pi2000

Halfway through this 16 games in 28 day marathon they've collected 8 of a possible 16 points. Their next 4 opponents are all currently playoff teams with an average .620 points percentage.. @NYI, DAL, NYR, @TOR This stretch will make or break their playoff chances. They need to scratch out at least 4 points, someway somehow.

Greenway

His skating is poor as well as his agility. They're a better team with Jost be in the lineup IMO. What he brings physically isn't enough to offset his lack of skill/skating.

McDavid will motor with magnificent wheels, mean while Mittlestadt wishes Mike Weber made waffles more willingly.

They should consider moving Greenway to defense, like Byfuglien or Burns did at the same point in their careers. He's similar stature, exceptional defensive skills for a forward... something to thing about heading into next season.

Wrong place wrong time. I blame whoever was mentoring her that day. If I was trying to do my job and some little girl kept getting in the way I'd shoo her away too 🙂 Members of the media are trained to be aggressive and curt when attempting to get stories, fighting for position around players etc... it's part of their job, no time to be polite.

Not too worried about Ottawa. They've had a cupcake schedule the past 3 weeks. However, their final 15 games are brutal... with their final game of the season at Buffalo.

Something fishy is going on. Guys are finishing games, seemingly healthy and then showing up on the injury report and missing games days later.... Tuch, Dahlin, Jost, Samuelsson all in the last 2 weeks. It's hockey, everyone is nursing something at this time of year, and these are basically playoff games for this squad. Make it make sense.

No way you take JJP out of the lineup right now. He's getting a boatload of scoring chances lately, eventually he'll start cashing in. IMO he's playing well. VO is the odd man out.

At some point KA has to consider flipping a forward prospect or two for a quality young D or D prospect.

Goaltending. Finally one of Comrie/UPL steps up on home ice. Encouraging.

They're not a playoff team. Whatever is going on in the room is irrelevant. That said, the Kings are a playoff team and traded a core locker room guy in Quick. Doughty and Kopitar were in tears at the press conference, but they'll get over it and move on. So yeah, Bryson can go fly a kite 😂

This isn't house league, it's a business, and the players know this.

How much salary was retained?

I, for one, like the trade for Buffalo. They add much needed toughness and grit. Now If he didn't get pumped every single tilt I'd like it even better 🙂

Moody walruses make wet meatloaf with muffins while Madonna washes my windows.

I fully expect one or more of Savoie, Kulich, Rosen to be part of a larger package for a defenseman.

Comrie is bad anywhere. Anderson is above average both home and away. WRT sv%, UPL is horrendous at home and top 3rd in the league on the road. That said, UPL has played 44% of home minutes, and 38% of road minutes. Makes you wonder if the braintrust realizes he has the 3rd worst home ice sv% in the entire league.

This is what happens when you let players make personnel decisions.

Disagree, in Feb they've averaged 33 shots for per 60min, vs 32 on the road.

Disagree, they have a better CF% at home (Feb: 51% vs 48%). Feb at home .840 sv%, on the road .909%. That's 6 goals worse every 100 shots at home vs on the road. They're giving up 17 high danger chances against per 60min on the road, and only 14 per 60min at home. They're not playing bad, goaltending on home ice is letting them down big time.

Goaltending still sucked tho. Home games in Feb: UPL (190min): 5.98 GAA, 3.15 xGA/60, .832 sv% Anderson (106min): 2.83 GAA, 2.86 xGA/60, .906sv% The team has a 51.4% CF... 15th best in the league at home during Feb.. not terrible. However, they've given up 27 goals in those 5 games, while xGA is just 17. That's 10 more goals over expected, in just 5 games... 2 goals/game, that's insane.

When everyone is healthy, they're a better than average team in the mix for a playoff position. However, we all know they're the youngest team in the league and are lacking depth at some key positions. That said, it should come as no surprise that they'll struggle if any of their core guys go down for any extended period of time. Yeah the timing of it sucks, but the important thing right now is guys like Quinn and Power gaining experience as top line contributors. This season was never about making the playoffs.

I covered this topic a few weeks ago, The conclusion I came to, after digging through stats, is goaltending. Below stats of Feb 22nd: Home: 107 GA, 86 xGA, .880 SV%, .777 HDSV% Away: 85 GA, 92 xGA, .905 SV%, .840 HDSV% The team actually plays "better" at home.... 54% CF at home vs 49% on the road.... that's the 4th best CF% at home. The goaltending sucks, 3rd worst SV% at home in the entire league. Home: Anderson: 2.87 GA/60, 3.06 xGA/60, .919sv% UPL: 4.09 GA/60, 2.47 xGA/60, .876sv% Comrie: 3.76 GA/60, 2.47 xGA/60, .863sv% Out of 54 goalies who have played >400min on home ice, UPL and Comrie rank 49th and 52nd in save percentage. Anderson 13th. That said on the road, out of 72 goalies who have played >300min (Comrie has played 391 min on the road), UPL ranks 21st, Anderson 24th and Comrie 47th in save percentage. Comrie is pretty much trash both home and away. WRT save percentage UPL ranks in the top 3rd of the league on road, and nearly DFL at home. Why is he so bad at home, where the team is actually playing better in front of him? On the road UPL faces 34 shots/60, and 14 high danger chances/60... at home he faces 33 shots/60 and 12 high danger chances/60. And yet his sv% is nearly 4 percentage points better on the road (.912 vs .876).