GDT: Chicago @ Carolina—Tuesday, October 15, 7 PM

[Vagrant]

The problem is, Vagrant, somebody has to take those minutes. Faulk and Sekara can't play 27 every night while the others get table scraps. Last night I thought Murphy earned his minutes, even if he was a little careless at times in his own zone. He was making things happen, and down 2-0, that's kind of what you need.

When Gleason gets back, and it seems he's a week or so away, I figure things will sort themselves out. For now, I wouldn't mind swapping Harrison and Hainsey and running something like this:

Faulk // Sekara
Hainsey // Murphy
Harrison // Komisarek
Bellemore

The third pairing might be pretty terrible and slow, but would you rather have two C bottom four pairings or a B and a D?

It just seems like lately we've been running two pairs and hiding another and that seems to be counterproductive. I would put Murphy on the bottom pairing with either Bellemore or Komisarek and shift them a regular shift. Move Harrison with Hainsey and lean on them like a traditional second pairing and let Harry get comfortable again with those minutes. Perhaps even give Komisarek a look with Hainsey if he can get back into the lineup and look decent enough. It's just that the changes are so polar in who we shift and who we don't that it's hard for guys to get a comfort level.

 

[RodTheBawd]

I was surprised to see anyone defending Bellemore at this point, he's looked very bad the last 2 games. I was excited to see him make the roster, as I thought he had some decent potential, but even in the first couple of games where he played "well", he was out of position way too often.
Whats also disappointing to me is seeing how much Harrison has regressed this year. I always root for guys like him and thought he really improved the last couple of seasons and earned his contract (albeit, as a 3rd pairing guy on any normal team). I'm beginning to wonder how much of that was a result of being paired with Faulk last year.
I'm thinking Gleason is a bit more than a week away if he was just able to skate yesterday(?) without any symptoms. Until then, we're stuck with what we've got, since I don't think anyone in Charlotte will fair much better than Bellemore. I'm trying to come up with a better combination than What the Faulk, but that really might be what we have to roll with. I'd like to split Faulk and Sekera up, but we really do need a top D pairing, and any other combination leaves us exposed. We are who we thought we were

 

[What the Faulk]

Harrison just isn't a very good skater, and for that reason I don't think he makes a good match for Murphy. Hainsey isn't much better, but I've yet to see him fall down once. Harrison, meanwhile, has averaged at least one fall per game (FPG). Those FPGs have resulted in penalties (Pittsburgh?) and chances the other way. He just can't cover when Murphy decides to wander.

I agree that they shouldn't break up Faulk and Sekara, though Sekara might make a good partner for Murphy. Faulk and Hainsey could work as a #1 pairing, with Sekara and Murphy getting softer but still solid #2 minutes. But then you still have a third pairing of Harrison and Bellemore/Komisarek. Again, two Cs vs. B and D bottom four.

Maybe I'm just too high on Murphy at the moment. I haven't seen him get outmuscled much, and he's been pretty good with his stick. He still needs to have better awareness in his own zone, but that might come with experience. Even Faulk struggled out of the gate his rookie year. I just feel like Murphy has earned top four minutes lately.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Harrison just isn't a very good skater, and for that reason I don't think he makes a good match for Murphy. Hainsey isn't much better, but I've yet to see him fall down once. Harrison, meanwhile, has averaged at least one fall per game (FPG). Those FPGs have resulted in penalties (Pittsburgh?) and chances the other way. He just can't cover when Murphy decides to wander.

I agree that they shouldn't break up Faulk and Sekara, though Sekara might make a good partner for Murphy. Faulk and Hainsey could work as a #1 pairing, with Sekara and Murphy getting softer but still solid #2 minutes. But then you still have a third pairing of Harrison and Bellemore/Komisarek. Again, two Cs vs. B and D bottom four.

Maybe I'm just too high on Murphy at the moment. I haven't seen him get outmuscled much, and he's been pretty good with his stick. He still needs to have better awareness in his own zone, but that might come with experience. Even Faulk struggled out of the gate his rookie year. I just feel like Murphy has earned top four minutes lately.

I'd agree that Murphy's earned at least a shot at increased responsibility. However, I'd put him with Hainsey before splitting up Faulk and Sekera.

 

[DaleCooper]

Lol at 2nd place in the division with 2 wins in 7 games.

 

[What the Faulk]

Meh, their opponents are 25-19-2 and the Metro is 6-15-4 vs. the West. Things will normalize.

 

[bleedgreen]

Everything tends to be where it should be in the end. The beginning of every season has its quirky moments.