“Joel Armia’s blossoming offence: Armia is another player in the middle of a breakout season. His goal ultimately was waved off, but the call didn’t erase his dominant play. The Finnish winger did about everything well on the sequence. He consistently maximized the opportunities he got with the puck by showing poised and smart movements. He attracted defenders on himself to free teammates for shots or give them time to handle the puck, moved outside of the defence to find a quiet area to shoot, supported the cycle, read the opposing breakout and stopped it, and won inside positioning in the slot. The last element ultimately led to his goal. He spun off his defender, beat him to the net and found a rebound to jam in. Armia is establishing himself as a legitimate threat inside the top six with sequences like this. He isn’t a perfect player, but his strengths far outweigh his flaws since the start of the season. One of those strengths? His crazy range and puck control.”
