GDT: Anaheim @ Buffalo, 7:00 pm est, 12/17/2015

[PromoTheRobot]

I continue to be pleasantly surprised by Chad Johnson.

If Lehner had those numbers I'd be pointing to them as evidence Murray made a good trade and would be fully confident with him going forward. Johnsons history suggests he will regress to the mean, but his play certainly supports those who argue goalies are easy to find.

 

The season has a lot of time to play out, but re-signing him to a modest contract to support or supplant Lehner looks like a viable option at the moment. Lehner is still our most talented keeper and will,still get every chance to prove he is our guy.

 

With Ullmark showing signs, giving him a couple years in Rochester while Lehner gets his shot here, the only movement in goal I see coming in the next few years is finding another Johnson if Johnson walks as a UFA this summer.

 

I also wonder if Johnson's play this year will make him trade bait at the deadline for a team seeking some insurance in net.

Pedigree plays a big role in an athlete's evaluation. For example if Tyrod Taylor was the Bills' 2015 1st round pick, he would be hailed as a savior. Johnson was considered a placeholder going into this season. A stop gap until a "real" backup emerged. But he's making the most of his opportunities. And it looks like it will be a while before Lehner is back anyway.

[JJFIVEOH]

My game notes:

 

- CJ was not only sharp, IMHO he looked very confident.

 

- Speaking of CJ, a question occurred to me:  if Lehner hadn't gotten hurt, and had delivered the same production that CJ has delivered (9-9-1 on a team that is 14-16-3, .918 SV%, 7 games giving up 1 goal or less), how would we feel about Lehner?  Would we think Lehner, with that production, was the guy going forward?  Or maybe at least that they don't need to bring in another goalie next year?

 

- OTOH, I don't think Eichel looked very confident, especially on the PP.  He would get the puck on the half-wall, take a look and then kick it back to the point instead of trying to get into the middle and break down the D.  I think he's lost some of his mojo.  However, DDB knows more than I do and gave Eichel almost 21 minutes of ice time (2nd most among forwards behind ROR), so there's that.

 

- The 4th line had a nice game.  COR doesn't get many shifts but he made a very nice saucer pass on McCabe's goal.  I'd guess he'll be in the press box or back in Rochester when Foligno returns.

 

- I've also liked the Zemgus-Larsson pairing on the 3rd line in the last couple of games.  That line still needs some finish though.  Moulson is just nowhere to be found.

 

- I thought Weber-Franson had a pretty nice game.

 

- Kane seems to have all of his speed and power back.  He is playing a very hard, north-south game.  And I really liked when he waded into the fray after Moulson got knocked down in front of Anaheim's net.

 

- I loved Risto laying a solid shot on Perry when Perry was buzzing around CJ.

 

- Anaheim put up a lot of SOG but still didn't seem to be playing with much fire in the belly.

 

That would depend on whether or not Lehner was a steady .918, or if started off slow and greatly improved as time went on. Johnson is a .943 over his last 11 games. I think we'd be looking at Chad differently if he didn't get to .918 because of the streak he is on.

[nfreeman]

That would depend on whether or not Lehner was a steady .918, or if started off slow and greatly improved as time went on. Johnson is a .943 over his last 11 games. I think we'd be looking at Chad differently if he didn't get to .918 because of the streak he is on.

 

We're getting into the trickeration of small sample size here though.  The entire team has improved quite a bit since, say, the 1st 10 games of the season, so CJ's #s will naturally be better.  And I'd guess that most goalies have stretches where their SV% varies quite a bit from their averages.

 

Either way, if it were Lehner, I think many would say that he's starting to hit his stride after the long injury/offseason layoff -- i.e. it might be preferable for him to have the same recent improvement that CJ is showing.

[K-9]

Boudreau's kids and granddaughter were behind us in the 200's. Felt bad for the family. No big surprise, everyone realizes he is on thin ice.

That is extra perilous for hockey coaches. 

[Wyldnwoody44]

I say put Cal in for Gionta or drop Moulson or rearrange the bottom 6....or keep Gionta off the top 6(DD looking at you) separate Kane and eichel and experiment with some different guys, the way things have looked of late it wouldn't hurt.... Anaheim out shot us, they just kinda suck

 

Happy we won tho