The Winning Habit
Not going to start with Kotkaniemi yet. Two standouts were easily Mete and Noah Juulsen. I wasn’t sure whether Claude Julien was going to give the idea of playing the two young defencemen together would be a long-term idea, but it worked. Mete was flying out there, making so many quick turns and pivots to evade players and always keeping his head up, especially on the PP when manning the point.
Juulsen displayed some confidence as well activating from the blue line when he could. One moment stood out in the final minutes of the first. The 21-year-old activates from the point and skates with the puck from behind the net to the other side of the ice but remains low. He gets the puck back on the right side and takes a few strides before getting a shot from the circle quickly getting back to the blue line after.
It was fascinating to see Mete and Juulsen take turns playing down low while the other remained high in case anything happened. Usually with two mobile defencemen, one plays their usual role while the other succumbs to being the anchor. But seeing them communicate well and allow both to use their skills as great.
Tatar with Danault and Gallagher is still looking good as they have a fiery undertone to their play. None of them give up on the play, and it’s important to have that relentlessness spread throughout the line considering how well Gallagher is at not backing down.
I also think Desprès responded well after his first-period blunder. He settled down a bit not trying to do anything too extravagant, not saying a backhand pass is.
Now back to Kotkaniemi. The kid can play. The goal was great, but he made several defensive plays with his stick and positioning that’s going to take him a long way if he keeps it up. Being in the right places to provide outlets for his teammates leading to pucks out of the zone, as well as, using his stick to disrupt plays and tie up others players are the kinds of things Julien looks for in a centre.