You and I aren't going to agree much on this point. I do agree that we were physically dominated by Ottawa, and power forward types would help, but it's not like that's been a problem all season. This is the first time we've seen a team employ that strategy. You know what HAS been a problem all season? Scoring. Even strength, powerplay, all of it. Four of our top six forwards last night have a combined 21 even strength goals on the season. Add Larkin and Rayond and you have FORTY TWO even strength goals. Our entire top six only has 10 more goals than Mikko Rantanen for f*cks sake. Half the offensive players we do have (Kubalik, Vrana, Berggren) get thrown on bottom lines with pud linemates and zero icetime. We have ONE offensively gifted center in the whole organization.
But at least there's the powerplay right? Nope. We had EIGHT powerplay opportunities last night and didn't score on a single one of them. EIGHT. Try to goon it up like that against Tampa or Boston or Toronto or Edmonton or Carolina...or Ottawa...and you're going to get caved. It's easy to say, "they pushed us around" and it's hard to argue against. But if that game was 4-1 Detroit at the end of the first period instead of 4-1 Ottawa I guarantee they'd have cut that sh*t out in a hurry.
At the beginning of the season we were expecting roughly 30+ goals each from Bert, Larkin, Vrana, and maybe Raymond, with another 15-20 from Copp, Perron, and Kubalik. Anything that Ras, Zadina, Suter, Berggren, Sodorblom, etc. added would have been gravy. Instead our entire forward group (defense has scored better than anticipated) have regressed under Lalonde. Every single one of them. That's an issue.
Agreed, I'm not saying I hate it. Just that I'm confused by it. Best case scenario RIGHT NOW he's another Cross Hanas. I sure hope so.