been too long. busy schedule for me, plus silayev sat a few games (like he did last month)
- quicker decisions with the puck today. rewarded with an early secondary. passing plays not as reliant on time/space to operate even though he was still scanning options. got in trouble at times (nothing glaring, just some clears -> turnovers per usual), but he was jump starting breakouts more/not just prioritizing D-D options that can slow the pace of play
- showed more interest in challenging on shots directly rather than teeing up redirect opportunities. less predictable. shot had good power and wasnt only kept low to the ice, although he did misfire a number of times. good with his body positioning/opening up to make the most of his attempts, too. normally can look a little timid/hurried when he's lobbing a puck from the point
- still good with crease clearing/boxing out opportunities in tight. hes not punishingly physical (its more of like...a powerful lean than it is outright jabbing at guys), but hes been better with proactive contact/not just tying up sticks
- stops good per usual. good urgency, defensive stick was aggressive, etc. pretty steady game
- special teams deployment felt really light today, although i appreciate that his one big chunk of pk time came late in the 3rd in a 1-1 game
- saw 2 shifts in ot, both were tremendously high tempo. first: thought he chased the puck carrier too hard in his own zone. didnt support net front, doubled up on one of the attackers. now it did work, these guys didnt have many options with him on top of them, but thats one mistake away from a goal against. second: fantastic poke (and pick up) right around the opp blueline to get a strong possession started off the forced turnover. little bit later on great idea to crash the net for a cross crease opportunity that ultimately didnt connect
compared to last viewing from a few weeks ago, seeing more puck distribution than possession, but a common denominator of continuing to start things himself. good energy today, too, perhaps a result of the couple games off (he did play on monday in case it sounds like this was his first one back). wasnt so much an
issue in the previous game i saw, those were largely good viewings, but hed have off moments where he got outworked or went lax on a play