13 October 2007

The legs feed the wolf


5 - 6


Kovy's goal early in the 2nd was perfect. If anyone ever wonders what makes a goal scorer a sniper, check out the video on this goal.

The 4:00 penalty kill, followed by Ex's goal was also perfect*, good control of the mo'. First lead of the season. We missed (once again) the 1st period, but the first 7:26 of the second have been controlled, cohesive, aggressive hockey. Point further proved with the puck bounced off Broddy's pads by Boulton, to Holik for his first, and the first 2 goal lead of the season!

We'd just like to point out that the Blueland Blog wrote earlier today that Garnet Exelby and Darren Haydar stressed the need to score first and get a lead for the first time this season. Oh, and look who scored - Haydar and Ex. Coincidence?

Much better puck possession, and far far less passiveness. They're not letting the game happen and reacting. They're seizing control and forcing the Devs to play to them. That's exactly what you want to see out of your team, and exactly what you see out of Cup champs. Not that We're necessarily on that soapbox, but it's very good to know the team is capable of disciplined, cohesive, aggressive play. And we are loving Little, Sterling, and Haydar together.

Lehtonen let last game serve as an example, and we wouldn't be surprised if he'd spent quite a bit of time at the rink working. This is the Kari we expect to see, we delight in seeing (it would be nice to see him let in less goals, though). Covering his rebounds consistently as opposed to the days when he'd kick out extra rebounds just for something to do. Although, granted, this is a different, and better, league. His play and decision making is far more mature and responsible than last game, the whole team is playing similarly.

5GA obviously is pretty glaring, but once again he's faced over 30 shots this game. And Broddy, arguably the best goaltender in existence right now, has allowed 5 goals on 15 shots. Remember, this is the new NHL, and is geared towards more goals, and a quicker game.

We're also loving the return of Kovy's goal celebrations. Nothing in the NHL is more entertaining than Ilya Kovalchuk's fist pumps. And nothing is more irritating to opposing fans.

Everyone on the team who played far more disciplined, please step forward. Garnet Exelby, not so fast. Who? WHO takes a penalty with 1:45 when the game's just been tied? If anyone has ever wondered how the team hangs Kari out to dry, this is a good example.

We're totally loving that Perrin and Kovy are out together for the last faceoff.

OK so, they lost the game, but the point is, they played so much better. This loss is so much harder to swallow than Thursday night's because they played so well, so hard, and came so close. The next game will be even more of a fight, to avenge this loss.

They're getting there. And they put up more goals tonight than all season previous. Patience will prove to be an invaluable virtue with this team. But likely well worth it in the end.


*Perfection in this instance is not measured by every single thing being done exactly correct. It comes from over 100% improvement since last game.

2 comments:

robbie dee said...

after finally getting around to it, you've been added! i just wanted to let you know... and i'm reading, too! looks like you have something nice o'er here! keep it up!

Tiffany said...

Hey thanks!