Howie58

I have the solution on Defense: Let's bring back Lasse Kukkonen. At 37, he is still playing in the Swedish League. [Hidden Content] Maybe he will provide "veteran leadership" along with MacDud. Jeepers, he came to mind watching tonight's game...brought back bad memories of '06-'07.

It would not surprise me to see either Lyon or Stolarz back up sooner than later. Our first defense pairing is not working. I hope this is just an early season sorting mess. Meanwhile, every point counts.

Pickard's last two goals were pretty soft. He has doesn't done much to be kept around. That said, I agree with our broadcast team: Our D has been porous. This is a house of horrors for the O and B. Three and fourteen. Yikes. Bobo....11 wins against us. Yikes. How do you spell R E G R E S S I O N from the second half of last year?

Boy, is Pickard channeling with Elliott? We start out well, get a lead, and then get rattled. Maybe I need to play goal. Occam, I want you on D.

We can't get into a shoot 'em out. We are allowing them through the neutral zone with no opposition.

Greetings: We are the underdog according to the bookies. [Hidden Content] Putting aside Bobo's mastery, note our record in Ohio. [Hidden Content] I am not sure if this is an overlap with Bobo, or if this is tough venue? Regardless, we will have our hands full.

Per earlier post, I worry that Elliott is unglued. Seriously. Sadly, it reminds me of what I witnessed at the end of Jacques Plante's career when Boston picked him up as a stopgap. He was no longer capable of following play appropriately. Elliott will start quite strongly, but as the game wears on, he seems to weaken. We may need Pickard. Who know with our friend Mr. Neuvy.

Quick Thoughts: 1) We may be seeing the physical and mental disintegration of Elliott. The goal scored after his failure to play the puck should have been it for the night. 2) Weal has some good offensive instincts. Fine. What else? 3) Gudas and Folin may have been our best defenders tonight. Yes, I just typed that. 4) Do we give more weight to blowing a three goal lead, or showing some gumption in winning in the skills competition? Ellliott starts strong and fades rapidly. Pickard shows some mobility. But I doubt Parent could make things much better with this D. Strange

Vis, this one is at WFC.

Yeah, living in South Florida I can say there were high expectations for the squad. They barely missed the playoffs and had one of the est second half performances. Reimer hasn't performed well this year, and they aren't scoring. You hope they don't snap out of it tonight.

Greetings: This games features a desperate, winless Panthers squad versus our under-performing Flyers: [Hidden Content] We are mild favorite: [Hidden Content] This has been a tough matchup the last few years. Hopefully our D can shut down the Barkov Line.

I thought this would be shoot 'em up. Instead it was a goaltending clinic. I will stay with day job. It's hard to fault effort. The team worked. Even Weise seemed with it. Fleury was the difference. Florida will be a big test.

Greetings: We are showing as fairly heavy favorites for this game: [Hidden Content] VGK is off to a slow start (1-4), which may have something to do with that. On our side, the question is which version of Flyers show up: The Shark version or the Ottawa one? I also wonder if Mr. Pickard is between the pipes or does Hak go back to his "starter?" I suspect we will have more line juggling with Patrick's absence. This could be high scoring shoot 'em out.

This merry-go-round is a bit complex. But I have to wonder if Neuvirth is odd man out with injury history. I don't see anybody trading for him or picking him up at trade deadline. I would have more faith in Lyon, Stolie, or Pickard in back-up role. This isn't a cap management move--the O and B are OK with that. But keeping with the Phantoms causes less disruption. He can be a mentor to the youngins and leave gracefully for Europe...can't see much NHL interest.

Hello Gang: I was at work. Was Pickard better than the save percentage says?