Well game 1 sucked. Good thing there are 81 more to go. Saw some good things and some bad things last night:
The Good:
1.) Tangradi passed the eye-test, at least last night. The guy was all over the place and I hope he isn't a roster casualty when Asham and Staal get back. I know that he is the only forward on the team that can be sent down without having to pass through waivers, but he looks like he belongs in a top-6 role. My only complaint is that he needs to play "bigger", but that should come with time. Would love to see him in front of the net on the PP.
2.) Keeping with the Tangradi theme, the 2nd line looks like it can really do some damage this year. It's early but it kind of reminds me of the Bugsy-Malkin-Sykora line back in 08. Comrie and Geno seem to have a good chemistry going, and if he stays healthy I think Comrie will score about 25 goals. Huge for this team not to have to rely on the 1st line or playing Sid and Geno together.
3.) Tk looked pretty good, and his goal was sick. Guess rumors of one being shipped to the minors or out of town lights a fire under one's ass.
4.) I actually though Fluery looked pretty sharp. He made a couple of his patented unbelievable saves and I really only put one of those goals on him, The dump in that he failed to clear. The other was Martin's fault (didn't clear the front of the net) and the last was a horrible Letang give away on the power play. Apparently Letang was pretty sick and almost didn't play, so i guess he gets a pass.
The Bad:
1.) The power play was a fucking trainwreck. I know it's game one but it was bad. To many people trying to be fancy smancy, Malkin at the point, which is the worst idea ever, and too much perimeter shit. They are doing the same thing they did last year, playing every power play like it's a 5on 3. It's still early, but it needs to be fixed. Put Martin and the right point, Gogo at the left point, Sid along the boards, Malkin in the slot, and try Cooke/Tangradi/Asham/Kunitz in front until you find someone who can do the job.
2.) The defense was pretty sloppy. Hopefully playing together more will fix that, I think it will.
3.) Put the puck in the fucking net. I swear they hit 4 or 5 posts and missed open nets completely. I know hitting the post in hockey is = catching a TD pass out of bounds in football, but fuck. Too many missed opportunities .
4.) The crowd sucked. Opening a new arena against an archrival and half the time you could hear a pin drop. Make some noise, damnit.
The ugly:
