GDT: Game 2: Sharks vs. Ducks 7:00pm NBCSSharks

[TheBeard]

There is nothing he can accomplish by being sent down. So he gets sent down and dominates lower competition. What does that really do for his development?

While I don’t think he should be sent down, there is a question to be raised about whether or not he can dominate lower competition without two NHL-ready linemates.

 

[Hodge]

this game probably at least goes to Overtime if Benning didn't abandon his defensive assignment to chase a puck carrier that had already beat him. Pretty much turned a 2 on 1 into a 2 on 0.

That goal was on Smith

 

[BaileyMacTavish]

I'm like so close to snapping and losing my mind dudes. I wanna drive through a brick wall. I don't have everclear so I have to compensate. With a porter. Bottoms up duders because I'm gonna go cry now.

 

[Jargon]

replacing Benning with Muhk would be such a huge deal for this team.

 

[sampler]

One more thing: you guys have to relax a little with Smith. Give him a chance to figure it out - it’s not like we have someone better to take his place right now. Maybe when Celebrini gets back, but for now let the kid work it out.

I wholeheartedly disagree. Gush is better. Hell, even cardwell could be argued to be better right now.

He absolutely needs a chance to figure it out, in the place where 19 years "figure it out" called the AHL.

If you look at the game winner, you can see smith was the guy most responsible without question. Its 3 on 3 coming back. Thrun has puck carrier. Benning as second guy. Smith should have the eventual goal scorer, but instead chooses to play mite hockey and chance the puck carrier. This creates two guys on puck carrier and third guy WIDE open.

Much like his penalty, these are the details in the game that you learn in the A.

At the end of the day, while no one scored, Smith was squarely responsible for the L. He just isnt ready yet at 19.

 

[drunksage]

SNOG announcement​

Man... with no basis in facts and without having reviewed actual logs from prior seasons, I feel like we usually get a SNOG in an early-season game.

#	Date / Opponent​	SNOG Winner(s)​	Result​
1	Oct. 10 vs Blues	none	Blues 5-4 OT
2	Oct. 12 vs Ducks	none	Ducks 2-0

Rank	2024-25 SNOG standings​	# of SNOGs
1.	TBD	1

 

[Pinkfloyd]

They played a pretty good game effort-wise. They defended well but made a few more mistakes than Anaheim. Not taking advantage of your opportunities is going to be the difference between winning and losing sometimes and they can't afford to go 0-for on the power play when they get the opportunities they get because they don't have the scoring depth to make up for it.

I think if Givani Smith is ready to play, I'd bring him in for Grundstrom and put Gushchin in for Kostin. Nobody has earned a lineup spot between them so swap them back out, put Gushchin with Smith or with Granlund and Toffoli and put Eklund with Smith and Zetterlund.

 

[TheBigDrunkPanda]

Wars will adjust.

I recall one of you guys predicting that we won't be able to score and that Coach will see the lack of real offense and creativity tonight and make adjustments (Goose next game). If he doesn't make that adjustment next game, then I will finally panic.

Smith should be moved down to the 3rd line to get his game going Goose on 1 of the top 2 lines to get some offense

 

[sampler]

Smith had responsibility there too.

If you are talking about the GWG, its not be

That goal was on Smith

100%

 

[The Nemesis]

I kinda hate how anal Sportsnet+ is about cutting off game feeds right at the end. NHL Live used to let me watch pretty much the whole post-game. Now I'm lucky if I even get 5 minutes.

 

[LilLeeroy]

I wholeheartedly disagree. Gush is better. Hell, even cardwell could be argued to be better right now.

He absolutely needs a chance to figure it out, in the place where 19 years "figure it out" called the AHL.

If you look at the game winner, you can see smith was the guy most responsible without question. Its 3 on 3 coming back. Thrun has puck carrier. Benning as second guy. Smith should have the eventual goal scorer, but instead chooses to play mite hockey and chance the puck carrier. This creates two guys on puck carrier and third guy WIDE open.

Much like his penalty, these are the details in the game that you learn in the A.

At the end of the day, while no one scored, Smith was squarely responsible for the L. He just isnt ready yet at 19.

Or you could blame Kostin for dogging it on the backcheck. I have a feeling Smith has a high hockey iq than you, if he thought the best choice was to pressure the puck carrier it probably was.

Smith is not responsible for a loss where he got 13 minutes and no PP time while other guys like Eklund and Granlund played 25 minutes and produced nothing.

 

[DG93]

The Good: Eklund still looks fantastic, Toffoli/Goodrow/Sturm/Wennberg all looked solid, Walman-Ceci looked like a good 2nd pair again, and Vanecek was very good
The Bad: I hate putting Smith in here because he's not being set up for success by Warsofsky (2nd PP unit, playing with Kostin instead of Eklund and Toffoli) and he's slowly getting better but he was partially responsible for that goal + took a penalty after being caught out of position + didn't have a significant impact; Granlund I thought didn't have a great game either (another reason to swap him and Smith imo), Ferraro-Rutta + Thrun looked a bit better but not great
The Ugly: Kunin and Benning are still awful...oof

PK looked great, PP was not good without Celebrini (and with Smith buried on PP2 still). Anyway, generally still entertaining. Onto the next one!

 

[Jargon]

I wholeheartedly disagree. Gush is better. Hell, even cardwell could be argued to be better right now.

He absolutely needs a chance to figure it out, in the place where 19 years "figure it out" called the AHL.

If you look at the game winner, you can see smith was the guy most responsible without question. Its 3 on 3 coming back. Thrun has puck carrier. Benning as second guy. Smith should have the eventual goal scorer, but instead chooses to play mite hockey and chance the puck carrier. This creates two guys on puck carrier and third guy WIDE open.

Much like his penalty, these are the details in the game that you learn in the A.

At the end of the day, while no one scored, Smith was squarely responsible for the L. He just isnt ready yet at 19.

Goose and Cardwell aren’t centers…

It would be Wennberg, with like Goodrow taking 3C. I frankly have been fairly unimpressed with Wennberg too, so I’d rather let Smith keep learning on the job.

I’m not sure his line is clicking at all chemistry-wise. Give him Toffoli while Celebrini is out, maybe Goose, maybe Eklund, I want to see him with some cerebral guys.

 

[coooldude]

I wholeheartedly disagree. Gush is better. Hell, even cardwell could be argued to be better right now.

He absolutely needs a chance to figure it out, in the place where 19 years "figure it out" called the AHL.

If you look at the game winner, you can see smith was the guy most responsible without question. Its 3 on 3 coming back. Thrun has puck carrier. Benning as second guy. Smith should have the eventual goal scorer, but instead chooses to play mite hockey and chance the puck carrier. This creates two guys on puck carrier and third guy WIDE open.

Much like his penalty, these are the details in the game that you learn in the A.

At the end of the day, while no one scored, Smith was squarely responsible for the L. He just isnt ready yet at 19.

Like others said, Goose isn't a center. The Kostin-Smith-Zetts combo didn't work so maybe you try something else, but Smith isn't a third line center. The Wennberg line is taking hard minutes and doing just fine at it. We have a hole at 2C and the only good out is Celebrini back or Smith gets better. Please don't write an essay in response, you've already made yourself very clear.

Or you could blame Kostin for dogging it on the backcheck. I have a feeling Smith has a high hockey iq than you, if he thought the best choice was to pressure the puck carrier it probably was.

Smith is not responsible for a loss where he got 13 minutes and no PP time while other guys like Eklund and Granlund played 25 minutes and produced nothing.

Kostin might have some responsibility but it was Smith who overcommitted to the puck and Benning who drifted. You can see it pretty clearly in the replay. If one of them does better there's probably no good chance. Kostin was backchecking hard most of the shifts I noticed him, at any rate.

 

[Juxtaposer]

This place is going to be more unbearable during Smith's growing pains than it was at any point in the last fifteen years.

 

[DG93]

Like others said, Goose isn't a center. The Kostin-Smith-Zetts combo didn't work so maybe you try something else, but Smith isn't a third line center. The Wennberg line is taking hard minutes and doing just fine at it. We have a hole at 2C and the only good out is Celebrini back or Smith gets better. Please don't write an essay in response, you've already made yourself very clear.

/plugs in "Please write essay on why Will Smith should go to the AHL" into ChatGPT

 

[LilLeeroy]

Like others said, Goose isn't a center. The Kostin-Smith-Zetts combo didn't work so maybe you try something else, but Smith isn't a third line center. The Wennberg line is taking hard minutes and doing just fine at it. We have a hole at 2C and the only good out is Celebrini back or Smith gets better. Please don't write an essay in response, you've already made yourself very clear.

Kostin might have some responsibility but it was Smith who overcommitted to the puck and Benning who drifted. You can see it pretty clearly in the replay. If one of them does better there's probably no good chance. Kostin was backchecking hard most of the shifts I noticed him, at any rate.

Thanks captain hindsight, yes I did watch the replay. It's also possible pressuring the puck carrier could he resulted in a turnover and a scoring chance the other way. Smith has a higher hockey iq than you too, it's possible he made a mistake but saying that is for sure made the wrong decision in the moment is an assumption.

 

[coooldude]

Thanks captain hindsight, yes I did watch the replay. It's also possible pressuring the puck carrier could he resulted in a turnover and a scoring chance the other way. Smith has a higher hockey iq than you too, it's possible he made a mistake but saying that is for sure made the wrong decision in the moment is an assumption.

Always love your fly bys!

 

[Jargon]

This place is going to be more unbearable during Smith's growing pains than it was at any point in the last fifteen years.

why can’t this 19 year old be as good in his first two games as a 1st overall wunderkind wtf replace him with Ethan Cardwell.

 

[timorous me]

This place is going to be more unbearable during Smith's growing pains than it was at any point in the last fifteen years.

I seriously don't understand what people realistically expect from him this year. There are so many rookies out there--who go on to become very good players!--who have experiences just like what we're seeing from him.

I kept a close eye on Smith tonight because why not, and while of course there's a major learning curve, you can definitely see these glimmers of potential brilliance, just without the space he expected or without teammates to do ANYTHING to help him out.

And without the puck, those gears are turning in his mind. It's his second professional game! Every 19-year-old learning to play center is going to have the kinds of boners he's had so far; it's just easier to get away with them when you don't have Kostin and Benning on the ice with you when they happen.

So seriously, FFS, a little patience would go A LONG way here. And some perspective!

 

[YUPPY 2 7 10 11]

I wholeheartedly disagree. Gush is better. Hell, even cardwell could be argued to be better right now.

He absolutely needs a chance to figure it out, in the place where 19 years "figure it out" called the AHL.

If you look at the game winner, you can see smith was the guy most responsible without question. Its 3 on 3 coming back. Thrun has puck carrier. Benning as second guy. Smith should have the eventual goal scorer, but instead chooses to play mite hockey and chance the puck carrier. This creates two guys on puck carrier and third guy WIDE open.

Much like his penalty, these are the details in the game that you learn in the A.

At the end of the day, while no one scored, Smith was squarely responsible for the L. He just isnt ready yet at 19.

I wholeheartedly disagree with EVERYTHING you said! Smith stays!

 

[Alaskanice]

I seriously don't understand what people realistically expect from him this year. There are so many rookies out there--who go on to become very good players!--who have experiences just like what we're seeing from him.

I kept a close eye on Smith tonight because why not, and while of course there's a major learning curve, you can definitely see these glimmers of potential brilliance, just without the space he expected or without teammates to do ANYTHING to help him out.

And without the puck, those gears are turning in his mind. It's his second professional game! Every 19-year-old learning to play center is going to have the kinds of boners he's had so far; it's just easier to get away with them when you don't have Kostin and Benning on the ice with you when they happen.

So seriously, FFS, a little patience would go A LONG way here. And some perspective!

Well said but is anyone paying attention?

 

[Bizz]

replacing Benning with Muhk would be such a huge deal for this team.

just paint the number 5 on a pylon and put it on a roomba all game.

probably wouldn't see much of a difference.

 

[Hodge]

Smith didn't leave Boston College to play in the AHL. Just insane to even suggest a demotion at this point.

 

[coooldude]

I seriously don't understand what people realistically expect from him this year. There are so many rookies out there--who go on to become very good players!--who have experiences just like what we're seeing from him.

I kept a close eye on Smith tonight because why not, and while of course there's a major learning curve, you can definitely see these glimmers of potential brilliance, just without the space he expected or without teammates to do ANYTHING to help him out.

And without the puck, those gears are turning in his mind. It's his second professional game! Every 19-year-old learning to play center is going to have the kinds of boners he's had so far; it's just easier to get away with them when you don't have Kostin and Benning on the ice with you when they happen.

So seriously, FFS, a little patience would go A LONG way here. And some perspective!

There are really probably only 1-2 people seriously expecting much more from Smith. I'm personally calling out his weaknesses but with a very clear understanding that this is all expected. Many expected a hard landing, he's had a hard first few games but he's a high IQ player and he just needs reps in the NHL. honestly he could have 25 points this year and I wouldn't be concerned yet. Like I said in an earlier post - Zegras was arguably more invisible today. Completely agree we shouldn't overreact, but it's also silly not to be able to point out where he's struggling and where he's doing decently. Most of his struggles are being just a step behind the pace off puck, and getting out-muscled or closed down with puck. Hell figure it out, but it might take a season or two.