Thoughts on the first game

The big talk was that we were gonna have to outscore the other teams as opposed to outdefending them. I would say that was accomplished tonight.

I thought the forwards were good for the most part. Kucherov, Point, Hagel, Paul and Cirelli looked really good and ready to score a bunch. Stamkos didn't have the best game, but he wasn't bad by any means. He didn't show any signs of not having a great season. The depth guys, Eyssimont, Glendening, Jeannot, and Sheary all looked decent. I think we'll definitely get more scoring and chances from the 4th line this year. Merela didn't have a great game in my opinion, but he got into 2 or 3 good spots and had chances to shoot.

I don't want to overreact but I was not at all impressed by the defense today. i thought Hedman had a very poor game. I wasn't too impressed with Raddysh or Perbix either (might be harsh on Raddysh). Perbix in particular I thought wasn't very good and only played 11 minutes. Cernak and De Haan weren't really noticeable and that's probably best for defensive defensemen. Sergachev I thought had a good game and looked much better than Hedman.

As for the lines I'm not opposed to the 3 big boys on the first line for a few games but I think Hagel on the top line is better in the long run. Would also want Eyssimont playing more than 8 and a half minutes. I think it will be best to have Sergachev on the first power play unit to allow him to further develop and hopefully slow the drop-off in Hedman's defensive game.

Overall I don't think Johansson was that bad, but there seemed to be a lot of space open on the Novak goal

I mostly agree, especially with eyssimont getting more time, he should replace motte on that second line with him being injured. I kinda disagree with jeannot looking decent but oh well, would just prefer they take him off PP2 and keep him on the 4th line. I agree with the 4th line look better and I thought merela played alright he was good defensively and was great on the PK, dumped the puck back into our zone which you dont see to often and bought us a lot of time. I agree the defense was bad but I think raddysh, cernak and dehaan played good, hedman, perbix and sergachev played bad. Just too many turnovers and lack of positional awareness from perbix and sergachev, and hedman missed a wide open net . I think the first period was good because they were pressuring at the blueline and skating the puck into the offensive zone, and then in the second and third they were doing the dump and chase which they almost always lose the puck on and they were giving nashville free offensive zone entries. Our powerplay had a rough start but it started rolling later on and Paul on the PP1 is a good move imo. On the novak goal Johansson got screened and thought he was cutting middle and then saw him at the last second going up the side, can't really blame him and it was a nice shot.

I didn't think Sergachev played that bad but maybe it just seemed better because Hedman was pretty bad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Aj26lxUi4
What I was referring to is at 3:53, 6:50 although he kinda got blocked and 8:56. He had some redeeming moments but these weren't great (he was better than hedman and perbix though). I also am unsure if I want him on PP1 because he likes to shoot which is both a good and bad thing when you have a powerplay as good as ours. Would rather let the powerplay go through kucherov than having sergachev take shots from the point. He is better suited for PP2 where he can quarterback that.

ABB called up. Probably means he'll play at least 2 games

Not a Lightning fan, but was looking through all the teams Cap Numbers...how in the world is Tampa planning to bring Vasi off LTIR and stay under the cap? Are the going to repeat Kucherov's 2021 and wait for the post season....much more risky for a Goalie than a forward to go into the playoffs with such a long layoff? Or who do they trade to free up the space? Am I missing something?

Pretty sure we can just send 2 players down and bring him in. We currently have almost 8M in cap space

https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/4640660

Fluery, ABB and Tomkins go down. No shenanigans required.

Jeannot Paul and Ace can play together all year.

Is it too soon to say ABB has finally arrived in the NHL?

Probably but the fact he's lasted multiple games on the top line is a good sign

He was great tonight.

The problem is I still don't know if I believe he'll actually produce. I mean playing on the top line for a while season with 2 guys who are gonna get a minimum of 90 points he should be getting at least 50. I don't know if he can do that

It's looking better and better

Absolute domination so far. We could honestly be up by 6 after just one period with how we're playing.

Yes.

But also, the sharks are not good.

Perbix needs a few games off. He has been playing quite awful recently. Basically all season tbh

Why is Eyssimont scratched?

Dunno but Motte can play on my team any day.

Personally I'm okay with Kucherov playing as well

I'm not convinced Much plays. I think he just gets turned on at the rink and follows his programming.

I know we absolutely suck in OT but my big question is about the 5th goal. Did Cernak know that Sergachev was gonna change? And if he did why in the world would he pinch up the boards straight off the faceoff? Did Cernak not know? If he didn't then why in the world was he not told? Is it really that bad for Cernak and Sergachev to play one shift together? And if it really is so bad then why did it take Hedman so long to get on the ice, to the point where he wasn't allowed on?

It was truly bizarre.

What's also weird is that the team that played the first period was somehow the same team that played the 2nd and 3rd. But somehow also a totally different team

Well that didn't take long. I think Kuch is mad about yesterday

Bogosian traded for a 7th today. I don't love it because I don't wanna see fleury for an extended period in the case of an injury and I never wanna see Myers playing either. We were probably planning on sending him down anyways though and you never know, that 7th could be the next Palat