Refreshing to see some life! Not sure I'd even risk Ovi in an Ozone draw for OT?? He's played better tonight, but he's too slow for OT. Carlson is too, but I imagine they'll be out there.
I had this same thought exactly - commented to my wife before OT...Ovi's a risk. I think we did have possession the entire OT. Strome won the draw, Dowder went right to the bench and it was Strome, Protus, and...i dont remember who else.
Ovi actually had a pretty decent game, had some shots but made some better passes - Chychrun nearly won it with about 1 minute left in the third..ovi nice pass to him streakin in and his shot knocked the stick out of goalies hand. Sure seemed like Ovi was out there a lot too.
Standouts from my closeup POV for this game...Wilson, Chychrun, Protus, Sourdiff, Leonard. Not just for the scoring, but Wilson is just dominant all over the ice nearly the entire time he is on the ice and he is moving - he's pretty fast. He is a definite difference maker in the game regardless of scoring. Chychrun strong skating and positioning and strength, he is just very good, lots of little plays you don't see on TV. Protus works very hard and is so hard to manage due to his size and speed and skill - he's a beast. Sourdiff hustles hustles hustles. Not the best puck handler, but he gets himself in the play. I think he will get better. He's a bit undersized, but he hustles. Lenny - I just don't know, but he is a very good skater and the puck just finds him - not sure if that is luck or his IQ or what but he is certainly around the puck more than others. I was impressed by his play last night, but he does have a little Ovi in him in that he will coast or stand around now and then. Maybe they just see the play better and don't have to scramble around all the time?
Milano was mostly invisible, even got some PP time. Lappy was too, neither got a ton of ice time. Carlson...oof! He might be nursing something - he looked downright tired and sluggish even early in the game. He looked defeated when on the bench - hard to read him as he is just not an emotional guy, but he looks off. I don't recall even seeing him out there in OT but i might be wrong...he might have been 1st OT shift. He does continually lead the team in ice time though.
looked it up: Lappy 12 shifts, 08.16 TOI / Milano 12 shifts, 10:51 TOI / Leonard 14 shifts 10:35 TOI / Sourdiff 22 shifts 12:48 TOI / McMike 21 shifts 13.33 TOI
Lappy is going work himself out of a job if he doesn't do something. Sucks for him, both he and Milano had great camp/preseason
Strome 21:48, Wilson 20:21, Ovi 18:33, Protas 18:30 had the most TOI for forwards (all play PP, and all but Ovi are on PK so....)
Carlson 26:10 led entire team followed by Chychrun 20:40
It was fun game - and lot's of after the whistle stuff...it didn't seem like game 4 of the season. My wife asked do these teams not like each other?
Fun to watch when the win, OT win is even more fun. We had a 16 year old Swedish student with us who had never been to a hockey game. He loved it. He couldn't believe how exciting it was. "It was so exciting! I didn't expect it to be this exciting. This is so much fun!" So that was good to, kid had a blast.
