interesting that the tootoo haul down resulted in a penalty and the modin did not. i felt that russel made a good play and modin was hauled down... i actually felt russel played and average game, rome was awful. he iced the puck, he made first passes, he turned the puck over. though after the tootoo incident he came and backed up kris.
team had llittle jump, i think some of it was anticipation of vermette. he didnt show and they showed up flat, no peca killed them on the dot, i dont knwo what the final FO numbers were but is was ugly.
well see about modin, when healthy he plays like a horse. cant question the guys effort, find me another athlete in ohio who played through three broken toes with out a single compliant. well see what the deal with the knee is.
nashville is playing very very well right now, as are the blues. columbus has 11 games left in the division this season. the panthers arent a walk through game, they are playing well... youve got tb, bruines and pens left out of the EC, and wild, flames to round out the schedule.
klesla should be back this weekend.
ive said it before and ill say it again, each passing day and game the intensity will ramp up, you have to match it.
for all the talk of columbus sucking still 5-4-1 in the last 10. not great, not bad. granted the preds have won 6 straight. the blues are surging 6-2-2 (64 pts), nearly everyone else behind columbus is faltering, the ducks are also 5-4-1 but they traded out of the playoffs imo, dallas didnt do much at the deadline -picked up morrison who post surgery went from a step slow to 2-3 slow(3-6-1), nashville held=as i mentioned they are surging though. edm made lateral moves (4-4-2). the flames added-but well see how that pans out long term i think you can deal with oj in the short term, they are a tough, team right now.
sharks 63-94
wings 65-94
flames 64-84
bhawks 62-81
nucks 63-74
preds 65-70
cbj 65-70
oilers 64-68
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stars 64-68
ducks 65-68
wild 63-67
blues 63-64
as it stands today 17 games left on the schedule. it looks about like 10-6-1 will do it.
ps on mase, high glove... high glove... he needs to get his hand positioning corrected. though hes looked human the defense has been slumping.
its going to be tough sledding with 16 of 17 games against teams currently hunting...