Panarin was absolutely mesmerizing, that was 2019/20 Bread. He was assertive, playing with swagger and trying to fire everything at the net. He had that aura of a superstar.
Mika was very good as well.
Tarasenko looked lazy as hell, floating everywhere. Not good.
Trocheck was ok, still had that tunnel vision that I’ve complained about.
Vesey played a really simple game, almost painfully so because of how basic and X’s and O’s he plays. Zero finesse to his game but he did well.
Chytil was great, got some ohhhs out of the crowd on some of his rushes.
Kakko was pretty bad, pretty slow and his shots had so little power on them. Pretty much every other players shot made a completely different sound when it hit the goalies pads than his did. His body language was also really bad, looked mopey and shook his head when skating to the bench at end of several shifts. Some really bad turnovers too, honestly I’d say he was our worst player today.
Lafreniere looked like he was trying hard but doesn’t process the game at a high level yet. Didn’t look too slow like people say, but not a great game for him.
Kreider’s speed almost generated a few chances but he looked disengaged at times.
Gauthier was Gauthier.
Leshytshow was suck.
Goodrow was fine.
Fox was kinda underwhelming, didn’t feel like I was watching a superstar out there. His stick broke up a few plays and kept some pucks in but not the best game for him.
Lindgren was pretty good, he’s more mobile than he gets credit for.
Trouba was hilarious. The crowd hated him. He threw a few massive hits and Joshua was pissed at him multiple times. Temporarily injured Lazar. Then there were moments where he stumbled over his own feet, was looking a completely different direction from the play, etc lmao.
Schneider was decent.
Mikkola was okay, took a penalty again lol. And is nowhere near as physical as advertised.
Edit: forgot Miller! Don’t know how because he was very good. Man when I was along the glass in warmup and he was just feet in front of me he looks like a f***in tree! Giant of a man. Our best defenseman today
Shesterkin had an off game but the first goal was in a scrum and second he had no stick. The game was also generally very sloppy defensively for both teams. Was exciting seeing him try to shoot on the empty net even though it wasn’t a great attempt lol.
Gallant’s bald head was magnificent in person tbh. But the guy hid in the lockerroom the entire warmup because of my sign and his impending arrest.