Over their last two games, they held McDavid, Draisaitl and Ovechkin to a combined one goal and one assist. Not many teams are doing that these days.
- bluelineenforcer
SPOT-ON!!! Yeah, it sucked to be shut-out, but the D last night showed they can be pretty solid. I was listening to the NHL Tonight replay this morning and one of the guys pointed out that Detroit had shut down the Big 3, and that no other team had yet to accomplish that this year. Again, sucked to lose, but I was duly impressed with how defensively the entire team played. Zadina was a fore-checking beat last night, Ras even surprised me with how quick he covered passing lanes and moved his guys off the puck. There are those little things that happen, aside form the stat lines, that show there is progression in this player pool. I watch as much of the off-puck stuff as I can (nice to have a 65" TV!!!!!), and I look for what the guys do away from the puck. What I saw was guys with their collective heads on swivels, fore-checking with intent, and setting up smart passes when we had the puck.
There are some good things happening, aside from the stat lines, that bode well for the future. I think the guys on this blog see those as well, they're not occasional fans who only focus on the final score. We see & feel things getting better, and we know that this is going to take some time to get to where we ant to be. We're impatient, but we all know the joy (and often the pain) being making the SCPO for 25 straight years and want to be there are again.....This ain't no overnight fix...but I think this may be a bit shorter of a ride than we thought. As long as the kids keep progressing both here and in the bus leagues, that player pool keeps growing, things are going to hit...and we'll all sit back with a Vernor's Ginger Ale and a cigar and bask in the glory of prominence!!!
The Great 8 was held SHOTLESS. That's DAMN good.