Caggiula had 8 hits tonight. I can't say I recall all of those... but that's pretty impressive that he's throwing his body around like that. Even more when he was shook up out there and only played 13 minute overall.
Klefbom with 9 shots... with several that were lethal "Shea Weber" type blasts. If he keeps that up he'll definitely do damage on the scoreboard (and to opponents
).
McDavid with 7 shots... I like that just as much as his 3 goals because hopefully it means he is going to be a little more selfish and use his shot more often instead of looking off shots and trying to set up teammates (which is noble... but using his shot and getting the puck on net is often the better option). Last season he was 30-70-100. I think he could quite easily become a 45-65-110 type player and the team would benefit from that as well.
Draisaitl... 5 shots, 2 assists, 56% on the dot, +3 while playing the most minutes of any forward. Just all around solid play and his chemistry with McDavid is lethal for the opposition.
Russell... 7 blocks... doing what he does best... playing well defensively and playing his usual underrated style that helps his team win.
Meanwhile the massively overrated Hamonic whom everyone says is such a great all around dman, looked like a pylon, was a net negative out there and helped his team lose... continuing his level of performance from when he played with the Isles.
Khaira... 3 hits and he went 5 for 5 on the dot. Not bad at all for a 4th liner and if he continues to trend upward I could even see him spending more time on the 3rd line as a bigger body presence if needed.
Talbot... perfect in net. Played very well positionally and didn't look rusty or off at all. There weren't many dangerous Flames chances but the few decent shots he faced were saved easily and with little effort. That's a credit to the team in front of him, but also to Talbot who was very solid and reliable back there. He gave Calgary absolutely no real hope of getting back in the game as he locked down every decent shot and never gave up many (if any) rebounds.
Yamamoto played just over 6 minutes and while not really noticeable, he got his 1st taste of "real" NHL hockey and in future outings I expect him to get more ice time and less sheltering so he can have more of an opportunity to show if he belongs at this level this season or not. I actually think McLellan was correct in giving him limited minutes in his 1st outing to give him the chance to acclimatize and slowly adapt to this level of action.
Overall a very solid team effort from the every player. There wasn't really a weak effort by any player and it really was a team win even though all the scoring came from the top line and all the goals from McDavid.
If every game were to follow thsi opening night script, it's very safe to say this team is becoming a very strong contender... now it just remains to be seen at what level of consistency they can play at for the rest of the season. If it remains even close to this level, it's going to be a very entertaining season ahead for us all here.
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