Our top 6 has been practically non-existent for 6 periods now. Even though Arnott scored they were completely useless tonight. Ward and Dumount I donno what to say about.
I could not even watch the whole thing. My weekends are too precious to squander on a painfully inadequate effort like that. This team plays well against the good teams and poorly against the not so good team. Trotzy better earn his keep and wake them up. They are gonna need all these points if they have any hope of squeaking in to the post season. They are not going to be nudging the Hawks out-- it will be the BJs, Wild, Stars, the teams ranked 6 and lower they need to get the points from.
The Wild have been solid since a terrible start, to get back over .500. So it's not like they suck. (I know you didn't say that but someone earlier in the thread made it sound as if they are bad) They're playing very well. So to me that means we have even less excuse for a weak effort. We knew they were playing well coming in.
I think the other team's coaches know we need all four lines so they bait Trotz into playing Belak... I literally had decided in my mind we were probably going to lose when I saw he wasn't a scratch. It seems most times this year when he plays the rest of the teams is thinking "we have Belak today, so we don't have to be tough".
GRRR!
I had been hoping for Rinne to start. Thought may as well show some faith in him even after a couple weaker outings, instead of Ellis two nights in a row and also traveling. I'm rarely a fan of the way Trotz uses goalies. I thought he rode Rinne a couple games too long in the win streak when he could have had a long rest with Ellis just getting one start on the road. But if they were going to play like that in front of the goalie it didn't matter who it was.
The Wild have been solid since a terrible start, to get back over .500. So it's not like they suck. (I know you didn't say that but someone earlier in the thread made it sound as if they are bad) They're playing very well. So to me that means we have even less excuse for a weak effort. We knew they were playing well coming in.
I think the other team's coaches know we need all four lines so they bait Trotz into playing Belak... I literally had decided in my mind we were probably going to lose when I saw he wasn't a scratch. It seems most times this year when he plays the rest of the teams is thinking "we have Belak today, so we don't have to be tough".
GRRR!
I had been hoping for Rinne to start. Thought may as well show some faith in him even after a couple weaker outings, instead of Ellis two nights in a row and also traveling. I'm rarely a fan of the way Trotz uses goalies. I thought he rode Rinne a couple games too long in the win streak when he could have had a long rest with Ellis just getting one start on the road. But if they were going to play like that in front of the goalie it didn't matter who it was.
well, there were two of us, I think we doomed the team.
Pretty obvious we would lose the game when we only had 1 PPG after almost 8 straight minutes of PP time and got outshot/outscored in the first period.
Minnesota's first goal, the d-pair...hamhuis/klein. It's like automatic.
The only thing that was more exciting was trying to find the source of the light popping. It kept flashing and popping all night. Then finally, it exploded and started smoking, then came the smell of burning wires. It was right above me, so that was fun. Another light exploded last season.
Their fans seem to like the way their scoring is starting to look. Luongo had a rest last game after a long streak of starts, so he'll be ready.
But I still think Rinne will start and play well and we'll not only work hard but play well both offensively and defensively and I think we'll kick them at home. I say Preds win 4-2. Somehow we solve Luongo a bunch by sheer swarming, since he was doing well before his break. I can dream, and I am. We have more offense than we've shown, they can find it.
Unless Belak plays, then there'll be fight when it's 1-1 and we'll lose 4-2. Since we seem to not get energized when he beats on someone but the other team does, for some reason. I don't even know, does Vancouver have an enforcer? Hopefully not or the other coach will lure Trotz into having Belak active.
I want to guess who's hot enough to get goals but who the h### knows with the Preds. I think Leggy and Ward are due and I hope they get Hornqvist and not Smithson. Arnott seems to usually come back with a strong game after weak ones, so I think he, Dumont and Sully will play hard and play well also. Piure guesses as I know little about the matchups to Vancouver, but guessing is part of the fun. And maybe O'Reilly feeds Erat. Or the dee, who have had some shots recently, get another goal.
Our top 6 has been practically non-existent for 6 periods now. Even though Arnott scored they were completely useless tonight. Ward and Dumount I donno what to say about.
Ward & Dumount were great against the Hawks the night before. Ward scored a goal in that game too. Just not enough jump/energy tonight..Boys never got there legs.
I'm pretty sure Tootoo would give Hordi a beating. Could be a good fight, but I really doubt it. Toots is a stout guy with a TON of strength. Not to take away from Hordichuk, but during his time with the Preds I can't recall seeing him ever really exert his will on anyone.
Unless Hordi takes a run at someone while Toots is on the ice I really doubt we'll see that match-up anyway. The Erat-Goc-Tootoo line has been contributing more than anyone expected, so I say he's probably thinking hockey first, second, and third right now.
