The Coyotes started the season 2-0 and everyone is praising their great defense.
I get why people want to be excited and I hate to rain on the parade (or to use that expression) but I am confused about how a team that allowed 69 shots in its first two games (and allowed probably double that to be directed at the net) is "playing good defense."
To me the defense has one job: minimize shots directed at the net.
This means that if you have to clear the crease or block a shot, you have already failed at your main job because you don't cross check a guy in front of your goalie or lay down in front of a slapshot if your team has the puck. So while those are good things to be able to do, they are - by definition - reactions to failure.
Now, obviously you can't limit all shots, so it is a highly necessary skill to have players who can play physically in front of the net and who will block shots, but I believe these skills get overrated because you see a blocked shot or a huge check and you remember it much more than you do a guy calmly moving the puck out of the zone.
At the root of what I'm saying here is the reason you have people disagreeing on a player like Grossmann. Some see a necessary physical presences and others see a player hemmed in his own end because of limited mobility and puck skills.
On Saturday, Grossmann and Connor Murphy were paired almost exclusively and they had a great game, over 60% CF and on the ice together for 14 of the 16 minutes they each played (5v5). And while Grossmann is getting the credit, I'd posit that it's actually Murphy's puck moving skills and mobility that have made the duo most effective.
Certainly their styles compliment each other and if this keeps up, I will become a fan of Grossmann, but I think you could put just about anyone with Connor Murphy and they'd do all right - he looks like he's going to be an excellent NHL defensemen. But most importantly, he is a puck-moving, skating defensemen.
So while early returns on Grossmann are decent, let's keep in mind that after two games his PDO is 114. Obviously PDO is a stat that works best in a large sample size, but the reason it's so astronomically high is that Mike Smith has played the first two games as if his surname were Hasek.
Let us enjoy the quick 2-0 start, but I wouldn't be rushing to lionize a player who is symbolic of the Coyotes' hesitancy to adapt to the new NHL and who has a 46% CF rating over his last 400 games on a team much better than the Coyotes are today.
----------
The Coyotes will put their 2-0 record on the line tonight against the Ducks, who are 0-2 despite also getting a hot start from their goalie.
Leading up to the game, Mike Smith told NHL.com that he is perhaps the most modest man in the world, saying ""I hope to continue the good play. It's nice, but more importantly we've played better as a team and we're doing a lot of good things in front of me. It starts there."
Now the Pittsburgh game was much better than the L.A game, but the Penguins still produced a large number of high-percentage scoring chances, something which will destroy this team over time unless Smith continues his Hasakian ways.
Positives in the early season include both Duclair and Domi, each with two points, and that OEL rebounded Saturday after having one of the worst games of his career on Friday (in large part thanks to the ineffective Doan-Chipchura-Richardson line which allowed 24 shots directed at the net vs 3 which they took, for a comically brutal 11%CF).
Inexplicably, Tippett left this line in tact for game two, and while they did perform better, they were so, so, so bad against LA it's a little scary going forward. The best line Saturday was Hanzal with Rieder and Duclair - posting a possession rating in the 70s and virtually dominating the game while on the ice. If that line is even two-thirds as good as it has been, then this is a team that should be making a move to shore up its weaknesses, because - as I've said all along - there is really no value in tanking and with cap money and prospect capital, the Coyotes are in a position to improve their team while staying young and keeping the pipeline well stocked.
Should be a great game tonight.
Thanks for reading.