Won’t lose too much sleep over Pre-Season games.
A couple of errors, and a seriously good Garnett, meant we didn’t look great at times.
First period we were dominant (except for the first 38 seconds when they scored) but just couldn’t get the puck in to the net.
There was some very nice interplay between both new and old players. Occasional glimpses of sheer magic from Blood, Linglet and Dixon were mixed in with some lovely build up play.
Im not sure what the shots on goal total was for the first, but it was clear who the busiest goaltender was.
The second was a bit more disjointed, with different lines being tested. However it did mean more ice time for Rutkis who looks like a serious player. Given possible injury news it may be that he sees a lot more ice time with us to start the year out than expected.
Unfortunately some obvious rust and perhaps some tactical issues showed, and defensively the lack of distinct units due to playing different combos meant there was some expected miscommunications and errors.
Lovely assist from the linesman’s foot for a Panthers breakaway goal which saw the game put to bed in earnest, but a good physical outing which should give us plenty to work on and a good hit out for the lungs for some of the guys who were in heavy rotation.
Tonight no Myers, Faryna or Martin, with Linglet not making an appearance towards the end as previously mentioned. Bowns was in all game, except for the empty netter (obviously).