GDT: Canes v. Kings 1/15 3:00

[ThinIce]

After the wonderful ceremony for Willy, everything went downhill. We seemed totally out of sync for most of the game. I'll give the Kings credit - they weren't much better than us, but they were the better team in the 3rd. Our defense was awful, and the Kings kept us to the perimeter once they took the final lead.

 

[cmaleski2]

Rod did the right thing seizing on the opportunity to get Perets's feet wet. Perets didn't have to do much, but the kid looked pretty darn nervous to me.

You don't appreciate how routine NHL goalies make handling the puck for the dmen until you see how it looks when the goalie seems reluctant to leave the crease to handle any puck like Perets did in his debut. He looked like he was chained to the post a couple of times.

We have a pretty light schedule until Jan 24 @Bos, Jan 25 v NJ. If Kochetkov isn't going to be ready by then I wonder what exactly the game plan is because rolling Perets out there for one of those 2 games seems like a not so great idea. I'm not saying that Perets will never be capable, but running Perets out there for one of those starts at this stage is giving me Jack LaFontaine level heartburn. I understand the Canes really don't want to add ANOTHER goalie to the mix and then have to find a place for him to play in the minors, but they might have to trade for someone's #3 goalie on a 2 way contract just for insurance. It's not like we don't have a pile of fringe prospects to offer up in a trade.

Anyhow, this loss wasn't on Raanta. We were pretty disjointed out there and our 3rd period defensive coverage was a disaster until Perets came into the game.

 

[NoMich]

The Kings mostly outhustled the Canes yesterday

 

[jeffbear]

Yeah, there's a reason they've been reluctant to play Perets up to now ... he's not an NHL goalie. He's largely only been holding his own in the ECHL, and the only reason he's here is self-imposed emergency. I keep saying this, but all they have to do to improve this situation is get a guy better than Perets. They don't need to trade for the ghost of Gump Worsely or anything. Just some random AHL dude would be a fair amount better suited to give Raanta or Kochetkov a break when needed. I promise I'm not going to keep banging on about this, but Carolina's handing of their goalie situation thus far has been a skinny step short of malpractice.

 

[jeffbear]

After the wonderful ceremony for Willy, everything went downhill. We seemed totally out of sync for most of the game. I'll give the Kings credit - they weren't much better than us, but they were the better team in the 3rd. Our defense was awful, and the Kings kept us to the perimeter once they took the final lead.

Normal stuff for ceremony games, really. They're always muckfests and LA is a singularly bad matchup for that kind of scenario because they like to play in the muck as much as any team in the NHL. It plays straight to their strengths ... challenging every passing lane, getting a stick in every scrum, supporting along the wall, making the neutral zone a quagmire and the breaking like a bat out of hell with turnovers. It's their bread and butter. You've got to beat them with speed and you've go to finish on the rush when you get your chances. Carolina just wasn't efficient enough and they paid the price.

I will say, I thought Brind'Amour sticking to his line matchups was particularly dumb yesterday. He let Danault erase Aho pretty much all game when he could easily have shifted the matchups.

 

[andyt]

I will say, I thought Brind'Amour sticking to his line matchups was particularly dumb yesterday. He let Danault erase Aho pretty much all game when he could easily have shifted the matchups.

Rock, meet hard place. Danault’s line won both sides of the battle yesterday, they dominated on offense and shut Aho’s line down. With Staal handling Kopitar’s line, his choices were pretty slim. KK continued his sleepwalking and didn’t shut down PLD’s line. When only 1 of the top 3 lines are performing, it’s gonna look like it did.

 

[jeffbear]

Rock, meet hard place. Danault’s line won both sides of the battle yesterday, they dominated on offense and shut Aho’s line down. With Staal handling Kopitar’s line, his choices were pretty slim. KK continued his sleepwalking and didn’t shut down PLD’s line. When only 1 of the top 3 lines are performing, it’s gonna look like it did.

Sure, but banging your head against that rock all night at home isn't required. Rod's refusal to use last change in the regular season continues to be puzzling to me. Kopitar's line is physically imposing but he's slower than shrubbery at this stage. Let Aho go ask him some questions in the third and let Staal play territorial chess with Danault for a bit. Or just mix up the wingers ... try some freaking thing.