I gotta say, I'm not very thrilled with the last few games. Too many shades of last season for my blood, the major difference is league average goaltending instead of downright terrible. First-goal disadvantages and complete lack of discipline stick out to me. The longer this festers, the harder it gets to coach it away.
It could be that the recent bad starts - giving up the first score in 7 straight games - are a sign of complacency due to us being at or near the top of the conference in points for the first 1/3 of the season. The opposition has come out of the gate wanting these games more than we do. Only when we are getting our asses kicked do we wake up.
Satisfied with ourselves, it has looked like we’ve been facing hungrier teams to start games, even when like Washington they too have outstanding records so far. More desperate teams who want and need the games more (St. Louis who just fired their coach, Detroit who were clinging to relevance) . . .
Hope we can break this pattern tonight at MSG.