Worth noting, Kniazev had a much better third period. For the third he was deployed with Onyebuchi and would pinch in the O zone, but hustled and was the first guy back on D with solid positioning. His skating is super smooth. His third period was very solid, and what I had hoped to see all game. Who is that Cicek kid? Really liked his game a lot. He was the best Cuda player on the ice all three periods. Not even counting his goal, he was still the best player. Thought he played a very smart two way D game. He would pinch and hold the zone where appropriate, but erred on getting back to play D. I was very impressed. I thought Leonard played a very solid two way game and was the best forward throughout.
Maybe it was an altitude issue or a hangover from their collapse the night before, the Cuda looked a step slow and sluggish. Oddly, watching in real time, I felt like they struggled 5 on 5 but looked much better on the PP and even on the PK. I thought Melnichuk played better than the box score would lead you to believe.
