Let's face it, until the injured come back and until Hart figures it out (I still have faith) this team will struggle to be .500. I'm really hoping Hart got the jitters out in the first game and those 2 he should have had were just anomalies because without him back to his usual self this team will lose 2 win 1 for a while.
Look at it this way, only the first line is a legit NHL line, after that:
Line 2 - Brassard isn't a center anymore, let alone a 2nd line center.
Line 3 - I really like Laughton and Lindblom but Laughton excels on the 4th line and Lindblom isn't quite back yet. JVR is better on another team.
Line 4 - Willman & Thompson are no better than Chris Vandevelde & Dale Weiss.
Then on D, the same thing - after the first pairing it's a mess.
Braun really should be a 'player-coach' at this point but at the most, 3rd pairing/7th
Seeler - I appreciate his 'effort' but in the NHL, effort isn't enough.
The lineup looks completely different when the injured come back (and Frost comes up)
Giroux-Couturier-Konecny
Farabee-Hayes-JVR
Lindblom-Frost-Atkinson
Brassard-Laughton-NAK
Ivan Provorov-Ryan Ellis
Travis Sanheim-Risto
Keith Yandle-Braun
They are just going to have to grind out the first 15-20 games and hope they get better than average goaltending until then.
Come on boys! Don't suck completely!