seriously, that williams fight was one of the most sincere requests to nut up that you'll ever see in sports. there are some guys that just get it. if this team ends up doing anything, that will grow in legend. first meaningful game in a pandemic and your captain puts his nuts on the table like that? where's the wall? he's not here for second place.
one of the most interesting parts of this situation is how overwhelmingly buddy buddy things have been off the ice with this bubble situation and you wonder if there are going to be some teams that suffer from an inability to generate that froth for a championship because their leadership isn't quite where ours is right now. willy is playing like a dog and it's most likely because this is the last ride for him. i would imagine there are several vets that rather than face the uncertainty of the world next season are going to quietly retire after these games. one thing that is clear is that if the the rangers are going to have a chance in this series, they're going to have to work harder than they worked tonight. brady is not a happy former ranger and that works so much for his game, which bordered on listless from shock before the break. to give some props to the opposition, kappo kakko is going to be fine. it's interesting to see the growth that some players have made over the break and it was especially obvious with him. svech also did some nice things, but that's becoming more the expectation now.
holy sami vatanen, though. why is it so consistent that finnish hockey players just have defacto chemistry? it didn't manifest much on the scoresheet but he looked very comfortable at the top of this powerplay. whoever made the call to bring him in must be feeling pretty good about that right now. he got 4 shots on net officially but it felt like it could have been double that. he played that high pivot point on the powerplay exactly how we want it. quick from left to right, head up looking for the shot, and getting touches to each flank. he just made a lot of correct choices. i think our preference for this sort of point presence might be part of the hangup with paying hamilton. when he's making that turn up top with the puck it's just not as snappy and fluid as it is with a guy like vatanen that just whips it and it sort of slows the whole thing down a little to have a guy who is more deliberate with the puck there.