Anytime we win and get two points. As a fan, you’re always happy!
Myself included, of course. Happy yes, but not that impressed!
Good fact is that we beat a bottom feeder team, that we are SUPPOSED to beat!
IMO, our offense showed up, and basically did their job, not greatly, but adequately!
Our DEFENSE however, was on the receiving end of LA having a bad puck luck night! There were a few great saves by Copley, but LA had some great chances, that we were LUCKY did not produce anything!
Generally a little better hustle by MOST of our guys, but STILL heavily plagued with what’s referred to by Rierden as a “lack of detail”!
We have a CONSISTENT problem, across ALL lines, of not reliably being able to bring the puck up, out of our D zone, or clear it out, at the first decent opportunity given!!
I can’t count the number of times, EVERY DAMN GAME, whether we win or lose, when we fail 2, 3 or even 4 times, at bring up, or clearing the puck, from the first time we regain possession, when opponent is in our zone!
This is such a HUGE FACTOR against us, obviously, as it always results in the opponent getting exponentially more opportunities, per each successful blue line entry, for SOG!!
I now make the case for tying this into the “feeling like playing”, or “questionable effort” issue, and ask how much of an effect do you feel this lends itself to the “lack of detail” issue! Which of course is the main cause of our bad puck bring up! Makes sense to me!
You only need 1 or 2 of our already, less than stellar, defensemen, to drop the effort level, just a tad, in a game, to have your ANSWER!!
And if just a few guys, maybe even a completely different set of guys, each game night, decide to drop their effort down, just a small notch, I, AGAIN ask, what results might you see!
Maybe a good PK, or a bad PK? ...Maybe a good offensive effort, maybe NOT?...Maybe an overall good game, or an overall bad game?...Maybe a win that we steal, or one that gets stolen from us?...Maybe the start of what appears to be a turnaround, or what appears to be a hopeless mess?
I say, you would see ALL OF THE ABOVE!!! Coming in no particular order, with no rhyme or reason for what to expect for the very next game!! HEY, wait a minute, that is EXACTLY what we have been seeing for quite some time now, coming from our beloved Caps!
And sadly, OR happily, what can be expected to continue, barring some major attitude change!
What a frickin greasy-ass roller coaster ride from this team!!! I’ll watch and hope, but am dialing down the expectations!!
Rush