Playing DeMelo 13 and Beaulieu 22.5 is a clear illustration of one of Maurice's coaching blind spots. Just because they avoided calamity for most of 3 periods doesn't mean it's a good idea to continue to play the 88-44 pair. Morrissey isn't effective at RD, and Beaulieu should never be a top pairing D. It's depressing, but I am pretty sure that Beaulieu will stay in the lineup over Stanley or Heinola or Samberg this season.
It's not like De Melo was stellar tonight, though he got lucky that 9-55-27 gifted him a +1. And it's not like he's been good for most of the year. That's part of our problem is we don't have a d-partner who is working well with Josh, because Josh himself isn't exactly playing dominant. I'd say that Pionk is our best defenseman by quite a bit to start the year, but we can't afford to play Morrissey-Pionk together, at the risk of a lot of trouble after that.
I agree about switching Morrissey back to his left side though, it's going to be a position we get targeted at if we are running Beaulieu/Forbort/Stanley. The speed of both Forbort and Stanley were exposed on the edge again tonight. Pionk made a great play to save a compromised Forbort midway through the 3rd.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if we go back to what was supposed to be the opening day roster.
Poolman might actually settle down Morrissey right now, where De Melo and Beaulieu have not.
Forbort-Pionk stick together
And Beaulieu-De Melo is a pairing you can play on the road, without having to worry about matchups. I wasn't surprised Stanley didn't look as impressive with Calgary controlling who they played against him. You can argue Stanley should play over Beaulieu, but why? We didn't have a PK goal against with 88 on the ice, again. If he had been in his normal spot, instead of Morrissey, puck probably doesn't get through for the GWG. The penalty was as accidental as you get, trying to play a puck out of his feet. The sad part is that the refs turned a blind eye to earlier penalties, which could have made the difference the other way, earlier. I'm not against sitting Beaulieu out, but I think any chance available, this board will vilify him, even if he isn't the worst player out there.
Looks like the 4 line experiment was 1 game. Lowry getting bumped up to wing gave some jam to Wheeler's line. Lowry deserves minutes, especially now that he is no longer on the PP. He's an impact player, and could be a forechecking menace as a winger. Vesalainen was another player who had some defensive struggles, without matchup protection. If line combos start as they finished, next game could see either Gustafsson or Thompson as the 4c.
It will be interesting to see how Maurice reacts to the loss, and what adjustments he makes. Whether he will have a shorter leash with his rookies than his vets poor performance?
Could have won this game, though the 3rd period was one of the most boring stretches of hockey I watched all year, where neither team had any ambition to take a chance to score in a tie game, without a PP.
Congrats to Byron Froese on getting a goal for the Flames, Manitobans are always a thorn in our side.
Looking forward to the bounce back. Watching Dubois improve game by game.
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