I wasn't bitching about Emery but damn there were a couple plays where I should have. He can't control rebounds worth a damn til that last one in the 3rd period. I think that was more rust than anything else, really.
Otherwise, he needs to kiss his goal posts tonight. They saved him at least twice tonight.
He owes them a can of red Rustoleum.
I noticed Shaw all night. Was I drunk? He had lots of good chances up front and was forechecking well. Once he starts finishing those chances more its all going to be good good good. Its a new 3rd line give them more than 2 games to gell. I actually like that line and see great potential if it is left a lone for a while. Stalberg and Shaw will work well together if given the right amount of time to develop.
How good is Bolland so far as the second line center. For those who were worried about him losing his edge playing the second line? Foolish. Guys feisty as ever and opening space for both Kane and Sharp. This is a good good line.
This teams PK is dynamite so far also. I am enjoying both PK lines out there.
Many of us who wanted Bolland on the 3rd line didn't say so because we didn't think he could handle it--we just though whomever would step into the #3c role wouldn't be able to sniff his jock, much less reasonably fill his role. Last year Kruger scared me in that role. But, in all fairness, this year Kruger looks right at home there. I hope both of them keep it up because the a lot of our center depth questions are answered.
I don't like that line of thinking...it'll come back to bite us in the butt when we hit some rough patches. And, believe me, we WILL hit them. We'll need our goaltending to bail us out on occasion, and, from what I saw tonight, that ain't gonna happen....
Anytime the goaltending needs to bail the team out means the team D screwed the pooch. IMHO whether ot not the goalie bails out the team D for a fuckup doesn't mean that the team D gets a pass. For instance last night: Yes, ride Emery for goal #1, but also ride Keith for his patented NHL 11 Pass to Nowhere™ that got intercepted (which has been a hallmark of his play for the past 2 seasons). Now, if Emery makes that save, it doesn't let Keith off the hook (an all-star and Norris winning d-man), from making a mistake you'd expect from a rookie or soph-level d-man.
That being said, in a +/-50 rating system (+50 being Tretiak, 0 being average, and -50 being wet Charmin™) in how they looked in their statistically-insignificant amount of games played so far, I'd give Crawford a +7 and Emery a -15. Crawford does look more comfortable and better thus far, but again, wasn't really tested at all except for a great shoulder save. Emery was pretty rusty.
