GDT: Game 33. UHC 7pm

[Patty Ice]

Going back and just watching over and over that Stenlund's hit from behind boarding that SHOULD have been called. The official had a perfect view of it, how he managed to quickly swallow his whistle is incredible.

 

[weastern bias]

What were you watching? He pulled Stenlund back in twice to go at him. Stenlund just ran off like a little bitch.

With the way the refs were calling the game, they would have easily given Ceci an instigator if he kept going.

Who cares?

Take the instigator, f***, slam the guy's head into the ice for all I care, if a nothing player is taking liberties with your meal ticket you make him eat through a straw, repercussions be damned

 

[LadyStanley]

Check out this Podcast: Learning Moment + Look Ahead Learning Moment + Look Ahead

Morning Tide. Start of captaincy for Mack?

 

[Patty Ice]

Who cares?

Take the instigator, f***, slam the guy's head into the ice for all I care, if a nothing player is taking liberties with your meal ticket you make him eat through a straw, repercussions be damned

I'm with you there. However, it conceivable that Warf was preaching not to take unnecessary penalties at that point.

 

[coooldude]

One thing to note is that many were very upset with the lines at the beginning of the game, but pretty quickly the top 6 turned into the Lund line, Kovalenko-macklin-toff and seemed to stabilize. Smith is the odd man out in this one, but hard to argue the top 6 didn't make sense. If Toffoli is sick, maybe he and Smith should switch.

I just think Warso's lines aren't bad, he's mostly sending short term messages to his young studs to keep bringing it, and when they do, he quickly rewards them. Generally have faith in the staff to give the team the best chance of success.

Kovalenko is, so far, everything that Cardwell could hope to one day be. Loving his game.

 

[CHALUPA]

Kovalenko is, so far, everything that Cardwell could hope to one day be. Loving his game.

Getting Kovalenko gave the same vibes as when we got Zetterlund.

They play different games, but they feel perfect for this phase of the franchise. With some luck, they continue to fit into our medium term plans and let us build a strong middle 6 foundation to build off of

 

[Alaskanice]

Getting Kovalenko gave the same vibes as when we got Zetterlund.

They play different games, but they feel perfect for this phase of the franchise. With some luck, they continue to fit into our medium term plans and let us build a strong middle 6 foundation to build off of

Good stuff.

 

[Jargon]

One thing to note is that many were very upset with the lines at the beginning of the game, but pretty quickly the top 6 turned into the Lund line, Kovalenko-macklin-toff and seemed to stabilize. Smith is the odd man out in this one, but hard to argue the top 6 didn't make sense. If Toffoli is sick, maybe he and Smith should switch.

I just think Warso's lines aren't bad, he's mostly sending short term messages to his young studs to keep bringing it, and when they do, he quickly rewards them. Generally have faith in the staff to give the team the best chance of success.

Kovalenko is, so far, everything that Cardwell could hope to one day be. Loving his game.

Agreed on all points. Hard to say that his mini lessons don’t work when Zetterlund looked far better this game. He knows these guys well, he knows what motivates them after a couple of years, I see nothing egregious.

Smith is tricky particularly because with Kostin out, Wennberg is really the only higher end skill guy for him to play with, though they don’t really mesh particularly well.

I think I’d, yeah, go back to what we had:

Eklund - Celebrini - Kovalenko
Kostin/Zetterlund (when he’s back) - Granlund - Smith
Zetterlund/Kostin - Wennberg - Toffoli

Etc

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

When did the Granlund hit to the head happen? About to watch the replay of the game.

About 30 seconds before that ‘vicious’ high stick on Keller that nearly killed him and led to the gwg.

 

[SJSharksfan39]

Is Mack ok this morning? The most concerning thing about the game last night (other than the Refs) was how much Mack was getting abused. Hopefully there are no concussion symptoms. When he went into the boards he did get the gloves up to protect himself some.

 

[one2gamble]

There is still a lack of team toughness to some extent. Grier will get what he wants eventually.

 

[sampler]

Kovalenko has been a great sunprise to me. He does remind me of a slightly smaller zetterlund. The motor is running, the forecheck ferocious, and 4 apples in two games includes the beauty last night and the 2-1 w Walman… it’s impressive he appears poised to be that top 6/9 guy that Grier liked in the deal. Obviously not just a throw in…

I am reforming my opinion of Blackwood trade. ‘26 2nd is fine but whatever. Kovy could be the big steal.

Celebrini, smith, kovalenko, zetterlund, eklund, Toffoli, wennberg… the top 9 is rounding into form and if they can keep granlund, they’ll only need one or two more top 9 guys to add this summer. The forward lineup is getting close to nhl respectable, and Askarov should solidify the net.

The D still needs some help, but these repeated very close games are showing that they are only maybe 2-3 players and a continued cultural improvement from a playoff team.

 

[Timo Time]

My takeaways from being at the game last night:

- Glad my eyes didn't deceive me and half those penalties and missed calls were actually bullshit
- Celebrini has that dog in him
- Smith was fine, a little rusty but you can see that being paired with Goodrow absolutely does nothing to help him
- Was impressed by Muk's composure and holy shit the kid is huge

And finally, the Tank (the arena not the draft position). The energy in the arena is palpable and starting to feel like it did 8 years ago and we're still shit, just a little less shit. A learning game for sure, that ice tilt was large in part to a parade to the penalty box for the entirety of that 3rd period.