Joined: May 2019
Posts: 1,797
Likes: 564
Call up a bunch of guys who aren't good enough to play in the NHL to play defence? And try to lose games 2-0 instead of 6-3? Why would they do that? To make you feel better about playing hockey the "right way." This narrative that improved defence is just about trying harder is getting kind of insane. Also half the Marlies are already up.
This team is what it is. They are an offence first, attack oriented team. They may improve in the defensive zone as the stars get older and players get more comfortable in their roles, but they are never going to be a lockdown, shutdown team. Because to do that, you need to sacrifice a ton of the thing they are actually good at, which is offence. Every game where they have tried to play shutdown D and focus on team defence in third periods they have been shelled the entire period. Look at their third against Tampa the other night. They focused on D and looked awful. That's not what they are, they need to just play their style. If the way they play is good enough to get ahead of teams most of the time, it's probably good enough to stay there.