That was a good game, even though we lost in OT. Playoff atmosphere. A few notes:
The 5 minute major. Really. That gets a major but poor Arvy gets destroyed twice and it gets a 2. NHL officiating is ridiculous.
Turris is free! And he...produced. Did anyone catch Maguire saying that playing him makes Lavy look smart? Do the NBC guys even pay attention if it's not Philly or the Rangers?
Seriously good PK in this game. That major kill was one of the best stretches I've seen them play.
The effort was there, but they gotta be able to finish. Peks looked like his old self. But Grimaldi, as spunky as he is, was no match for some of the Lightning players, and it showed.
I still don't think they'll make the playoffs, but I guess if the Blues can do what they did last year, any team can.
- FoxMulder
Consistent effort like this will win you more games then it'll lose you over the course of the season. That's one thing about this year's team I do like over last year's bunch who looked lazy, entitled, and disinterested way too often. At least with this year's team, I don't get that feeling when I watch them. They're just not quite good enough to win consistently right now. A lot of fans overreacted to the offensive explosion earlier in the season, and overreacted even more to the losing streak. What this team is, is more of what we've seen the last couple of weeks, mainly since the two games with St. Louis. As disgruntled as I've been with Lavy, gotta give him credit for finally making some adjustments and letting the team focus more on playing solid defense rather than trying to score 20 goals a game. Especially with Arvy out, most of your forward core are more defensive minded anyway, so play to their strengths... That's what good coaches are supposed to do. The big question is will Lavy be patient enough to stick with it, something he's been unable or unwilling to do in the past. What good is scoring five goals a game when you're giving up six or seven in return anyway?
I'm not trying to poop on Turris' goal either, but I watched the replay of it... He almost fanned on the shot, and just barely got the puck to squeeze passed Vasilevskiy's skate. Didn't exactly bury it like the NBC guys tried to make it sound, but hey a goal's a goal and that's all that matters. Turris desperately needed it. The look of sheer relief on his face afterward said it all. Guess Lavy's gona have no choice but to start playing him now.
