GDT: Panthers at Blackhawks 11/21

[Jean Luc Discard]

There is a clear lack of offensive ability on the back end and that's a surprisingly massive hole left my Montour. Did not expect the impact to be felt this much but it's clear that puck movement is not as smooth from the D group and the lack of speed doesn't give the forwards as much freedom either.

Tonight is what it looks like when your D core isn't what it was last season. It may look like the offense is struggling but it's a symptom of a bigger issue.

Like I suggested in the off-season, Zito should've traded Ekky for a bag of pucks and re-signed Montour. Kulikov is doing an admirable job in a top4 spot but that d-corpse needs a bonafide puck moving top4 dman. I'd argue that this deficiency has a ripple effect on the forwards who do not receive the puck from the dmen.

Only Forsling and, to certain extent, Mikkola are able to pass the puck to the forwards. Kulikov and Ekblad can get the puck out of the d-zone but ,especially with, Ekblad can only flip the puck out and 2secs later it gets immediately returned to their own end so they get hemmed in to the own end. Dump&chase works marvelously against the Panthers.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

I can condone fans of other teams coming here to talk shit after winning meaningless games but I draw the line at fans of other teams coming here to tell us Kompon isnt dogshit

 

[Mogo]

Really wish we locked up Bennett long term not Swaggy

 

[Felidae]

Really wish we locked up Bennett long term not Swaggy

I know Verhaeghe kinda sucks eyetest wise atm. But way too early to say whether singing Verhaeghe longterm wasn't right.

Or at the very least, It's hard to justify signing Bennett over Swaggy longterm imo.

Verhaeghe has outproduced Bennett by at least 30 points the last 2 seasons.

But even if you dont think the production Verhaeghe provides is more valuable than what Bennett brings.

consider that Bennett missed more games last season than Verhaeghe has in the last 3. Verhaeghe has missed 11 games in the last 3 years. Bennett has missed 43. And we all know the Bennett type players don't tend to age as well either.

Maybe he will be an exception, but I think Zito made the right decision with the information available to him.

 

[Panthers Propaganda]

We need a top 4D guys are playing up higher than they probably should be…

Would be nice if they would try and wake up for games against bottom feeders.

CV can watch a game from the box imo.
EkChunk too

 

[MarginNotes]

loss.
that wasn't very beautiful.

 

[Idiot Stick]

 

[ShootIt]

Maybe it's time to see if Boqvist learned how to hockey with some ice time the next few games.
At least to see if he can contribute offensively.

 

[Dread Clawz]

I'm definitely on the wagon that just doesn't care all that much. We got the Cup, I'm good.

They can definitely still turn it around, but it's extremely hard to win one Cup, let alone more than one.

The reality is our 2nd pair has Kuli on it, and our 3rd pair while they have been solid for the most part, is not one you make a run with. This team is not the one that will be taking the ice game 1 playoffs. They're hanging around top 5 in the league, which is about what they've shown on the ice, maybe even above that. So I mean the world's not ending, and we know the Cup isn't won in November.

 

[Dread Clawz]

There is a clear lack of offensive ability on the back end and that's a surprisingly massive hole left my Montour. Did not expect the impact to be felt this much but it's clear that puck movement is not as smooth from the D group and the lack of speed doesn't give the forwards as much freedom either.

Tonight is what it looks like when your D core isn't what it was last season. It may look like the offense is struggling but it's a symptom of a bigger issue.

It's also OEL. He made so many smooth and accurate passes that really helped us last year, not only keeping the puck out of our own end, but moving the attack forward as well. Plus he got a lot of great shots through. He was a great #5, I miss him as much as Montour.

 

[5 Hole]

The team has not looked good the last handful of games. It's still early and I know they'll work it out, but I don't like it. I trust Zito will solve it.

 

[KW]

It’s not just the D. A lot of it is on the F’s not playing well in our own zone, I would particularly call out Tkachuk, Verhaeghi, Lundell (lately).