Game 3 No Tkachuk

Exactly what I am hoping to see if Matty is out!

His injury reminded me a lot of Toews years back. He was so dazed, it looks like a concussion. Probably won't see him back for the remainder of the series.

This is what I'd lean towards as well for the lineup card.

I was not pleased to see Ward split up the one line that was really rolling last night. Need to keep that 3rd line together. Heck, play them as the first line.

Gaudreau had one nice play last night: the cross-ice feed to Lindholm for Bennett's late goal. Other than that...well, no surprise to me he's been an absolute non-factor. Actually, I'll continue to argue that he's even less than a non-factor in playoffs so far. I haven't seen him use his speed for any kind of forechecking like he does in the regular season. Oh, and the reason that perennial sniper Oleksiak was so wide open for that late goal is because he was Gaudreau's man to cover. Again, absolutely no surprise. The question really is: why the hell did Ward put out the ice cold "1st line" in the final minute of the game when the team is clearly better off trying to push things to OT for a coin flip? Didn't make any sense whatsoever. So frustrating after a massive comeback to get to 4-4.

A couple other thoughts:

- That Benn groin spear was vicious. Certainly more "on purpose" than the Scheifele hit by Tkachuk...and I don't hear anyone talking about it. Guess no one cares when Marchand gets targeted either...
- Jankowski was useful for a few PK shifts, but otherwise that 4th line has absolutely no physicality and looks completely lost out there. Rinaldo is a liability...who else could CGY put in the lineup to add some grit tonight in place of Jankowski? They'd still have: Backlund, Lindholm, Ryan, Rieder for PK duty. I wouldn't mind seeing that small change made to add a heavier body.