Festinator
Registered User
Laine has been a lot better in his board battles this season, although still not as effective as I'd like him to be. Probs should have mentioned that it's Ehlers slacking in this department.That's not true at all. Laine is winning them pretty often.
On the top line, all of Connor, Scheifele and Wheeler are working the boards and cycling, while on the 2nd line it's mostly Little with Laine pitching in here and there. It's just not enough, need all 3 to be successful and establish extended offensive zone time.
That is the problem with this line, they can gain the zone, but they can't stay there. They need all 3 fully committed to playing the ugly cycling game in order to establish possession. Maurice is actually right in one thing he said, something about getting the puck and getting it back to the D at the points. The Jets have 6 D, all of whom are very effective in the offensive zone. Do the dirty work, get the puck, get it to the point, and THATS when they can start letting their skill show. That's when Ehlers can skate the puck around the zone, That's when Laine can sneak into holes in the slot, That's when Little can start playmaking from behind the net and in the corners, but NOT before then (if they want to be consistently successful).
Once this line starts being able to get extended zone time, they will be successful, until then, they'll get stuck losing the puck along the boards after dumping it in. Even the 3rd line is able to do this, they just don't have enough skill to actually make much of that zone time.