Post-Game Talk: Preds vs Stars 10/10 7pm: The "We're excited for the new season!" edition or...the "How many games will Saros miss?" edition.

[Predsanddead24]

One very minor thing but I didn’t love Jankowski on the 4th line. He’s just not really much of an energy guy which is that lines identity.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

A positive, but I liked Tomasinos game tonight.

 

[TheOriginalJez]

A positive, but I liked Tomasinos game tonight.

interesting - I was very meh on him in the first period - big fluff on a decent opportunity, then kinda ok for the rest. certainly didn't stand out for me. I did like him with Novak and Evangelista in general though in the third I suppose.

 

[wmupreds]

Tomasino was good tonight yeah

 

[TheOriginalJez]

One very minor thing but I didn’t love Jankowski on the 4th line. He’s just not really much of an energy guy which is that lines identity.

I feel like I wouldn't want to waste Parssinen on the 4th line so I'm ok with it? Kind of like I'm sort of ok with Cole Smith now for the same reason. Neither of them (or Big Sexy) are liabilities, they do some solid penalty killing too, so I think I'm ok with it. I'm definitely not married to the guy, if you think about the iterations of that line over the last few years there's Tanner Jeannot, Mathieu Olivier, Yakov Trenin... I do feel like there's been better players in that line but I don't know who, in Nashville at least, I'd take him out for? Unless you put Sissons back in there in order to move Novak to the third line and maybe Parssinen into the 2C?

 

[herzausstein]

Why not give parsnips a shot on the 2nd with some talent. Novak on 3rd and sissons anchoring a stronger 4th line

 

[nine_inch_fang]

Lauzon's not very good

They've got him all screwed up looking for hits. He's skating the wrong way and angling like a forward rather then skating backwards and being able to control the puck carrier. That shit will work against lower quality forwards and he'll get his hits but against the teams with deep rosters he's going to struggle if he's facing the wrong direction all the time.

Oddly enough the way they were buzzing around and all the movement on the power play may be a bit of a deterrent for Stamkos to set up in his office and slap those one timers. It will be interesting to see how that settles out over the next few games.

The little bit that I saw of the powerplay I quite enjoyed the close support that help to create constant possession. I think that's something will find a balance and players will be able to settle into their positions after a few games.

 

[Scoresberg]

I thought most of the forwards looked good last night. Stamkos was obviously going through it and didn't stand out until he hit that post with few seconds left. Marchy was better.

The 4th line was buzzing all night, although I do agree that Jankowkski couldn't get to the same level as Smith and McCarron. Could try Pärssinen there.

Evangelista and Tomasino were dangerous as was Novak especially after he got moved with those two.

Nyquist made some crafty plays and Forsberg & O'Reilly were their usual selves.

As for the defense, not so much. Didn't like Lauzon, though Fabbro was shaky at times and Schenn is obviously so far behind in footspeed that its not getting any easier for him. A guy like Statsney could really stand out at times like these.

 

[Legionnaire11]

Kaapo Kahkonen is on waivers... Contract is only $1M too

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Kaapo Kahkonen is on waivers... Contract is only $1M too

At this point, I think we take a chance on anybody. Not to disrespect Korn and what he may be able to do with Wedgewood, but time is short. Signing Lankinen would have been ideal before the Canucks got to him. Taking Bussi on waivers is something I'd have tried. I suspect Trotz is going to stand by his signing, however.

Maybe if we can all jump on Wedgewood hard enough he'll get a shutout on Saturday? Sounds like that's all we have left to hope for!

 

[triggrman]

I Know I seem like the Fabbro fan boy but to me he was really good last night. Carrier Lauzon were caught out on half their shifts. Fabbro made some of the best defensive plays of anyone last night.

 

[triggrman]

Looking at the time on ice though Fabbro wasn’t trusted. Carrier was on the ice for 3 of the goals and was consistently out of position.

 

[Predsanddead24]

I feel like I wouldn't want to waste Parssinen on the 4th line so I'm ok with it? Kind of like I'm sort of ok with Cole Smith now for the same reason. Neither of them (or Big Sexy) are liabilities, they do some solid penalty killing too, so I think I'm ok with it. I'm definitely not married to the guy, if you think about the iterations of that line over the last few years there's Tanner Jeannot, Mathieu Olivier, Yakov Trenin... I do feel like there's been better players in that line but I don't know who, in Nashville at least, I'd take him out for? Unless you put Sissons back in there in order to move Novak to the third line and maybe Parssinen into the 2C?

Yeah I don’t know who the solution is. We just don’t have another heavy forward on the roster at the moment but the line does work best when it’s on all out forechecking assault and it becomes more than the sum of its parts. Jankowski and Parsinnen are good enough players for the minutes but neither are what I’d call high intensity. L’Hereux would fit that mold better so possibly him later in the season.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Yeah I don’t know who the solution is. We just don’t have another heavy forward on the roster at the moment but the line does work best when it’s on all out forechecking assault and it becomes more than the sum of its parts. Jankowski and Parsinnen are good enough players for the minutes but neither are what I’d call high intensity. L’Hereux would fit that mold better so possibly him later in the season.

Maybe an injury becomes the eventual solution that forces a new perspective from the braintrust. They seem to have their minds set atm in the current paradigm.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

I Know I seem like the Fabbro fan boy but to me he was really good last night. Carrier Lauzon were caught out on half their shifts. Fabbro made some of the best defensive plays of anyone last night.

Fabbro is a very interesting case to me. I feel like he is a guy who really seems to like/be embedded in the culture of living in Nashville and enjoying being there, and has always had a leadership persona in his younger years... while at the same time on the ice just looks so much better to me than the team gives him credit for. Not perfect, he has his warts too. But it's just fascinating to me that his warts seem to be weighed so much above those of guys like Carrier/Lauzon.

It's just an unusual case to me... sometimes I DISAGREE with how certain players are used or deployed, but usually in those instances I at least understand the rationale. Fabbro's case is a little different, because I don't even understand the rationale. He looks like a fundamentally better player to me than the team seems to think of him.

 

[Predation]

Well, at least wedgie achieved a .800 sv%. I think his preseason % was .750, so maybe he’s improving.

I thought it was great that we outshot them, but in the third period I was kinda hoping the Stars would put more rubber on net to let wedgie practice not letting goals in.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

interesting - I was very meh on him in the first period - big fluff on a decent opportunity, then kinda ok for the rest. certainly didn't stand out for me. I did like him with Novak and Evangelista in general though in the third I suppose.

I thought he was playing fast and using his skill. He created some chances that weren't finished by him or his linemates, but also thought he played well outside of that. He won some battles on the boards in the 1st and had a great stick check on the back check to break up a breakaway. I thought he was decidedly more noticeable last night than other games. I still saw him with some of the hesitation after he gains the zone as he tends to fade towards the wall and gets snuffed out and doesn't really seem to have a plan after gaining entry.

Looking at the time on ice though Fabbro wasn’t trusted. Carrier was on the ice for 3 of the goals and was consistently out of position.

He got caught up ice far too often last night. Him and Lauzon both seemed to be engaging more in the O-zone than I felt comfortable with.

 

[Armourboy]

Didn't like bringing Carrier back and Lauzon would be fine if he would just back off and play defensive hockey. So many of our Dmen want to be Josi and they just can't, even Skjei got caught down low in the offensive zone trying to do that.

As far as Tomasino, if he finishes a chance or two he would have had a heck of a game. Still needs to fix some things but it's improvement.

 

[nine_inch_fang]

That aggressive all out mindset from the D has to be coming from the coaches.

Maybe they expect forwards to be better at covering for the D? They never will be so we might just need to get used to seeing the D down low without a forward covering.

 

[Armourboy]

That aggressive all out mindset from the D has to be coming from the coaches.

Maybe they expect forwards to be better at covering for the D? They never will be so we might just need to get used to seeing the D down low without a forward covering.

Well in some cases I think they either need to be better holding the puck or not be down there to start with. Saw several times where D men would drive down there and immediately lose the puck. I'm not sure a forward would have even had time to recognize it and cover even if they wanted too.

And I agree with the mindset is coming from the coaches because all of them, even Schenn are trying it. Most of these guys don't have that skill set so if Brunette doesn't rethink we are going to see even more of what we saw last night.

 

[glenngineer]

The fourth line is not an energy line. They don't skate fast enough or hit hard enough (when they do hit someone) to be an energy line. They're a bunch of tweener AHL/NHL types that management has always loved. None of them are very good when dropping the mitts. I don't get excited when they get on the ice, if anything, I'm like, not these guys again.

After we scored goal number 2, they get put on the ice and for me, it sucked the life out of the game because I'm like, the crowd is back into it and you roll this trio out? Anticlimactic.

If it was a true energy line, that play works because these guys would be buzzing around the ice, hitting everything that moves, getting the crowd and more importantly the team "energized", because that's their job. Instead, it's another wasted attempt of a line that barely wins their shift, which puts the team at a disadvantage.

Sorry, I'm just not a fan of playing guys like this over kids who have more talent and can learn to grow their game from watching great professionals as opposed to overcooking them in Milwaukee. Ozzie and ZLH fit the role of energy guys much better and while they're inexperienced, they're more talented and might have a future.

And you never want to trash a player after one game but if Wedgewood isn't on waivers soon, I'll be very surprised. The guy is not very good at this level.

That aggressive all out mindset from the D has to be coming from the coaches.

Maybe they expect forwards to be better at covering for the D? They never will be so we might just need to get used to seeing the D down low without a forward covering.

Well in some cases I think they either need to be better holding the puck or not be down there to start with. Saw several times where D men would drive down there and immediately lose the puck. I'm not sure a forward would have even had time to recognize it and cover even if they wanted too.

And I agree with the mindset is coming from the coaches because all of them, even Schenn are trying it. Most of these guys don't have that skill set so if Brunette doesn't rethink we are going to see even more of what we saw last night.

It's probably why they love Molendyk so much, because he can carry the puck and hold on to it and he can execute the style of play AB is wanting to incorporate.

 

[Armourboy]

The fourth line is not an energy line. They don't skate fast enough or hit hard enough (when they do hit someone) to be an energy line. They're a bunch of tweener AHL/NHL types that management has always loved. None of them are very good when dropping the mitts. I don't get excited when they get on the ice, if anything, I'm like, not these guys again.

After we scored goal number 2, they get put on the ice and for me, it sucked the life out of the game because I'm like, the crowd is back into it and you roll this trio out? Anticlimactic.

If it was a true energy line, that play works because these guys would be buzzing around the ice, hitting everything that moves, getting the crowd and more importantly the team "energized", because that's their job. Instead, it's another wasted attempt of a line that barely wins their shift, which puts the team at a disadvantage.

Sorry, I'm just not a fan of playing guys like this over kids who have more talent and can learn to grow their game from watching great professionals as opposed to overcooking them in Milwaukee. Ozzie and ZLH fit the role of energy guys much better and while they're inexperienced, they're more talented and might have a future.

And you never want to trash a player after one game but if Wedgewood isn't on waivers soon, I'll be very surprised. The guy is not very good at this level.




It's probably why they love Molendyk so much, because he can carry the puck and hold on to it and he can execute the style of play AB is wanting to incorporate.

Agree on Molendyk, I just think Trotz can't stand the idea of having a player on the roster that young.

Frankly I think Brunette needs to shift mindset on the 4th and get rid of the old energy line idea, if just for a game or two.

I'd try Parssinen on that 2nd line, moves Sissons to the 4th and then call up/waive whatever I need to make the 4th more of a hardworking gritty scoring line. Not so much beat and bang, but just work the heck out of anyone they are on the ice with. See if I can't find some offense and then special teams useage out of it.

 

[Predsanddead24]

I've complained about both McCarron and Smith a lot over the years but those two with Sherwood was a legitimately very good energy line during the back half of last season. But I think you have to have all three of them working as a forechecking unit for it to work and it just didn't really work well last night. In the end though they weren't the problem last night. It was our skill guys missing empty nets, defensive lapses, and poor goaltending that lost us the game. Just needed one of those guys to make the play and we win it. I still feel as good as you can after a loss though.

 

[Flgatorguy87]

I've complained about both McCarron and Smith a lot over the years but those two with Sherwood was a legitimately very good energy line during the back half of last season. But I think you have to have all three of them working as a forechecking unit for it to work and it just didn't really work well last night. In the end though they weren't the problem last night. It was our skill guys missing empty nets, defensive lapses, and poor goaltending that lost us the game. Just needed one of those guys to make the play and we win it. I still feel as good as you can after a loss though.

You don't see misses like Forsberg open net and Novak empty net in a lot of wins. Also, at least 4 posts. That's game we win most nights and good chance we win the same game last night with Saros.