Game 4 Flyers at Predators 10/10/17 8:00 pm

[OccamsRazor]

Big game here to close out the 4 game road trip.

 

Facing a damn good Preds team.

 

It will be a tough battle but a winnable one if they continue to play a hard tough 60 minutes.

 

So far i think i like G on the wing. I'm still not ecstatic about his line mates.

 

Soon (not right now maybe) i would love when he has shown he has adjusted to the speed of the game completely. I would love to see Patrick on the 1st line centering G.

 

Then you could slide Coots to the 3rd or 2nd line.

 

And i would love to seen Jake dropped down and be replaced by TK.

 

So it could be a very nice quick skilled line of Giroux-Patrick-TK.

 

The other lines could be sorted or to accommodate the switch.

 

 

28 Claude Giroux - 19 Nolan Patrick - 11 Travis Konecny
40 Jordan Weal - 14 Sean Couturier - 17 Wayne Simmonds
15 Jori Lehterä - 51 Valtteri Filppula- 93 Jake Voracek
20 Taylor Leier - 21 Scott Laughton - 12 Michael Raffl

9 Ivan Provorov - 47 Andrew MacDonald
6 Travis Sanheim - 3 Radko Gudas
53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 8 Robert Hägg

37 Brian Elliott
[30 Michal Neuvirth]

 

I would start with something like this soon. I would eventually like to get Sam Morin in the lineup soon too.

 

As of right now no lineup announcements yet.

 

[Samifan]

While I am very pleased with how they played during the 3 games in Cali, two things concern me;

• Simmonds has scored half of the teams goals so far this season.
• Jake continues to be a turn over machine when he tries to carry the puck. I also hate him in the point when on the PP. You need shooters on the point and Jake has a pass first mentality.

Hoping they continue to play well. It would be refreshing to see the Flyers have a successful and winning October for once.

[fanaticV3.0]

Hak hates Morin.

[FD19372]

4 minutes ago, fanaticV3.0 said:

Hak hates Morin.

The probably really is that he LOVES MacDonald. Morin should be playing on that 3rd defensive pairing, though. So much for the "Hak likes to play youth" thing.

[Leach27]

Meltzer laid out all the reasons why morin is not in the lineup.


http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Bill-Meltzer/Meltzers--Musings-Road-Trip-Morin-Sanheim-and-More/45/87961



 

[vis]

Nice to look forward to games these days.  It's been a fun start to the season.  Getting more enjoyment out them in recent years.

 

Is this Nashville's home opener?  Has a team ever opened by playing four road home-opener games in row?

[vis]

9 minutes ago, Leach27 said:

Meltzer laid out all the reasons why morin is not in the lineup.


http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Bill-Meltzer/Meltzers--Musings-Road-Trip-Morin-Sanheim-and-More/45/87961

I really want to see Morin in the lineup.  I get that he's facing a numbers issue.  But a couple of thoughts:

 

Hard to compare him and Sanheim, imo, since they are different players.  However, I thought Morin had a better camp than Sanheim in terms of consistency.  Yes, Sanheim could be a dynamic player and generate offense, but he is prone to defensive lapses.  He's high-risk/high-reward.  Morin seems steadier, but certainly without the flash.

 

Hagg does nothing great and is unnoticeable.  That's not a criticism, per se, and even a compliment to some degree.  I suppose he's "steadier" than Morin.

 

But, between Hagg and Morin, I would prefer Morin in the lineup because of his size and strength.  He brings a dimension to the team that it lacks, even with Gudas on the ice.

 

I suppose Hagg, because he's steadier and has seniority over Morin, deserves the nod.

 

All the youth is a good problem to have.  

 

Having MacDonald in your lineup is not.  And that's the real issue.  He better be Mark Messier in the locker room.  

 

 

[flyercanuck]

13 minutes ago, vis said:

Nice to look forward to games these days.  It's been a fun start to the season.  Getting more enjoyment out them in recent years.

 

Is this Nashville's home opener?  Has a team ever opened by playing four road home-opener games in row?

 

I don't think Anaheim was their home opener...but it is Nashvilles. 

[OccamsRazor]

20 minutes ago, vis said:

I really want to see Morin in the lineup.

 

 

I would to but no chance as Hak continues to dress his new lap dog.

 

Mcdud.

 

Sure he has played better but i still see the panicked play from him when the puck is down low near the goal...i would switch it up to get the kid some playing time.

 

Hagg or Gudas can play the right side of Ivan and Morin could slide down to the bottom with Ghost.

 

Ghost and Morin played well in the preseason so i would expect them to play well again.

 

I would roll out this...

 

Ivan-Gudas

Sanheim-Hagg

Morin-Ghost

 

Just to see and get Morin some playing time.

 

Wishful thinking i guess.

[fanaticV3.0]

1 hour ago, FD19372 said:

The probably really is that he LOVES MacDonald. Morin should be playing on that 3rd defensive pairing, though. So much for the "Hak likes to play youth" thing.

 

I read something on Twitter that it is believed that his contract plays a role in that.

[vis]

31 minutes ago, flyercanuck said:

 

I don't think Anaheim was their home opener...but it is Nashvilles. 

Ah, alas you are correct.  3 out of 4 ain't bad, though...

[brelic]

I wouldn’t mind seeing PP1 switched up. Filppula is not great there.

 

I’d take him out and put either Provorov or Sanheim up there. Provorov seems to have PP2 under control and they have some chemistry going, so maybe Sanheim first. 

 

Tell Jake to get closer to the net. Maybe be a second trigger man. 

[flyercanuck]

3 hours ago, vis said:

Ah, alas you are correct.  3 out of 4 ain't bad, though...

 

 Or good...depending on which way you look at it. 

 

 I'm sure the Flyers aren't thrilled about the scheduling.

[OccamsRazor]

Looks like no change for tonight's game...

 

.

..too bad for Morin....Neuvy in net.

[elmatus]

17 hours ago, brelic said:

I wouldn’t mind seeing PP1 switched up. Filppula is not great there.

 

I’d take him out and put either Provorov or Sanheim up there. Provorov seems to have PP2 under control and they have some chemistry going, so maybe Sanheim first. 

 

Tell Jake to get closer to the net. Maybe be a second trigger man. 

 

How about: 

 

Provo

Sanheim

Ghost

Morin

Hagg

 

For a pp line? Get Morin in front of the net.

[brelic]

Apparently, Morin will be returned to LHV tomorrow. So he didn't make the team out of camp.

 

Kinda surprised by it, but Sanheim playing both left and right sides makes him more versatile and able to slot in where he's needed. Meltzer's argument is a good one that Morin really has limited slotting in the lineup. He'll have to wait until injuries pile up or bodies are moved out.

 

 

[elmatus]

27 minutes ago, brelic said:

He'll have to wait until injuries pile up or bodies are moved out.

 

The fun part with this is it's exactly what I think of when I look at Morin, just not in this sense.

 

I won't lie -- it's kind of disappointing to see him sent back down. I thought he was very impressive in pre-season. Unlike others here though, I actually felt Sanheim was more impressive, so I'm happy he's sticking around at least.

 

You're likely right in that his only playing on the left is hurting his chances right now. Provo's not moving, and I have a feeling Ghost and Hagg will be sticking together for a while yet. That means he's either bumping Sanheim, or Sanheim gets moved to the right. If Sanheim gets moved to the right, he would in turn be bumping either Hagg, Gudas, or He-who-shall-not-be-named.

 

Messy situation for sure. I know what I'd do, but alas, it dawns on me Hakstol has a different view of things than I do. Fair enough I suppose. He's an NHL coach, and I am not. So there's that.

[brelic]

9 minutes ago, elmatus said:

 

The fun part with this is it's exactly what I think of when I look at Morin, just not in this sense.

 

I won't lie -- it's kind of disappointing to see him sent back down. I thought he was very impressive in pre-season. Unlike others here though, I actually felt Sanheim was more impressive, so I'm happy he's sticking around at least.

 

You're likely right in that his only playing on the left is hurting his chances right now. Provo's not moving, and I have a feeling Ghost and Hagg will be sticking together for a while yet. That means he's either bumping Sanheim, or Sanheim gets moved to the right. If Sanheim gets moved to the right, he would in turn be bumping either Hagg, Gudas, or He-who-shall-not-be-named.

 

Messy situation for sure. I know what I'd do, but alas, it dawns on me Hakstol has a different view of things than I do. Fair enough I suppose. He's an NHL coach, and I am not. So there's that.

 

Yeah, I thought he was very impressive in preseason too. In fact, he was one of the six most impressive defensemen. The two outliers being MacDonald and Manning. But we know MacDonald isn't going anywhere.

 

Manning is a perfect 7th. So Manning is not blocking Morin. 

 

There's just a crappy logjam right now, and Morin will get his shot. 

[vis]

Who would you rather see in the lineup: Hagg or Morin?

 

Seems to me Morin could replace Hagg as Ghost's partner with no LD vs. RD issue.

 

Of course, if there is an injury during the game Hagg gives you some flexibility you wouldn't have with Morin.  But is that really an issue given the other d-men capable of playing LD vs. RD?

 

Perhaps the theory is that Hagg's steadiness allows Ghost to be more of a risk taker and play his game.  But isn't Morin capable of that as well?

 

To me, the choice is between Hagg and Morin since they seem to fit in similar roles.  Sanheim is a different player than those two.

 

 

 

 

 

[Honest Bender]

I love y'all normally, but please don't spoil our first ever banner raising night.

 

Preds look like they're going to really shakeup the forward lines tonight. Unfortunately they still have Matt Freakin' Irwin on the top defense pair with Josi. He is a horrible defenseman and totally neuters Josi. They were paired together due to injury last season and Irwin exceeded expectations for 3-4 games and then started fading throughout the season until he was an abomination in the Cup Final. For whatever reason Lavy only remembers the handful of decent games and forgets the rest of Irwin's career. And of course the Bitetto-Weber pair is also substandard. Meanwhile we kept Samuel Girard to get a 9 game stint and of course he hasn't even dressed yet. So it's probably up to Rinne if the Preds have any chance tonight, regardless of what the new forward lines are able to do. 

[off_the_post]

@OccamsRazor I normally don't get too involved in the potential line up combinations but I like yours in the OP.  But I would tend to like anything that did not include 22 in the top 12. However it is hard to fault Hak in keeping things the same if they have been working.

 

I like the idea of 15 and 51 together on the 3rd line.  I've not seen anything from 22 that doesn't lead me to believe 15 can't do it. 

[off_the_post]

On ‎10‎/‎9‎/‎2017 at 9:56 AM, Samifan said:

Simmonds has scored half of the teams goals so far this season.

I am not concerned about this.  I'm sure the Caps are not too worried that OV has scored 50% of their goals to date either.  Personally I'm just happy the Flyers are scoring so far (aside from being shut out in LA).

 

I agree with you on 93. 

[RJ8812]

Sad seeing Morin sit in favour of McDud

[RJ8812]

3 hours ago, brelic said:

 

Yeah, I thought he was very impressive in preseason too. In fact, he was one of the six most impressive defensemen. The two outliers being MacDonald and Manning. But we know MacDonald isn't going anywhere.

 

Manning is a perfect 7th. So Manning is not blocking Morin. 

 

There's just a crappy logjam right now, and Morin will get his shot. 

Meltzer said the Flyers brass wasn't as impressed as the fans were with Morin during the preseason. And yet they constantly put McDud in the line up on the top pair knowing he constantly makes rookie mistakes 

 

What were they watching? 

[King Knut]

On 10/9/2017 at 8:50 AM, OccamsRazor said:

Big game here to close out the 4 game road trip.

 

Facing a damn good Preds team.

 

It will be a tough battle but a winnable one if they continue to play a hard tough 60 minutes.

 

So far i think i like G on the wing. I'm still not ecstatic about his line mates.

 

Soon (not right now maybe) i would love when he has shown he has adjusted to the speed of the game completely. I would love to see Patrick on the 1st line centering G.

 

Then you could slide Coots to the 3rd or 2nd line.

 

And i would love to seen Jake dropped down and be replaced by TK.

 

So it could be a very nice quick skilled line of Giroux-Patrick-TK.

 

 

I don't like the first line either, but it's mostly because of Voracek.  Although they're looking good really and have a number of even strength goals, so I can't really complain too much.

 

I still don't know why they're not trying Simmer on their RW as the obvious problem is the lack of a finisher.  Replacing Coots isn't going to accomplish much as Val and Patrick both look to be set up men as well.  

 

To me the biggest problem at forward with this team is Weise Weise Weise.  If you send him down and bring up Lindblom, You have someone who can shoot and score to place around the lineup on the left side which enables you to play a bit on the right.

 

Giroux  Coots  Konecny

Lindblom  Filppula  Simmer

Weal  Patrick  Voracek

 

This gives Patrick a puck mover who will draw attention away from him and someone who can finish on the same line.  THis also gives every line a goal scoring finisher.  This also means no two lines with more than one Rookie (I don't count Weal as a rookie).  

 

The 4th line looks 100% better than last year's on paper, but the problem is they're still giving up big plays here and there and making mistakes that directly lead to goals.  

 

The long story short is that this is a bit inevitable with a 4th line, but I think as wonderful as everyone thinks they are (and they have been quite good on the whole) there's still room for improvement. 

 

I wonder if we're going to see Morin go down and Lindblom come up after this road trip.  Weise has simply not made the case for himself.  If Morin goes down, Weise can go to the press box and Lindblom can get minutes to see how it's going to look for him.

 

I hate this because to my eyes, Morin is a huge (no pun intended) key to this team's future, but the problem is until they unload MacDonald, there's just no room in the lineup for him that makes sense from a pairings perspective...  The further problem is that of the two, obviously we'd prefer Gudas to stick around.  

 

I'm frustrated because Hextall simply isn't doing what's in the team's best long term interest on defense.  And I say this fully admitting that MacDonald has played very well in the first three games.  But he's not in this team's future.  Morin is.   Unless there's a team out there telling Hextall, "We'll take MacDonald in a trade, but we need to see what he's got for ten games or so" or unless this team really thinks it can make a run, then Hextall has to make the call and send MacDonald back to the AHL.  It's unfortunate, but fair and realistic.

 

I'll give him a while longer to sort it out, but in the mean time I expect he's just secretly hoping for a MacDonald injury to avoid any awkwardness.  

 

And I say this knowing that if you switched them out today, Morin would probably play worse than MacDonald has been on the whole.  It's just development we need and it aint happening for him in the AHL after three years at this point.  He needs NHl competition.