GDT: Canes @ Ottawa 3/17 6:00
- Thread starter andyt
- Start date
Scoring change to Lemieux, the 10th multi-point game of his career.
ThinIce
Well-known member
He's definitely looking more like the player we spent big bucks to get. I think this team, with its recent additions, is building something special.
NoMich
Well-known member
Yep, agreed. Out of the blue tonight, a friend texted me tonight saying that this team is really effing good. Haven't heard from this guy in a while.
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Oh, absolutely. His Game Score numbers started to rally back in late November and have really spiked over the last month, but that's been a bit tamped down by usage. People who only judge D based on plus/minus and points are just not seeing anything like the whole picture. And sooner or later, his forward teammates where always going to figure out that he makes himself available for a headman pass 6-8 times a game. Not many D do that, so I get that it takes some time ... but that guy is willing to bust his legs to make a stretch pass happen. Hit the man. He's open.
TheBigKahuna
Well-known member
Adding 92 and 59, really gives me a 2006 vibe. Not implying it is going to happen. But this team is the best it's been in many years.
Tripp spent a lot of time slobbering over Martin yesterday.
Pucking Lamplighter
Well-known member
How I see it too. The new pieces seem to fit incredibly well and help fill voids that makes a more complete team. They'll only become more used to playing together as well.
Jim
Well, Tripp IS an idiot
I mean, the guy had a broken something (sounds like a wrist that they tried to pass off as a finger) and a fairly serious oblique injury ... and has looked pretty good for all that.
He's passed the eye test since January, regardless of stats, and has continued to improve. Roll that in with Chatfield's continued improvement, and that's one heck of a third pairing, as good as a lot of second pairings around the league. Which is a good thing, because come summer, we'll probably be short in that department.
And for the fancy stats, even with the reduced usage, both Orlov and Chatfield have pushed Pesce down to 6th place in terms of game impact ... which also passes the eye test from where I sit. Skjei has been carrying him all season.
Pesce is still going to get paid, but he’s cost himself some money this season.
He may have cost himself enough to actually stick around in Raleigh ... but honestly, I'd prefer him to move on at this point. He's got a lot of miles on those tires and I'm not sure he's got a career resurgence in him.
BTW, it was really nice to see Carolina get a couple of goals last night on stretch plays ... and notably, both involved newer guys. If there's two things that have consistently been lack from this team since Brind'Amour took over it's offense off the rush and offensive zone entries with possession. Yeah, I think they're on track to lead the league yet again in goals scored off the forecheck, but "easy goals" have been sorely lacking even when this team gets rolling on offense. They don't stretch the zone, they don't look for line breaking pass and they don't really even try to carry the puck in with control to create secondary rushes all that much. They've got the personnel now to do all that stuff all up and down the lines and pairings and hopefully Brind'Amour's legendary cautiousness won't rub off on the new guys too much. Go ... freaking take some chances with the puck. Stick to the basic plan, obviously, but also loosen the heck up every so often.