GDT: starry night cane

[Sens1Canes2]

I could see the lactic acid coming out of Staal/Burns/Slavin in OT.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

So I saw Raanta caught a lot of flak tonight, and I get it. In the moment, I was annoyed at him too.

But of the four goals, 3 were deflections in the slot. And while the fourth one was bad, Kochetkov gave up a worse one than that against Seattle and didn't receive nearly as much criticism.

So while we should obviously go with Koochie tomorrow, I'm not sure how much of tonight was reflective of Raanta's play.

 

[LostInaLostWorld]

I could see the lactic acid coming out of Staal/Burns/Slavin in OT.

When they came on the ice for OT just about everyone around me started groaning including myself.

 

[Sens1Canes2]

I shall give my observations from section 117 XX (what great seats … nothing but a wall behind you!).

Raanta was fine. The last goal was sketchy (but also point blank) but the first three were tips that he had no chance on. Not sure where the awful comments come from.

Svech was as dominant as I’ve seen him. He was everywhere, hitting guys, and generally asserting himself on every shift.

The D *should* be set for the year. I don’t know why they’d go out and get a guy for the playoffs, unless it’s simply for depth as a 7D. This is a good mix.

The communication between F and D, in both zones, is spectacular. Everyone knows who drops back when a D pinches (and they pinch so well, such an underrated skill/instinct). Yeah there’s gaps in coverage occasionally, but hell, the other team is trying too.

Finally - I know, I’ve said this before, but there’s just something about PNC Arena that isn’t like any rink I’ve ever been to when it comes to officials. There were a couple of ticky-tack penalties on each team - but in no way was the game lopsided. I didn’t think CDH deserved the interference penalty off the faceoff … but other than that, each penalty was a penalty. It’s such a weird vibe in there. And Rod doesn’t help (himself) with the officials.

 

[hblueridgegal]

I could see the lactic acid coming out of Staal/Burns/Slavin in OT.

Slavin still comes across like he's lost a little of his sparkle in his interviews. He seems different.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

I shall give my observations from section 117 XX (what great seats … nothing but a wall behind you!).

Raanta was fine. The last goal was sketchy (but also point blank) but the first three were tips that he had no chance on. Not sure where the awful comments come from.

Svech was as dominant as I’ve seen him. He was everywhere, hitting guys, and generally asserting himself on every shift.

The D *should* be set for the year. I don’t know why they’d go out and get a guy for the playoffs, unless it’s simply for depth as a 7D. This is a good mix.

The communication between F and D, in both zones, is spectacular. Everyone knows who drops back when a D pinches (and they pinch so well, such an underrated skill/instinct). Yeah there’s gaps in coverage occasionally, but hell, the other team is trying too.

Finally - I know, I’ve said this before, but there’s just something about PNC Arena that isn’t like any rink I’ve ever been to when it comes to officials. There were a couple of ticky-tack penalties on each team - but in no way was the game lopsided. I didn’t think CDH deserved the interference penalty off the faceoff … but other than that, each penalty was a penalty. It’s such a weird vibe in there. And Rod doesn’t help (himself) with the officials.

My complaint about the officiating tonight is how do they go from calling every ticky-tack thing in the first two periods to calling nothing in the third?

Consistency. That's all anyone asks for. If you're going to call the game tight, so be it. But a penalty in the first should be a penalty in the third.

 

[chaz4hockey]

Slavin still comes across like he's lost a little of his sparkle in his interviews. He seems different.

Misses his hug buddy Tro.

 

[MisterDobz]

Overtimes are such garbage. Bring back ties.

Cranky old guy here….. my very first hockey team love was the 1970 Philadelphia Flyers, long before they became bullies, they were a bunch of lightly talented, mostly undersized castoffs. That year they had 33 ties. 33. I think they only had 13 wins, but come that last Saturday of the season, all they needed was another tie against the Minn. North Stars To squeak into the playoffs. our goalie was a guy named Bernie Parent. A tie seemed likely. I patiently waited for the game to come on the radio, they only broadcast the third period back in those days, when it came on, the score was 0-0. Midway through the third period, a Minn. defenseman named Barry Gibbs crossed the red line and lofted the puck high in the air into the Flyers zone. The puck bounced in front of Bernie and he waved at it as it went past him into the net. I saw enough ties in 1970, If I never see another hockey tie, I will be a happy man.

 

[hblueridgegal]

He was in rare form this evening.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

The D *should* be set for the year. I don’t know why they’d go out and get a guy for the playoffs, unless it’s simply for depth as a 7D. This is a good mix.

I think that you're mostly right. Brindy has started to trust his 3rd pair more in recent games and have actually started to distribute the ice times more evenly among the defense. One underrated thing about Ian Cole is that, relative to most bottom-pair options, he eats a ton of ice time. As of now, neither CDH nor Chatfield have quite done the same, though there may be some injury management there in the case of the former. If Brindy starts sheltering their ice time again for whatever reason, it might be smart for the Canes to pick up a third-pair upgrade this deadline. Jaycob Megna would be my personal pick in that vein, though there are obviously other options out there.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Fun game. Good times.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

The D *should* be set for the year. I don’t know why they’d go out and get a guy for the playoffs, unless it’s simply for depth as a 7D. This is a good mix.

I would definitely get a guy capable of sliding into the top 4 for the playoffs. Injury insurance and improved play is a good thing.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

I would definitely get a guy capable of sliding into the top 4 for the playoffs. Injury insurance and improved play is a good thing.

As a casual observer of teams that are likely to sell, Jaycob Megna would be a somewhat expensive (he'd likely cost considerable draft capital, potentially our late 1st, because he's making near league-min for 1.5 more seasons) but also excellent option in that vein, IMO. He's ideally a third pair player but has also not looked that out of place playing top-4 minutes on an awful team. He's also a BEEEEG dude (6'6" and 221 lbs) and frequently plays like it, as well.

 

[Wolfpuck]

Fun game. Good times.

Agreed. Except of course for the parts that weren’t fun and good.

 

[MrazeksVengeance]

GOOD.

 

[CanesUltimate11]

Finally - I know, I’ve said this before, but there’s just something about PNC Arena that isn’t like any rink I’ve ever been to when it comes to officials. There were a couple of ticky-tack penalties on each team - but in no way was the game lopsided. I didn’t think CDH deserved the interference penalty off the faceoff … but other than that, each penalty was a penalty. It’s such a weird vibe in there. And Rod doesn’t help (himself) with the officials.

I had to watch a lot of the penaltyfest with the sound off but I’m really hoping that after the TT penalty to make it a 5on3, Rod was upset about something that wasn’t called on Dallas because that was about the most obvious trip I’ve ever seen.

And on the Martinook high stick, I feel like once he turned his body and the stick went from pointing up the boards to pointing at the net it stopped being a follow through and was probably the right call.

 

[bleedgreen]

I wasn’t around for the thread, but I quickly saw some comical blaming of Raanta. Man you guys have Koochie fever. The first three Stars goals were clear deflections no goalie in the league gets. You never blame the goalie on deflections. Period.

He gave up one goal, and that one is exactly the kind of goal that’s Koochies weak spot too.

Slavin still comes across like he's lost a little of his sparkle in his interviews. He seems different.

Agreed. He’s been overused for years and he keeps getting new partners he has to get use to and compensate for. He looks this year like he doesn’t have the capacity for that job. hopefully he’s saving something for the playoffs. Seems like Pesce/Skjei get all the tough work, which is interesting when you’ve got Slavin on your team.

I thought Burns had a rough game and watching the two of them out there with Staal in OT was painful.

 

[Svechhammer]

I'm not seeing anything out of their play that says you keep Raanta over Koochie when we are healthy. And given that Koochie makes the least out of our 3 goalies, and is still growing as a player with indications that he's improving game by game, it would be foolish to send him back to the AHL at this point.

Also, the penalties were an absolute joke last night. For 2 periods they called players on both teams for simply breathing, and then they come out in the 3rd and allow the holding of the stick on Stepan that might have been the most egregious infraction of the entire night. Just be f***ing consistent.

Also, parking at PNC is quickly becoming an absolute nightmare. The parking lots of Edwards Mill have closed 30 mins prior to puck drop the last 2 games and the parking attendants just don't know what to do, causing traffic to back up past Wade. I sat in the lots for 20 mins last night before getting my pass scanned, and despite getting to the arena 45 mins early, got to my seats during the national anthem. There has to be a better way to get people into the venue.

 

[MadeUpName]

As a casual observer of teams that are likely to sell, Jaycob Megna would be a somewhat expensive (he'd likely cost considerable draft capital, potentially our late 1st, because he's making near league-min for 1.5 more seasons) but also excellent option in that vein, IMO. He's ideally a third pair player but has also not looked that out of place playing top-4 minutes on an awful team. He's also a BEEEEG dude (6'6" and 221 lbs) and frequently plays like it, as well.

A 1st round pick for a 30 year old 3rd pair D who was in the AHL last year? This is one of the worst I've seen from you and that is saying something.

 

[AD Skinner]

Man you guys have Koochie fever.

Since I was like 12

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Agreed. He’s been overused for years and he keeps getting new partners he has to get use to and compensate for. He looks this year like he doesn’t have the capacity for that job. hopefully he’s saving something for the playoffs. Seems like Pesce/Skjei get all the tough work, which is interesting when you’ve got Slavin on your team.

I thought Burns had a rough game and watching the two of them out there with Staal in OT was painful.

Has he? Here is his TOI / GP and ES TOI/GP for each season.

15-16: 20:59; 18:01
16-17: 23:26; 19:24
17-18: 22:35; 19:22
18-19: 23:02; 18:50
19-20: 23:24; 19:20
20-21: 22:59; 20:08
21-22: 23:32; 18:56

Avg: 22:54 (28th in the NHL for D > 300 games)
ES: 19:08 ( 17th in the NHL for D > 300 games)
PP: 1:00 (77th in the NHL for D > 300 games)
SH: 2:46 ( 11th in the NHL for D > 300 games)

I don't know, a top pairing defenseman who is ranked in the 20s for TOI/GP doesn't seem like over-use to me. Doughty, for instance plays almost 4 min / game more than Slavin. Karlsson, Burns, Letang, Suter, Pietrangelo all play 2-3 minutes more than him. Pesce and Skjei have taken on a lot of the tough matchups the last couple of seasons as well.

I agree with you on the getting used to new partners part though.

 

[chaz4hockey]

I'm not seeing anything out of their play that says you keep Raanta over Koochie when we are healthy. And given that Koochie makes the least out of our 3 goalies, and is still growing as a player with indications that he's improving game by game, it would be foolish to send him back to the AHL at this point.

Also, the penalties were an absolute joke last night. For 2 periods they called players on both teams for simply breathing, and then they come out in the 3rd and allow the holding of the stick on Stepan that might have been the most egregious infraction of the entire night. Just be f***ing consistent.

Also, parking at PNC is quickly becoming an absolute nightmare. The parking lots of Edwards Mill have closed 30 mins prior to puck drop the last 2 games and the parking attendants just don't know what to do, causing traffic to back up past Wade. I sat in the lots for 20 mins last night before getting my pass scanned, and despite getting to the arena 45 mins early, got to my seats during the national anthem. There has to be a better way to get people into the venue.

Re: traffic—agree need to improve but in a way I’m happy since beside DOT project, sellouts are causing traffic issues. We have just left earlier to get a spot.

Also, I wonder how many hockey adjacent spots have been take by State’s practice facility?

 

[chaz4hockey]

Has he? Here is his TOI / GP and ES TOI/GP for each season.

15-16: 20:59; 18:01
16-17: 23:26; 19:24
17-18: 22:35; 19:22
18-19: 23:02; 18:50
19-20: 23:24; 19:20
20-21: 22:59; 20:08
21-22: 23:32; 18:56

Avg: 22:54 (28th in the NHL for D > 300 games)
ES: 19:08 ( 17th in the NHL for D > 300 games)
PP: 1:00 (77th in the NHL for D > 300 games)
SH: 2:46 ( 11th in the NHL for D > 300 games)

I don't know, a top pairing defenseman who is ranked in the 20s for TOI/GP doesn't seem like over-use to me. Doughty, for instance plays almost 4 min / game more than Slavin. Karlsson, Burns, Letang, Suter, Pietrangelo all play 2-3 minutes more than him. Pesce and Skjei have taken on a lot of the tough matchups the last couple of seasons as well.

I agree with you on the getting used to new partners part though.

Good points. My wife keeps reminding me that having newborns is exhausting (lol distant memory for me) so perhaps Slavin is experiencing that.

Also. Re your earlier post on Staal. His play this year has been phenomenal and his line has been superb in dominating in-zone play. With Martinook’s outstanding play we don’t miss Nino like I thought we would.

I just wish Coach would recognize that the regular season OT skills competition is not a good match for his lack of elite speed (playoff OT NP).

 

[LostInaLostWorld]

Re: traffic—agree need to improve but in a way I’m happy since beside DOT project, sellouts are causing traffic issues. We have just left earlier to get a spot.

Also, I wonder how many hockey adjacent spots have been take by State’s practice facility?

I know not everyone can do it especially weeknights but getting there early is the key. I never mind just hanging in my seat or people watching. Beats cursing the traffic gods. Can eat dinner without a crowd or missing play as well.

Think what it will be like if all the plans for development come through and you are talking parking decks for ingress and egress.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Good points. My wife keeps reminding me that having newborns is exhausting (lol distant memory for me) so perhaps Slavin is experiencing that.

Also. Re your earlier post on Staal. His play this year has been phenomenal and his line has been superb in dominating in-zone play. With Martinook’s outstanding play we don’t miss Nino like I thought we would.

Nino has better ability to score goals and we miss that aspect of it though. I've liked Martinook's game so far, but I'm not sure it's sustainable.

I just wish Coach would recognize that the regular season OT skills competition is not a good match for his lack of elite speed (playoff OT NP).

Agree.