Observations on tonight:
EFFORT:
-Trouba at least tried to send a message. He's played like crap all year, but at least you can't deny that he cares. His postgame comments were probably the most telling aspect of this.
-Starting to lay more of this at the feet of the coaching staff. The systems just aren't there. The puck support is nonexistent. The powerplay is stagnant. Players don't move. Our offensive system has become what it did during late stage Tortorella - grind along the boards and pass the puck around the perimeter till everyone's tired and eventually turn it over. No one is open, and worse, no one is moving to get open. At even strength, the D don't activate EVER (except Fox).
-The breakouts are horrendous. If I had a dollar every time this team just blind dumped the puck out to the redline, I could retire right now. But below the circles, they are consistently weak on clearing attempts when under pressure, and it leads to more blown zone clears than any other team in the league (just based on the eye test).
-This coach is clueless if he liked the effort tonight. Other than Lafreniere's missed open net, they didn't get any good looks for their supposedly "superior" first period. They were held to the outside exclusively besides that, and maintained possession of the puck but did not force the goalie to make any tough saves.
LINEUPS / PLAYERS:
-Trocheck and Panarin have no chemistry at all. Period, full stop. I never want to see these two on the ice at the same time again. Kravtsov had a decent effort, but it was apparent neither he nor Panarin could work with Trocheck at even strength.
-Trocheck has 5 points at even strength all year. It's time to demote him behind Chytil whenever Chytil plays in the lineup again - and put him with Laf and Gauthier where his playstyle is more compatible.
-Trocheck does not belong on the first PP anymore. Put Kakko there. Put Laffy there. Put Kravtsov there. I don't care, just put one of the left handed first rounders there to one-time pucks from the circle and provide a counter to Zibanejad. Trocheck literally adds nothing to that PP unit. They played awful all game, and Zibanejad's goal was as much a result of Chcago blowing a coverage on a play they were expecting than anything else.
-WHY is Goodrow centering the kids?
-WHY is Vesey still on the first line? He did nothing again, and actively hurt us with poor on ice decisions on several potential scoring plays, but they still resulted in low percentage shots on goal, so I'm guessing most people (and the coaching staff) won't notice or care.
-Why did Ryan Carpenter get another shift in the game afte his HORRENDOUS hooking penalty leading to the 5-on-3? That was a lazy play that wasn't necessary to make on a PK, and it led to 2 goals. Should have been benched for the remainder after that.
-Down 2 late, and not a kid anywhere near the ice. Plenty of Goodrow and Trocheck again though!
-Halak did not have a good game, but honestly I don't care. Fact is, the team played games exactly like tonight for the better part of 15 years and often won because Lundqvist won games he had no business winning, so maybe if this franchise is ever going to win a Cup again before returning to its (apparently) rightful place as the laughingstock of the league, they need to look every bit as bad on the scoresheet as they are playing in order to do it.
My favorite part is the observations of my wife, who had never watched an NHL game before we started dating 11 years ago. She doesn't watch them all, but even she can see what's wrong with this team. Watching her yell, "Why are they all standing around? MOVE!" as they pass the puck around the perimeter incessantly on the powerplay both warms and breaks my heart.
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