Hideous.
But still...a wins a win, right?
So let's ignore the still shoddy goaltending, the over-commitment by players in the defensive zone, the curiously bad bounces, and the fact that Boyd is stuck on the 4th line and focus on the positives.
- The PP finally broke the goose-egg. Although, Peter Budaj certainly helped it along. It's nice to have two functional units, that's for sure. Cammalleri+Phaneuf on the first unit and Gio+Aucoin on the 2nd unit makes a lot of sense to me.
- Three of the four forward units looked pretty effective for the first time in...yeah, can't remember. I was suspicious of the Bertuzzi-Iginla coupling, but they have actually been fairly dominant through two games now. I dont like it when they're in the defensive zone, but that's so rare that Im not too worried about it. Ultimately, I'd like to see Conroy bumped to the 4th line with Boyd centering Moss and Glencross, since it looks like Jarome's going to be given the tough match-ups this year anyways. Boyd is wasted playing with Primeau and Prust.
- Cammalleri and Lombardi seem to be developing some chemistry. The two executed a couple of nifty give-and-go cycles in the offensive zone last night.
- Aucoin actually looked like an NHL defenseman last night. Here's hoping he keeps it up.
Other notes:
- Giordano was bumped from the second pairing after that egregious pinch on the PK. I think that was the first play has made Gio that made me think "yeah...you haven't played 100 NHL games yet" so far. I dont know if the move will be permanent (Vandermeer moved up), but, Im guessing it'll last right up to the point it's clear that Vandy can't handle 2nd pairing minutes either. Let's face it, though...we all saw this problem coming. The hope is that the Gio/Vandermeer stop-gap will be superior to the Eriksson/Vandermeer/Aucoin options from last year. Based on what I've seen so far, I think it will be.
- Brandon Prust probably shouldn't be in the line-up. Even Nystrom is a superior option.
- Boyd played played more on special teams last night than at ES (6:11 versus 4:46). That, I can agree with I think, although the decision to play him so much on the PK is a curious one (4:00), given his lack of aptitude in the defensive zone. Maybe Boyd is getting the same treatment Lombo got last year? Either way, I'll be happy to see him get 2+ minutes per night on the man advantage. That's where he's going to excel and gain confidence.
- Peter Budaj isn't very good.
- No evidence of "the leap" from Phaneuf yet this season. Still not fundamentally sound in his own zone.
- Everyone talks about slow starts by Kipper and Iggy. I think we should add Robyn Regehr to the list. He always seem to struggle (relative to his usual excellence) every October. He made two obvious errors in the second game against Vancouver and was caught a couple of times again last night. One play in particular stood out to me:
Regehr has the puck, unchallenged, at his own blueline and decides to lamely bank it into the neutral zone (to no one in particular). The Avs pick it up, charge into the Flames end, where Regehr ends up tripping someone behind the net and taking a penalty. So - an easy clearing play turns into a chance against and a PK because Regehr can't make the right decision with the puck on his stick.
And it seems like every October I have similar complaints about the big guy. With the entire club struggling in the defensive zone, Regehr needs to get it together.
Anyways, (-6, -1, +1)...I like where this is headed. Oilers up next!
