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GDT: Canes @ Nashville 12/27 8:00

A

andyt

Canes Moderator
Staff member
The Canes return to the ice and open a back to back in Nashville.

Special teams were all that went right last Saturday. The power play went 2 for 4, bringing the month’s conversions to 33.3%. The Canes are now 8th in the league on the PP. The penalty kill was perfect again, killing all 3 Isles chances. The PK has allowed 1 goal all month and has also moved into the top 10. But defensive breakdowns and a couple of softies from Kochetkov gave the Isles a 6-5 win. RBA said after the game that maybe he was overworking Kochetkov but, with Andersen on the shelf and Raanta in Chicago, he had no alternative. Raanta was recalled after playing 2 games for the Wolves going 1-0-1 with a 2.90/.875 stat line. Hopefully he got his confidence back. I’d still expect Kochetkov tonight with Raanta going tomorrow.

The Preds are 7-3 in their last 10, including a 6-5 shootout win at PNC on 12/15. They’re 4th in the Central with 38 points in 34 games. Filip Forsberg leads with 16 goals and 22 assists, averaging 1.12 points per game. Ryan O’Reilly and Roman Josi have nearly half their points on the PP. In goal, Juuse Saros is having an off season, he’s at 2.82/.909 in 27 games, both worse than his career numbers. He’s backed up by Kevin Lankinen. The Preds are 16th in goals per game and 13th in goals against. They’re 17th on the PP and 25th on the PK.

Bally Sports South for TV.
 
Line rushes at the morning skate, courtesy of Cory Lavalette. They’re at Invaisalign before getting on the plane. RBA did the unthinkable and broke up MSF. No changes to the defense pairings and Kochetkov was in the starter’s crease.

37-20-86
58-82-88
48-11-24
71-18-23
 
Couple of thoughts on the lines ...

1. I think Brind'Amour was really out of options that didn't include changing Staal's line. 3 total goals from his wingers and only 5 more from Staal just isn't enough to justify the ice time they were getting. Looking at the fancy stats, they were doing OK in the possession stats and holding their own in the defensive stats, but completely failing to produce any kind of scoreboard impact at all. And that's just not how this roster is built. They HAVE to get some offensive threat from all 4 lines or else there's no real point to the overall scheme. Is putting a energizer bunny like Jarvis on one wing enough to jar loose some actual scoring chances? Maybe, we'll see ... but I suspect not.

2. Bunting HAD to start getting real ice time as he's been pushing the 4th line to ridiculous levels of game impact for weeks. He's more than earned it and he really turned the corner after figuring out how much of his dark arts nonsense is required in his current role. Answer ... a little bit, but not a lot. He should provide a nice ballast opposite Necas, as he's got a real gift for hoovering up loose pucks, and Necas generates those above all else.

3. Somebody (anybody) has got to start shoring up Aho on the first line. Maybe Svech is the guy, but he'll need to find some rhythm to make it work. He's been all over the place, mostly landing on wildcard more than play driver. That HAS to be a priority because the Canes have been in deficit on the road when forced to match first lines.

While he's tweaking things, maybe the boss can start finding an actual role for Orlov.
 
ThinIce said:
And finding another goalie would be nice.
Click to expand...
That's on the front office. I feel like Brind'Amour has left a lot of meat on the bone that having decent goaltending doesn't impact in any way. This has been the part where "loyal to a fault" starts to tilt towards the fault part of the phrase.
 
Preds cash in on a Chatfield penalty. Another leaky goal from Kochetkov, that’s the 2nd recently that leaked through the 5 hole and was swept in behind him.

And to the PK again, Burns with a high stick.
 
Skjei Draws a trip with 4 seconds left on the kill and the Canes go back to the PP, but don’t score.
 
andyt said:
Preds cash in on a Chatfield penalty. Another leaky goal from Kochetkov, that’s the 2nd recently that leaked through the 5 hole and was swept in behind him.

And to the PK again, Burns with a high stick.
Click to expand...
Go get real goaltending…until then, this team isn’t going anywhere.
 
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