Twenty-seven goals. That's how many times the T-birds have put the puck in the back of the net the last four games. That's almost, but not quite, seven goals a game. Once again, the offensive onslaught coincides with the team being almost completely healthy and available. It gives them the ability to roll four lines. It gives them scoring depth. It gives them a very deep arsenal.
Eight T-birds averaged at least a point per game over those four wins. This is no one line team. The funny thing though is, the average of nearly seven goals a game with their mostly complete roster the last four games, isn't much higher than what they did in the previous four games when they could only ice 16 skaters each game. Yeah, in those four games they could muster only 22 goals or just over five goals per game. The biggest difference these last four games with the 18 skaters available, was more energy from start to finish in each game. They got leads and they built on them.
After each game I check in with head coach Matt O'Dette to get his assessment of his team's performance that night. The overriding theme from our conversations is that they are playing well, but they're not there yet. Where is "there"? That would be as close to a perfect sixty minutes of hockey as you can get. He knows his team has not hit their peak. He knows there are areas they can clean up or improve on, even when they are winning 7-2. He is not asking for perfection. No team ever plays the ideal, perfect game. He's asking that they play every game, every period and every shift without cutting corners or falling off their good habits. He's asking them to aim for perfection.
The Thunderbirds were just 3 of 15 on the power play in their two games up in Victoria this weekend. That's still 20 percent success with the man advantage. I say just 20 percent because they were humming along at a nearly 40 percent clip on the power play since December 30th. That rate wasn't sustainable. They were going to drop off a bit. But it wasn't like they fumbled away power play opportunities. The Royals, despite their bottom of the conference spot in the playoff chase, still have a top ten penalty killing unit. Give some credit to them. The T-birds power play was, and is, just fine.
Lucas Ciona is becoming a power play specialist. In his last ten games he has nine goals and five of them are of the power play variety. How is he doing it? He's keeping it simple by putting his physical frame in front of the opposing goal and banging home rebound or deflecting point shots.
In the 14 games he's played since Christmas, Kevin Korchinski has 14 assists. In the 11 games he's played since Christmas, Jeremy Hanzel has 11 assists. Korchinski is rightfully getting plenty of top of the draft buzz for the 2022 NHL Draft. I think the draft buzz is going to start picking up again for Hanzel too. Either way, Seattle has a great duo on the blue line with these two.
My T-birds Three Stars for the Weekend:
Third Star: W Conner Roulette. The 2021 Dallas Stars draft pick finished the weekend with five points (1g,4a) and a +5 rating. It seems it's a different hero stepping up for the T-birds each game and Saturday in Victoria it was his turn. He ended the game with four points, but I'm not sure he didn't get shorted an assist. He's gone about his business this season in an almost quiet fashion, racking up 47 points (16g, 31a) and is +23.
Second Star: C Henrik Rybinski. Like Roulette, Rybinski now has 47 points on the season after earning six points on the weekend with three goals and three assists. Saturday, when Victoria crept within two goals in the third period, it was Rybinski who burst their comeback bubble with a pair of goals. The only question still unanswered is which NHL team is going to sign the free agent to an entry level deal.
First Star: W Lukas Svejkovsky. Three goals, two assist and +4 in two games on Vancouver Island. In ten games now for Seattle he has 17 points (6g, 11a) and is +12. He has such a wicked shot, especially off the rush. All of his goals have come over the last four games, which seems to coincide with him being completely over his battle with Covid. In those four games he has six goals and five assists. This is why Seattle was willing to pay such a steep price to get him in a trade from Medicine Hat in late December.
No comments:
Post a Comment