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I was at the game tonight. Couple of thoughts:
Positives
- The whole Messier thing was very nice. Great way to get the points he needed. Too bad the building was empty. Should have been a lot louder.
- Markkanen. The guy started out very shakey IMO. But he got stronger has the game went on. He goes down too early in my opinion and the Stars never challenged him high. Good job but needs to settle down more. A tad jumpy at times but he made some big saves. If he can keep this up it is an amazing asset to this team as it means that Sather will not have to ride Dunham into the ground.
- The PK was good when it needed to be.
- It really didn't need to be because the Rangers did not take bad penalties. Why did Bobo get a double minor for that play? And why did Vlad get a roughing penalty when he was being held from behind.
- Matthew Barnaby. The guy just seems to make plays when the team needs it. I thought the Rangers played a pretty poor first period. They were flat and did not take the body at all. Dallas was equally flat. At the end of the first period, I turned to my father (ah, bonding) and said, "If I'm Sather I tell Barnaby or Simon to go out on the ice and not come back to the bench until your five minute fighting major is up." Barny went out, 7 seconds into the second, had a good fight with Ott (which he came back to win) and that seemed to give the team some juice. Oh yeah, and he scored a pretty nice goal.
- Bobby Holik has been great for the last four games or so. He is mean, nasty and involved. So this is the guy we thought we were getting.
- Great to watch Dominic Moore live. I watched him a couple of shifts instead of following the puck and the guy works hard every second of every shift.
- Great play on the two Mess goals by Kovalev. Maybe this can get him going.
Negatives
- Chris Simon was quite uninvolved. He did not hit anybody and really was not even skating well.
- Jan Hlavac is worthless. He is just lost out there. He cannot take a hit. He falls down for no reason. He is a liability with the puck in his own zone. Hartford? Just take 95 North big guy.
- I thought the team came out flat. The Stars were equally flat and should have been ripe for the pickin'. The Rangers did not hit or even grind very much in the first.
Neutrals
- Jamie Lundmark did not have the intensity that he seemed to have in the last couple of games. He was very good on the back check however.
- Dan Lacouture played a nice game. However, as someone who is battling for a roster spot I would expect him to take the body every shift. And he didn't in the first.
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