I was at Pepsi Center tonight - pretty nice arena. I was in the end where the Kings shoot twice.
The first goal was kinda flukey. The Avs shot it on goal from distance with moderate velocity. Scrivens kicked it out - perhaps he could have done more with it. There was an Avs player crashing the net. Willie(!) had his stick tied up and the puck bounced off the Avs player and Scrivens made the second save. Vey came to the slot, picked up the puck and made a limp clearing attempt right up the middle. The Kings were scrambling by this point. As soon as the Avs D man got it, the Kings converged, providing a screen. As soon as the shot got through, the goalie had no chance.
Clifford was noticeably faster live than on TV. He took a run at someone in the 1st period and shook the boards.
We completely dominated 5 on 5 play throughout the night. The TT-Vey-Pearson line was dynamite. They are very crafty and fit in well with the puck possession game we play. They each make nice cuts at the most opportune time and give the passer a nice target. They can all handle the puck in tight spaces and I was surprised at how effective they were on the boards.
The Williams-Shore-King line was awesome. Best line of the night at times.
Kozun was OK, not great. I didn't remember any grade A chances from him.
Muzzin and Ellerby were good defensively, but turned the puck over a lot while breaking out. It looked as though they would telegraph a 80 ft cross ice break out pass, take 4 strides, and then make the pass. By that time, the defense would react and break it up. Both of them were guilty of doing this on numerous occasions.
Momentum shifted in the 2nd period when we took a bunch of lazy / stupid penalties. We had 2 X Too many men on the ice calls plus multiple hooking infractions in the offensive zone. Weak. This sucked, because I didn't see TT or Williams for a full 20 minutes of game action, which neutered our offense.
Our #1 PK unit was Clifford / Fraser backed by VV and Willie. They were awesome as a unit. I don't think the Avs top guns got a good chance. These guys had lots of practice. You could see their positioning and tenacity.
Vey-Pearson with Schultz-Ellerby was our second unit. While Vey-Pearson were sound positionally, they didn't bring any aggressiveness. When a puck was loose, they would hold their ground instead of attacking as a unit, whereas the 1st PK unit would pounce.
I forgot who the 3rd PK pair was.
The Cliche-Nolan pairing on PK was a train wreck. Looked like my beer league PK. In fairness, neither get much practice at it and they were only on for two or three PK shifts.
Things got a little chippy in the 3rd. Downie (surprise) was a little *****. After Fraser and Downie get put in the box, Andreoff comes on and pretty much punches a guy in the head during the course of play. I thought that was awesome. No one wanted a piece of him. That was the only penalty of the night where we got our money's worth. After coming out of the box, he pretty much took a run at someone (someone next to me was yelling "That's a charge!") and blew him up. Things settled down after that.
I think I realize why Fraser is pretty much gone. His positioning is always solid, he plays hard, and finishes his checks on the forecheck, but he's just too small. He gets knocked over way too much and can't physically punish people, especially in a static situation like board play. He definitely got rag dolled along the boards a few times.
That last goal was bad. As a goalie, you got to know when someone starts spinning, there's no way the skater can get the puck off the ice. Jones was playing upright protecting the near post. He left half the net open low on the far side. I could see it from 250 feet away... Ugh...
I was at the game too, in 130, row 13. Got a $94 face value for 25 bucks outside. No complaints there. Good assessment, driller1.
I do not need to add much, but I also thought Clifford looked faster than last time I had seen him.
The 3 players I wanted to see most tonight - Zykov, Frattin, and Nathan MacKinnon...none of them played! Oh well.
Scrivens - I thought he looked ok. The first goal, he was knocked into by Mitchell and he was regaining position and Benoit's shot made it through, just as he was getting back in position. Scrivens gives up more rebounds than I would like to see.
I was also impressed with Nick Shore. I have seen him at DU here, several times. He has adjusted well and is very solid. Good positioning, awareness, gets in scoring positions and gets back and plays good defense. Nice goal and beautiful pass to King for that goal.
Shore wasn't great on faceoffs and will need to work on that.
Andreoff - I liked his game and see what TG is talking about. I even watched him in the neutral zone. With all the penalties, he didnt get a lot of icetime. He wasn't on for PP or PK. I did notice he looked like a deer in the headlights a few times.
Kozun - it's just a shame he's so small. He was just ok. I think over the last 2 or 3 years, it's just too hard for a smaller player to make it.
This is the first time I have seen Pearson, really, except for video footage in Manch. I was surprised. He skates better than I knew and
has a good skillset. I see him making it, when he gets the opportunity.
Vey and Toffoli - I expected a little more from each. They each made a few good plays, but I think Pearson looked best on that line. Vey did make a great, no look pass, behind him that hit the tape of the player's stick. He is skilled.
Voynov - he looked smooth, but wasn't skating hard...it was like "I am a 5 million dollar defenseman now" kind of attitude or something.
I am not saying it was attitude or even disinterest...but he wasn't the Voynov I know. You could especially see it, on the GWG. He should have knocked the puck off of O'Reilly's stick, or something better, than just kind of hanging with him and trying to get the inside position. This all said, I am not worried about Slava. He is awesome.
Mitchell - Willie was good and really didn't seem rusty or slower.
Ellerby - Ellerby can skate, is decent in the D zone, and makes some good, sound plays...but makes more gaffes than I would like. I think he has the tools, but want to see him get a nasty edge and play more like Greene and (in form) Mitchell.
Martinez - Alec looked good tonight. He was fairly solid tonight.
He's better than Ellerby and Schulz.
Muzzin - I think Muzzin is going to be good. He has progressed his game
since stepping in last year. Not saying he should be top 4 right now,
but he has the ability to be a good, top 4 guy. The more experience
he has gotten, the less mistakes. As driller1 said, he was involved
in some erratic plays coming out of the zone...but nothing atrocious.
Schulz - WTF? Dean, I could have really really used that $700,000 you threw away. Worst King defenseman since...maybe ever. He is slow, methodical, took a bad penalty...not physical and basically useless. I would have rather seen Bodnarchuk. He was in warmups and didn't play.
King - meh. He was ok tonight. His goal - was Shore's pass..but I give credit for King being in good position.
Nolan - Nolan looked good tonight, but nothing to add - just noticed
him doing some good things and being involved.
Prediction - I think Shore is going to score 20 goals in Manch.
I haven't seen Sabourin, but hearing good things about him.
Manch should be good this year, adding Shore, Sabourin, Forbort,
etc. Nice to see talent coming into the system every year. And Weal
and Andreoff should be better this year down there. (if Andreoff doesn't make it) Just hoping Weal can still grow and add some size.
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