-Buzzsaw-

Murph is actually a tall guy, but when there's a Giraffe wearing skates standing next to him he looks like Santa's helper.

Myers: (HUGE GRIN) COOL !!!

If you have an older guy like Cole... who maybe has a few aches and pains, why play him back to back when you've got a young stud, just a notch below Cole's skill level who is raring to play? They do have additional back up D who they can call on as well.

Petey has not been 'struggling'.... he has been top ten in NHL scoring 99% of the year... he is on target for another 100 pts. He makes everyone he plays with better... whether its Boeser/Miller or Kuzzy/Mikheyev or Lafferty/Mikheyev... most of the last two sets goals come as a result of one of his primary assists. He just needs guys who can put the puck in the net and know how to get into position and he will feed them gimmes. Plus he can routinely score goals that most other players dream about doing.

Those who are calling for us to trade for Lindholm and throw in Kuzzy and multiple assets including draft choices are not exactly considering. Lindholm is 29 and had one 40+ goal season couple years back, and he got a lot of time with Gaudreau and Tkachuk on the PP. This year he has 8 goals and 17 assists, and a -6 rating.... playing on the #1 line. Kuzmenko is 27 and has 8 goals and 11 assists and a 0 rating.... playing most of the time on 3/4 lines. And we are supposed to top up the offer for Lindholm with another player and a draft pick? Not likely.

Actually Bo is being paid what he should be.... the fact is, a #2 centerman who can score 30+ goals is an expensive proposition.

By the way... did anyone else think Boeser had a terrific defensive game? Really anticipating well... broke up multiple plays where the Rangers would have had a good scoring chance. Not to mention his offensive contributions.

You know MSG would drag Messier out of retirement to be a commentator, and would have to eat crow if the Rangers lost. So it would be almost as good as beating him as a player.

Rangers are the class of the East... no question. They are a year older, last year they had some jitters, but they are now rounding into a integrated, confident team. For the Canucks to beat them so decisively is a real indicator of how good this team can be. Soucy coming back has made a big difference in their defensive consistency... he is a reliable backend who stabilizes his partner and adds in offensive play. Not a perfect team, they really need to have Petey centering his own line... the Lotto line are too vulnerable to being keyed on.... other teams will start to focus on them and the existing 2nd line won't be able to pick the slack. Notice that Petey was largely responsible for Hogg's first goal... he shouldn't be on the ice with Hoggs but it was a line change. The only other way the Canucks solve this problem is by getting a bonafide second line center, but those do not come cheaply, and would probably break the Canuck's CAP. Team needs to either get Kuzmenko playing defensively to Tocchet's satisfaction, or find another winger who can join Petey and Mikheyev. But I think the solution is in the Canuck's hands right now... that is for Kuzmenko to play with Petey on the second line.

Well, that was a STATEMENT game.

Coilers won.... no surprise. My prediction is Deadmonton will compete for the 4th place position and a Wild Card slot. Where the Canucks will be is a question... at the beginning of the season I was predicting 3rd place. But with the great start and the fact they are continuing to pull out wins, I think 2nd in the division is a real possibility. I do think Vegas and LA will be right there... especially Vegas... I think they will recover some of their early season form.

I am wondering if DeSmith starts against the Rangers. He has to play one of the two games.

Coilers are probably going to win... Canucks need to put them in their place in first person.

This team needs its two top lines to both be threats. It is a mistake to load up the top line with both our top centers. The Coilers did that on and off for years, and got nowhere... They had the McDavid and Draisaitl line and nothing else. The Miller line works decently, even if the only permanent members are Miller/Boeser. And the Pettersson line can work equally well if you put a triggerman, i.e. Kuzzy, with Pettersson. Look at all the recent Cup winners... they all had top two lines working well. That was the situation with Vegas, with Colorado and with Tampa. When you have two lines who are threats, the other team cannot key on one. Tocchet needs to find a way for both lines to succeed.

Why would anyone think about putting Kuzzy in the Press Box when there were others who played much worse? Aman had a horrible game... missed several goldplated scoring opportunities which were gimme's... including a perfect setup from Kuzzy for a tap in. Aman was also responsible for missing his assignment and letting two D walk in and make perfect shots on Demko for two NJ goals. Yank Aman, put Suter back on the 4th line center position and put Kuzzy with Pettersson and Mikheyev again.

Canucks got into trouble in the game specifically because Aman failed to cover his man twice. Both goals by Miller and Smith were down to Aman not covering them. I don't like Aman centering the 4th line, he is not good enough. Yeah today the Pettersson/Miller/Boeser line looked good, but it is not a long term solution. Team needs the top two lines to be goalscorers to be a real contender. With Pettersson on the first line, the second loses all its creativity. Meanwhile Kuzmenko had tons of chances, but he was mostly on his own on his line in generating chances... no chemistry with the other guys. Put Suter back on the 4th line as center, and put Pettersson back on the 2nd line with Kuzzy and Mikheyev.

And what's worse, he is driving down Kuzmenko's value.

Tocchet's Postgame tells me he is out of ideas. Blaming the loss on missed opportunities is not an answer. If the team is organized and playing well, it finds a way to get it done. The fact Tocchet had Garland on the PP tells me he doesn't understand elite offensive players. Garland is a decent playmaker, but he is not a goalscorer... he does not have the consistent shot. Replacing Kuzmenko with him is not a solution.

Bullsh*t. Aman screwed up on his coverage of Thomas... left him open and let him score the winning goal. Karlsson was on the ice at the same time. Kuzmenko has 19 more points than Karlsson and 15 more than Aman.

Complete bogus drivel. Petey is a center... he is a set up guy, who uses the center of the ice on zone entries to cut back, move laterally and give the defense fits.

Why Kuzmenko benched in favour of Aman and Karlsson????? Sorry, but that is complete nonsense, and clearly Tocchet has a mental block when it comes to understanding Kuzmenko's value. The team is having trouble scoring goals... WHY REMOVE A PROVEN SCORER??? If Tocchet is concerned about defense on the Pettersson line, then put someone else in place of Mikheyev... but leave Kuzzy on the line. Better yet, leave both Mikheyev and Kuzzy on the line and let them play. The first 15 games of the season the line was on fire... yes, it was Mikheyev who was scoring, but who cares... leave them together. Now Mikheyev has cooled off, and Lafferty is not a fit... he just does not have the skills. Tocchet needs to take a ton of laxatives, and just blow out all his bullsh*t ideas about Kuzzy.

Smacking a woman is not appropriate.

Team got a little too relaxed after the first period and gave Ottawa life. As I mentioned before, this Ottawa team is better player wise than their record. They should be challenging for the Division. Hughes and Hronek were sloppy defensively, and had problems with clearing the net front... too many goals from rebound scrambles allowed. Myers and Zadorov were better than last game and did a good job of controlling the boards. Big Z still as a tendency to try to wander down ice too much... should be shooting it in 99% of the time, instead of trying to carry it across the blue line a couple times a period. Pettersson a good bounce back game... his goals were a little flukey or lucky, but he's been unlucky lately in not hitting the back of the net on some of his shots so it evened out. Pius Suter maybe the best player in both directions. Tocchet has a dilemma... he needs a good center on the 4th line, Aman is not that guy... on the other hand, when Suter is pulled from centering the grinders and put on the wing on the first or second line he does good things. Solution is finding another good 4th line center. Don't like Lafferty on the Pettersson line.

Disagree... predict at least an empty netter.

Giroux is a good player, but for whatever reason, the teams he plays on under-perform. This Ottawa team is better on paper than they are playing... gotta wonder if there is some dressing room cancer. Last year's team had fewer older experienced players but played better than their expected results.