I'm so tired of these idiot refs impacting games with their incompetence. It happens all the time.
I don't want to hear TNT continually talk about how bad Kelly Sutherland feels either. These idiots don't feel bad. They f*** up all the time, and the moment someone critiques them, they're out for revenge like John Wick after they killed his dog.
They missed a couple key calls in the third after they caused that goal too, like the blatant trip on Makar with the stick in his legs while walking the blueline that should have been automatic. Missing calls is to be expected though. Diving straight at a puck you should have seen coming a mile away and giving up a 2 on 1 goal is unacceptable though.
D core was fairly solid. Thought Malinski played well. All the D men, including him, had one or two little to medium sized mistakes, but he might have had the best moments.
I have to agree, it's starting to get concerning about Nelson. He seems to look worse each game. Very unnoticeable. Doesn't look comfortable. Looks like he's overthinking things. Playing him on wing with MacKinnon seems like an act of desperation by Bednar to get him a goal, but it still didn't work.
Drouin needs to get it going before the playoffs too. He's been Mr Consistent all year, so I don't want to criticize him too much, but starting with the second game with Nelson, he's looked very off. Not sure if he's playing hurt or not, but Bednar said they wouldn't need to do that down the stretch with their depth.
Necas needs to wake up a bit too. One point in his last five games (a goal). I've noticed him actually working hard defensively lately, so that's a bonus, but his rush plays, and zone entires aren't working as well as they were before. Too often they end in turnovers and the same with his passes. Lots of flash but missing the execution. Like the rest of the team.
This team always has a problem with their shot selection and shooting accuracy. I've always felt this is a downside to Bednar's system. They expend so much energy to hound pucks, backcheck hard, and create scoring chances, that by the time they're ready to shoot, I think they have a problem calming their heart rate and fine tuning their shot properly.
Mitts had the biggest problem with this, but I think it applies to the rest of the team too outside insane athletes like MacKinnon and Makar. You can just feel in games like this, they're having trouble picking corners, or finding the the spot just above the pads. They shoot into the goalies chest way more than a talented group like this should. They generate so many great scoring chances, but often have trouble burying their chances. Tonight was another one of those games.
Avs outplayed Toronto most of the night, but they also should have been able to come back, and score more than 1 goal. They need to work on their shots and Nelson, Drouin, and Necas need a mental reset and a look in the mirror to get going again.
