89Again

At least we know that if they give Bennett a shot, the second something looks wrong they will fold on him and put him back on the 4th line. They’ve done a great job of keeping his head spinning. I think giving him a solid shot at 3rd line centre is a good option but if that doesn’t pan out - trade him.

Nice FO win by Ryan and Lindy deserves the EN. Nice outcome, not a bad night.

Good contest between him and Rittich,

Backlund 13% FO% And great at flipping a few long range wristers to get the shots on net up!! Bennett 3 great passes and one of the lowest amounts of time played. One of the few hitting Bad penalty though. Lindholm looks great!

Nice to see Elliot in net!! Time to trade Bennett, they have destroyed him. He deserved more to start the season after last years playoffs Backlund still letting everyone down.

Worse game I have seen him play! Mangi was great!

Bennett and Mangi 10 & 7 mins ice time ??? I don’t care if we had a ton of penalties those guys are looking better than most! Backlund/ Frolik/ Jankowsli - bad Thanks Rittich! Thanks JG/SM/EL

Hallelujah Lucic, great to have a guy who can step in. Good riddance Neal!! SB - looking good Frolik, Jank, Czarnik - ouch Rittich - good Mangi - good Lindholm - good

I agree with this, will be interesting to see the lineup this evening but if Backs is in looks like SB gets bumped again and I don’t think they are going to stick him in Hathaway’s old spot. If I don’t see him on the 2nd PP I will be disappointed because I think his puck movement is better than just about everyone except JG.

I like the Bennett Ryan Mangi idea. Would be interesting

I was not exactly comparing them as much as I was noting that I am more concerned with Backlund as a second line centre vs Bennett as a 3rd line winger. My view of last year was that the results of the regular season were good so if we are looking to improve I would be targeting gaps learned from the playoff run. In that regard I see Backlund as a major gap. I also see goaltending and toughness particularly on D as a gap but I am happy with the call to give Rittich a shot.

I have been a big supporter of SB primarily because I have seen good skill in the presence of poor and changing line mates. I have also seen improvement each year and I see a great heart on a kid I would want on my team. The flames are low in grit and toughness as evidenced by their performance vs the Avs last year. SB is the last guy that should be grabbing so much negative attention on these boards but in speaking of him here I will say that his shooting in my view is poor and I think attributes to his performance relative to expectations. Goalies at this level are far superior and I don’t see strength in his shot even if he is getting chances. He should spend sometime with SM and see what a great shot/ release requires. If I was going to question anyone in a top six role and particularly relative to salary it would be Backlund. His playoff performance was horrible, he is probably the most schizophrenic player I have seen. Simply put, I can’t figure him out at all but after the playoffs, I am surprised to still see him on the team.

Everyone likes to see a deal and sticking to your pre-negotiation parameters is often not easy. You cant get emotional about business. BRAVO to BT. We still have a great young team amd can look at options in the summer - BRAVO. Backlund still shoots for stats but is playing well Ryan is finding chemistry and confidence Bennett and Jankowski get better every game We have great defensive depth - Fatenberg is a solid add Smitty is back lookin good and Big Save Dave is great Neal was even lookin better My only concern is playoff toughness - we have a shot

Its nice to see him get the credit he deserves- many people on these boards were slamming him and he has shown how wrong they are. Great in traffic, great at going to the net, great on the boards, tough and a great teammate. Scoring has not been what we wanted to date but he has also not had linemates and ice time. We must have a guy like Mr Bennett on the team he desrves more credit because he has and is persevering.

I liked giving Bennett some time on the 2nd line but Frolik does need to be playing and 3M does click. I like the Bennett Jankowski Neal line but agree that they need ice time together and in my view Neal is the weak link. Bennett is creating chances when he is on the ice but he gets limited playing time. He needs to use his vision to set up plays and he needs to keep the hard work in the corners. He should stop worrying about scoring. It would be interesting to see points by minutes played. Bennett is getting progressively better defensively and I think with a stronger right wing, he and Jankowski could press the 2nd line for playing time. Both he and Jankowski are continually improving. They want to play Neal because they are paying him but.... he looks slow, shots poor and he doesn’t play tough and doesn’t take draws. What is he bringing? Lets face the facts. Bennett and Hathaway are the only tough guys on the team, they are rare in that they can play and are tough we cant lose guys like this particularly when it comes to playoff time. I keep waiting for Neal to impress me but its must not happening. The team is playing great and BP needs to be given credit. If there are question marks its Neal, Backlund as the 2nd line center and a lack of toughness. Lets just keep our fingers crossed that Rittich keeps up his play.