Attended a birthday dinner last night so watched a recording this morning. Nice game. It was good seeing the Russian Line back to form and especially nice seeing Chinakov get two. I remain impressed by Voronkov as he did so many nice plays. If Yegor keeps developing this could be a strong line for quite a while.
The Fantilli goal was a beauty and let’s keep working that line. Kent seems to mesh so well with Mo.
My only disappointment was the final five minutes. An empty net all that time and we didn’t even threaten it until the final five seconds except for a Chinakov attempt. I know the goal is to defend but it was like watching five Central Park statues who occasionally moved to a loose puck only to poke at it with no real purpose beyond moving it. Frankly the Blues should have scored again on several chances to make it 4-3. I just don’t like that style. The quickest way to ice the game is to put the puck in the empty net.
That being said, kudos to Jet Greaves who played well and survived being under siege in those last five. He made some other great saves before that sequence.
Finally to Johnny. I’m not breaking up the Russian line of Fantilli line just to get accommodate him. I’m expecting Boone to be out a few games. If that’s the case, it’s likely Danforth to center with Laine on RW (if he’s ready) or Johnny to Fantilli’s line with Bemstrom joining Danforth and Laine.