Canucks are reeled in by the 'Yotes......who are the big losers on the night.
A few random observations. Felt sorry for Brisebois, tied like an anvil to Myers who had another nightmarish night. He's a guy they simply have to move on from this off-season. Once his bonuses are paid on July 1st, he should be out the door. He simply doesn't skate well enough to be an everyday NHL d-man.
Pretty much this...Demko was the 2nd best goaltender, although I didnt think that he had a particularly poor game..The Canucks just couldn't score, as the Yotes did a good job of collapsing around the net blocking shots..and their goalie stopped everything.Yotes did a great job on the forecheck, Yotes with a killer PK, Yotes goalie was better than expected.
Kuz and Petey scored. All is well with the world.
Damn beau snubbed!Arizona played really well in this game and the organized aggressiveness of their PK was some of the best I've watched this year. They have some nice under-the-radar players really breaking out this year in Moser/Hayton/Valimaki/Macelli/McBain and are very well coached.
- Kuzmenko scored but I thought it was overall one of his worst games of the season and was justifiably demoted after a couple very poor backchecks where he didn't move his feet.
- Podkolzin is so frustrating. He'll have games where you think he 'gets it' and then it's right back into blending into the scenery. It's not at the point of giving up on him but he seems like a very mentally weak player.
- Kravtsov. Man. Like, I think he actually reads the play defensively quite well and his position to break up plays is quite good and you can see why some of the advanced stats look good for him there. But that's only half of being a good defensive player and the other half is competing and battling, and that part has only been there for 1 or 2 games out of the games out of the 8 he's played. And I think if he makes it he's going to have to re-invent himself as a middle-6 two-way winger because offensively I don't know that he has enough to get by on skill. His skating isn't really that great and his shot looks terrible when he's got himself into decent chances. Sees the ice and moves the puck pretty well ... but at this point he needs to really find something quick to justify getting a contract for next year and not be headed back to the KHL.
- Myers looks good for a couple games and then has a game like that where he absolutely kills you.
- Wolanin and Brisebois just keep chugging along looking like NHL players.
- Demko's worst game since coming back. Really shouldn't be playing more than 50% of the games given how many injury problems he's had in the last year.
the issue is we never tank, just look at our recent five games winning streak, but we failed at competing either, just having one playoffs appearance in the last few years.So let me get this straight;
So we tanked
Then we tanked the tank
Then we tanked the tank tank
Gotta love the Canucks
That's the best a team has played against us in a while. Surprising that the Yotes, with a bunch of retreads, is looked better than a lot of high end teams we faced lately, but they took it to us for most of the game. Penalties helped us keep it more even, but 5 on 5 Arizona was clearly the best team.
Good
Garland - kind of player that as they say, drags you into the fight. Good throughout in creating chases and led the third period rally to get back in the game. Should have had some the passes he was making around the net, put in
Beauviller - making a case that the Horvat trade , at least post deal, was even up even without the draft choice and Raty. His speed and stick work has been a key factor in the teams resurgence. Also if he was putting away all the chances and others were better burying the chances he is creating, his production would be off the charts.
Wolanin - effortlessly moving the puck out of his zone. Coaches giving him more time as his game continues at high level. Becoming a must re-sign.
Kuzmenko - more responsible defensively and his puck movement was excellent. Showed off his ability to make the tape to tape pass on the PP when given the chance.
Not Good
Dries - doesn't have the speed to play a 200 foot game. Can sometimes zip into holes to get chances but can't carry the puck through neutral zone and can't effectively backcheck. Team is generally in serious problems when he is out. This team somehow has to find a third line center. Probably the most critical need on the team.
Podkolzin - can't seem to get into any flow. Out of snyc with others and often uselessly running around. At times, he stalls out when he gets the puck and doesn't seem to know what to do with it.
Burroughs - badly slipped off in this one. Had several occasions where he down and out around his net allowing passes to be made or shots taken. Ended up losing inside position way too much. Yotes kept jamming the net and that's where Burroughs can end up having trouble.
Boeser - ugh. Put in prime position to score but was sloppy handling passes and Arizona easily got their sticks into to deflect his shot away. Garbage on defense. Worst defensive player on the team although the defensemen often end up getting blamed for his lack of coverage. He'd be struggling in the AHL with this type of play. Doubt he can be seen as scorer any longer.
Myers - Coyotes pressure forced him into difficult situations and errors. The thing that separates Myers most from being a top level d-man is his tendency to get rattled when under duress and that showed in this one. Not all bad, but a real drop off from play over last while.
Others
Pettersson - getting his points and still a key to the team success but he hasn't been his best in the last
few games. I think his line mates have been been more important in making his line dangerous. Not playing all that well on the PP.
Kravtsov - little more on the puck and at least getting the room to make some plays. Seems to be playing more directly and less with the wide circles. Reminds me of Kilmovich. High skill with good speed, but often too fancy, positionally questionable and not strong enough in one on one battles.
Lose is a win in the draft race to the bottom. In the end, however, likely make little difference. Once you get beyond fifth pick seems like you are dart tossing.
With Blueberries at the helm, we will always be inadvertently tanking.So let me get this straight;
So we tanked
Then we tanked the tank
Then we tanked the tank tank
Gotta love the Canucks
After this game, the guy we need to 'pump the brakes on' is Demko. He looked lot like the early season version of Demko last night.I know Wolanin is popular here right now, but perhaps let's pump the brakes a bit. So far his deployment has been extremely sheltered. We'll have to see if the coach is willing to play him in tougher minutes.
How is a Goalie sheltered heavily? Like they give him the easy opponents on back to backs ect?Naturally no mention of Demko who was .889 and who let in at least two crap goals. I find that when he isn't great his acolytes simply ignore his play or, like Garrett, find a way to blame every goal on a skater. I still think he's good but not great and is still often sheltered heavily.
Franky earned his bones in the outfit by doing a killing. He killed the Canucks.With Blueberries at the helm, we will always be inadvertently tanking.
They are. Keller in particular and Maccelli looks like a great facilitator.the coyotes are a pretty talented team
keller, schmaltz, lawson, hayton, maccelli is an underrated top 6
if they can keep them together and add geekie, guenther and cooley they'll have maybe the best group of young forwards in the league