting out there.