GAME DAY: Boston @ Ottawa, 7:30PM, Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Hoags wrote:Anderson just won a game yesterday and now people are on him.

He has AMATEURS playing in front of him. It's probably hard for him to keep motivated when every few minutes there's a breakaway or oddman rush because Rundblah decides to play soccer with the puck or some other blunder by EK etc.

Yes it looks bad on him but most goalies in the NHL have something resembling competence in front of them.

If Rundblad was the defenceman in the SEL I'd hate to see the worst one.

Yeah, I agree although I also think Anderson realize that we're really young and it's gonna happen. But on the flip side, there are still some horrific plays that need to stop.

I'm a really strong believer that Rundblad should go to the AHL tomorrow and Boroweicki or Gryba should come up for a while. This doesn't taint anything about Rundblad's talents to me, he's 21 and gonna be a nice player, but he needs to learn things about this game - most notably how to play in the defensive zone. The confidence he showed earlier in the year when he would hit guys to separate the puck is gone completely, now it's just one or two nice player and one or two terrible plays that result in PPs against or goals.

Please...10-15 games, it'll make a big difference and it certainly won't hurt.

Hoags wrote:Anderson just won a game yesterday and now people are on him.

He has AMATEURS playing in front of him. It's probably hard for him to keep motivated when every few minutes there's a breakaway or oddman rush because Rundblah decides to play soccer with the puck or some other blunder by EK etc.

Yes it looks bad on him but most goalies in the NHL have something resembling competence in front of them.

If Rundblad was the defenceman in the SEL I'd hate to see the worst one.

He played very well yesterday and the Sens won because of his play. That doesn't have anything to do with his play tonight, though. The first goal was a stinker and he really needs to stop a breakaway once in a while. It was like Lalime was in nets tonight. Every time someone had a clear look at the net, the puck went in.

Last night he was great. Tonight he needed to be better.

Ha. Good point.

@HockeyScanner
Wayne Scanlan
T Thomas, asked about his success at SBP. "I'm 12-1 in my last 13. I don't think it's the building."

That 5th goal was a rocket. The others you'd think a couple could have been stopped. Definitely the first one -- they completely outplay them and are down 1-0 on *one* bad play from Phillips. Of the two breakaways would have been nice to stop one. The Kelly goal was kind of flukey with Carkner missing his stick and Rundblad going for a skate. But it wasn't exactly a hard shot -- if he was out more maybe he grabs it before Kelly gets it.

I don't want to crap on Anderson, and he did not lose the game for us, but this is a fragile team and they played well-enough to be ahead after two, yet there they were down 1-2.

spader wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:It's Cussing BS to complain about Anderson. Yeah, MAYBE one or two he could've had tonight, but he WON us the game last night, so if you're going to torch him when he lets in a bad one, give him credit when it's due.

It isn't BS to complain about Anderson when he's letting in soft goals. Period.

Yeah, I have to agree. First goal was weak, and so was the 4th, the real back breaker. 2nd was flukey, 3rd is a skill guy all alone, and the 5th is a perfect shot -- no complaints on those. But we're not a team that can spot the other team 1-2 goals a night.

Andy has to be better, plain and simple.

To be fair, though, it's clear the team has little confidence in Auld, and it was a back-to-back situation. I think we just learned you can't plan Andy back to back like that -- I think that's what MacLean was talking to Cameron about right after that fourth goal. We need an injury to Auld so Lehner can get a start or two -- something to put Anderson a little more on his toes.

Damn they peppered Boston with 49 shots and LOST 5-2???? That's one horrendous defence.....and offence.

Big Ev wrote:Yup lets not put some blame on pylon Carkner for batting the puck with his hand, lets all rip on the rookie playing his off-side. Typical.

He had no stick.

Yeah anytime you outplay a team then give up a goal like that, you're pretty much Cussed, there's millions of example like this.
Our defense has the least amount of experience in the league, nobody should be surprised. It's not a coincidence we allowed back 2 back goals in less than 3 minutes in pretty much 1/5 of the games this year. Unfortunately we don't have an elite goalie to back us up when breakdowns happen.
Just relax, this is not unexpected.

Bah. Well, key injuries here and there (Kuba, Gonchar, Michalek), some young inexperienced D, some questionable goals, up against a hot and rolling team... it is what it is. We took the play to them but Thomas was on his game. The score doesn't tell the truth on this one. So we move on and continue to build...

Blow it up! Parise for Lee.

In all honestly, they should be giving a guy like Gryba or Borowiecki a look up in Ottawa if Rundblad continues to struggle like he is. The vets that are out are killing the team right now but it is important to give more than 1 guy a look (Rundblad).

Anderson still has to be better. Yah, the goals going in aren't "bad goals"(first one last night was) but he needs to make a big save or two. Any goaltender in the NHL (except Auld) can make the routine save.

The season to this point has been very successful IMO but some guys are not ready to be in the NHL. Namely Filatov and Rundblad.

Boston didn't get 1 PP last night

Big Ev wrote:Boston didn't get 1 PP last night

Ottawa dominated that game start to almost finish. Thomas was awesome, Anderson wasn't, Rundblad made 2 huge mistakes. That's the game summed up in a sentence.

I'm not piling on Rundblad - everyone knows I adored him at the beginning of the year, but this is not a developmental league - especially in the heat of a playoff race.

I hope Mac is working with him closely in practices to try to bring out his confidence a bit. Don't worry about making fancy moves right now, employ the KISS method right away, then make fancy moves when the time is right.

This is a situation where Cowen's adapting to the NHL quickly because of intense hockey smarts + his game is much simpler than Rundblad's. Rundblad has the smarts, but his game is much more complex than Cowen's (for now). He desperately needs to spend time with a teacher like Stirling and Kleinendorst and Richardson down in Bingo (Jason Smith also works with them now I understand) and do what Da Costa is doing - play. Play HUGE minutes, put up major points, make the fancy moves in the AHL where it doesn't matter as much if you make a mistake, enjoy the game and set a personal goal to be back in February.

In the meantime, we could see Borowiecki, who's working his arse off, or Gryba who's made huge strides recently apparently.

DaCosta and Rundblad's problems are not the same. DaCosta plays the right way and most of the time makes the good decisions with the puck. He's just not ready physically and needs a little confidence boost.

Rundblad clearly has no clue what to do out there. Needs a full season or more of adjusting to the smaller ice.

LeKid wrote:DaCosta and Rundblad's problems are not the same. DaCosta plays the right way and most of the time makes the good decisions with the puck. He's just not ready physically and needs a little confidence boost.

Rundblad clearly has no clue what to do out there. Needs a full season or more of adjusting to the smaller ice.

That works in Rundblad's favour as well though, he's physically ready, he just needs to play massive minutes and have the coaching staff weed out some of the bad habits.

NEELY wrote:

Big Ev wrote:Boston didn't get 1 PP last night

Ottawa dominated that game start to almost finish. Thomas was awesome, Anderson wasn't, Rundblad made 2 huge mistakes. That's the game summed up in a sentence.

Don't forget Alfie throwing a short hard pass into Karlsson's skates when EK was last man back, leading to another goal.