I'm still very worried about the inability of the team to win any of the physical battles along the boards and in the neutral zone necessary to generate offense if/when teams clog the high slot and they can't get something going off the forecheck when they flood the zone. Not to mention how bad the D has been in front of the net lately. Old friend Kyle Palmieri literally skated freaking circles around the net Monday with Graves and Wood either getting juked out of their skates or just inexplicably not throwing their body at him. In fairness to Graves, he made an excellent play last night to preserve the lead when the Rangers had the extra man.
At the same time, my expectations this year were that they'd compete for an 8th seed before either narrowly missing the playoffs or making it and getting derriere blasted in the 1st round. I couldn't be more pleased with how its all coming together, and Timo's going to be a big piece moving forward both for his scoring touch and his size.
Haula's not even that big, but he's been the most physical player on the ice. I'd love to bring him back and keep him as the third line center.
Vanny played his best game since the initial run in November last night. He was super sharp.
