Tonight's effort was about as bad as I've seen it in the four seasons I've been following this team. Can't think of one guy who played particularly well; their passing was incredibly lazy, their transition game was horrible, every shot was right into Wedgewood's legs and the defense wasn't good enough either. The one guy who messed up but rebounded well and kept us in it, ironically, was Sorokin. I don't care how good he was in Russia, he's a rookie; you better get that guy some goal support. Need to show up for him next start.
I don't want to be all doom and gloom 5 games into the season, so I won't go on a rant about the Martin contract or the Catch-22 that our young guys with no experience have to traverse to get into the lineup, but this lineup, I think, will give us the best chance to be the Caps on Tuesday and Thursday. I'm assuming Beauvillier is out - he didn't return to the bench, so I'll make the leap that he'll miss at least one game.
First line can stay, they weren't atrocious but good lord, they need to be a little more tactical with their shots.
Second line, Bellows goes in for Beau. This line hasn't been good this season, which is a little concerning. We know Bellows has got some shooting talent and I don't think Pageau and Johnston are gonna unlock it.
Third line: Wahlstrom got some reps with Pageau in practice this week I think, so he'll make his season debut on a line with him and MDC. All three have shown signs of being good two way energy players, so I say try it out. Wahlstrom needs an opportunity to show where he's at. The Isles need a player with his skillset so desperately, so I think the 3rd line is a good place for him to start.
Fourth line has to go (but it won't). Even in our wins, it's clear the 4th line has lost some of its effectiveness. Cizikas looks fine, but Clutterbuck, and Martin especially, are just so painful to watch when it comes to generating offense. That's not their job, I know, but seeing Martin turn the puck over in transition and be forced to get back and play more defense or Clutterbuck dump the puck in and not get it back over and over is so frustrating and ultimately defeats the purpose of what makes that line effective. Unfortuntely, that line probably isn't going anywhere soon and we don't exactly have anyone who can go in and bring back what 15 and 17 have lost. So let's just try Johnston down there for a game and give things a different look? Or put MDC down there and move Johnston up to 3LW? I'd suggest Timashov, which I don't hate at all, but having that many new faces in the lineup seems dangerous, so I'll refrain from it for now.
Hopefully this doesn't come off as an overreaction, but if you watched that whole game today, I don't know how you could go into the next game and not try something different. And if Beau is out, the lines are getting shuffled anyways, so there's that too. Hopefully he's healthy and can get going though
well yeah but im trying to be realistic lol - you should look at Dobson's cf+ xgf w and w/o Greene . Idk what is up with him but I really hope its just early rust and not a trend. I hope he hasn't fallen off a cliff
well yeah but im trying to be realistic lol - you should look at Dobson's cf+ xgf w and w/o Greene . Idk what is up with him but I really hope its just early rust and not a trend. I hope he hasn't fallen off a cliff
He is 38 years old, the cliff can’t be too far away. It’s not like he was some generational defender to begin with.
I don’t think 3-6, 2-8, Aho-24 is crazy unrealistic. I guess then Leddy and Dobson are playing together and have to adjust to each other. This is precisely why I didn’t want to bring Greene back; if he started to show his age there’s no backup plan that can realistically slide in and take his spot. I really, really wanted to see them pick up Slater Koekkoek - Oilers fans really seem to be enjoying him too
He is 38 years old, the cliff can’t be too far away. It’s not like he was some generational defender to begin with.
I don’t think 3-6, 2-8, Aho-24 is crazy unrealistic. I guess then Leddy and Dobson are playing together and have to adjust to each other. This is precisely why I didn’t want to bring Greene back; if he started to show his age there’s no backup plan that can realistically slide in and take his spot. I really, really wanted to see them pick up Slater Koekkoek - Oilers fans really seem to be enjoying him too
it seems to be more decision making with greene than mobility, maybe he improves. I actually think leddy is playing well, but when he loses confidence (which can happen out of nowhere) he is tough to watch. His underlying numbers have been decent. I'd like to see greene play with mayfield, leddy with dobson.