GDT: Game 68: Coyotes @ Avalanche | March 7th, 7PM MT/4AM Finnish | Shock the World

[bur and 666 others]

That was great passing between Kuzy and Bura

 

[cgf]

Got any fantasy comparable player in mind?

A bigger and more skilled Rob Blake.

 

[dahrougem2]

As I said I only watched the 3rd but in the 3rd I thought Redmond looked ok and Gelinas looked very physical

 

[tigervixxxen]

Only watched the 3rd period. Someone care to explain why Mitchell played more than MacKinnon and only 7 seconds less than Soderberg? I'm very happy with the win but playing Mitchell playing more than MacKinnon isn't the recipe for winning.

Someone has to play the 3rd line. This happens every time the argument comes up that they can roll 3 scoring lines evenly. No they can't, one will always take a backseat. They only had one PP and MacKinnon wasn't out for it, there were several PKs.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Really? I believe Buffalo absolutely screwed him up and his development and I look at this as his rookie season. He was scratched, demoted and had to earn his ice time and he's worked very hard. His puck skills are great, his IQ and understanding of the game are top notch and he's actually decent defensively. If he can work on his skating and engage more, he can absolutely be a top 6 player and a dangerous at that.

I'm not denying his talent and like I said I'm absolutely in his corner so I believe in him. But that engagement is part of it, he can get better at it but part of it is who he is. He looks good on those lines with good players and he helps them but he won't be driving the line. I don't think people would be happy if he was our only solution at top 6 wing next year. I'd like him as a luxury on a third scoring line and someone who can easily play on a top line.

 

[kchan9]

So happy to see the guys play with urgency. Pretty good overall game tonight. Finally they didn't play the third like they know they're going to lose. We need to keep the urgency up!!

 

[The Kingslayer]

That is a bad hockey team in Arizona. If OEL is out for a while, they might plummet in the standings.

I like the Yotes I rather Matthews go there rather than Calgary, Edmonton or Toronto.

 

[dahrougem2]

Someone has to play the 3rd line. This happens every time the argument comes up that they can roll 3 scoring lines evenly. No they can't, one will always take a backseat. They only had one PP and MacKinnon wasn't out for it, there were several PKs.

They played the same amount even strength and Arizona only had 3 PP's, hardly several. Mitchell is on the 4th line, keep him there. He shouldn't be playing more than he's capable of.

 

[tigervixxxen]

They played the same amount even strength and Arizona only had 3 PP's, hardly several. Mitchell is on the 4th line, keep him there. He shouldn't be playing more than he's capable of.

3 is several

 

[tigervixxxen]

So happy to see the guys play with urgency. Pretty good overall game tonight. Finally they didn't play the third like they know they're going to lose. We need to keep the urgency up!!

2 goal lead vs 1 goal lead is a big difference

 

[Foppa2118]

Only watched the 3rd period. Someone care to explain why Mitchell played more than MacKinnon and only 7 seconds less than Soderberg? I'm very happy with the win but playing Mitchell playing more than MacKinnon isn't the recipe for winning.

Because the score was 3-0 and 3-1, and Nate is still an occasional defensive liability. His turnover that let the Preds tie the game in the 3rd last game, probably had something to do with it too.

 

[JWK]

That was great passing between Kuzy and Bura

How did a post about Capitals/Ducks game get in here

 

[dahrougem2]

3 is several

So an average of 1 PK per period is several?

 

[Shaggy88]

I'm not denying his talent and like I said I'm absolutely in his corner so I believe in him. But that engagement is part of it, he can get better at it but part of it is who he is. He looks good on those lines with good players and he helps them but he won't be driving the line. I don't think people would be happy if he was our only solution at top 6 wing next year. I'd like him as a luxury on a third scoring line and someone who can easily play on a top line.

Fair. He's undoubtedly not the solution to the top 6 talent problem, but he is part of the solution, no? If he ends up as a luxury third line scorer then this team is in a great position.

 

[Chileiceman]

One of the best efforts of the season. Didn't dominate or anything, but just happy that they didn't sit back. Play for 60 minutes and this is what cab happen.

 

[McMetal]

It was a good performance against a team they should have performed well against, but a win's a win and it's a good sign that they didn't have to hold on for dear life at the end to put that win away. Maybe Roy, in his usual 10 losses too late fashion, is abandoning his turtling strategy for the last ten minutes of the game with the lead.

 

[Alex Jones]

Man Phoenix played awful. They didn't slow down the Avs rush through the neutral zone at all.

 

[chet1926]

I guess a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while. Seriously though this team just can't play a 3rd period without giving up at least one goal and multiple good scoring chances.

This defense is in big trouble if Bigras is out for an extended period. Redmond and Gelinas were god awful tonight. Roy has to stop with this 4th line and 3rd pairing out at the same time against the other teams top 6 garbage, every time that happened it was a shooting gallery for the Coyotes.

Duchene was solid, as was his line, sans a few poor shifts in the 3rd.

Landeskog played the type of game I want him to play even though he didn't end up on the scoresheet. He went to the net and played a physical game.

MacK was flying out there. One of his best games in a long time even though he didn't score any points. He looked dangerous and created multiple opportunities.

Loved Matthias's goal, exactly the type of goal we are going to need down the stretch. Just a hard working grinder, ugly goal.

So do you all still think we need to dump Varly?? Yeah that's what I thought. He is still a quality number 1 goalie. He had a bit of a rough patch, but hopefully this game will springboard him to solid finish.

 

[NothingLikeAnEJ]

Just watched the Anaheim game. We're going to have to play damn near perfect on Wednesday...

 

[tigervixxxen]

So an average of 1 PK per period is several?

Are we really having this discussion?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/several

 

[dahrougem2]

Are we really having this discussion?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/several

Given the way you used the term in your sentence and in relation to Mitchell playing more than MacKinnon and as much as Soderberg, yes, we are.

 

[tigervixxxen]

Given the way you used the term in your sentence and in relation to Mitchell playing more than MacKinnon and as much as Soderberg, yes, we are.

It's splitting hairs. We know they use Mitchell more in defensive situations. Part of it is the 2 minutes on the PK and part of it is a couple extra defensive shifts. I'm not saying I love the idea of him playing more than MacKinnon. I'm just saying when MacKinnon, Duchene and Landy are on 3 different lines one of them is just going to get less minutes. For a bit lately it's been Duchene's line. Roy must have thought they were going tonight so they got the most 5 on 5 time. We know the Soderberg line never really is the 3rd line even if it is on paper. So one of the lines has to suffer. Tonight they were leading so Roy got to roll as close to 4 lines as possible too. Sure it's a little surprising MacKinnon didn't have a lot of time but it's for the reasons I just said plus not getting a pp shift.

 

[dahrougem2]

It's splitting hairs. We know they use Mitchell more in defensive situations. Part of it is the 2 minutes on the PK and part of it is a couple extra defensive shifts. I'm not saying I love the idea of him playing more than MacKinnon. I'm just saying when MacKinnon, Duchene and Landy are on 3 different lines one of them is just going to get less minutes. For a bit lately it's been Duchene's line. Roy must have thought they were going tonight so they got the most 5 on 5 time. We know the Soderberg line never really is the 3rd line even if it is on paper. So one of the lines has to suffer. Tonight they were leading so Roy got to roll as close to 4 lines as possible too. Sure it's a little surprising MacKinnon didn't have a lot of time but it's for the reasons I just said plus not getting a pp shift.

I don't really agree with this though. They're all on lines that Mitchell isn't on, none of them should suffer a decrease in ice-time in favour of Mitchell. Mitchell also is 4th in % amongst players who take a regular face-off, behind Comeau (3), MacKinnon (2), and Duchene (1).

It's just baffling that he plays as much as he did tonight. It should never happen.

 

[IceRat]

Holden was awful
Duchene was fantastic .... wait, what we didn't trade him
Comeau made the absolute most of his promotion ... still love his game despite the hate he gets here
Matthias and Boedker proved again they were solid pickups
Gregs seems to have swapped bodies with Soda
Still have concern about EJ
Great bounceback game by Varly

 

[The Kingslayer]

Just watched the Anaheim game. We're going to have to play damn near perfect on Wednesday...

Even then we still might lose. That team is on an insane roll.