You do a great job Aarif. Don’t take comments about the media as a direct shot at you.

Lehkonen was elevated to PP1 in favor of Val after the PP struggled to close out Game 2.

also, this narrative that media doesn’t ask the tough questions is stupid. Beyond stupid.

They need to put Coyle or Nelson in to take the initial faceoff on the PP. Mack keeps losing the draw and it is then a wild scramble for the remaining 2 minutes or even 4. They need to quit passing the puck so much looking for the really open net and never producing shots. Shoot the puck and have more than one person standing in front. Not sure why the Av’s never seem to adapt to the opponents changes. DeBoer always seems to one up Bedsie in making adjustments during the game. I also saw Pete have an angry exchange with one of his players. All that seems to be missing on our side. The Av’s have so much more talent that Dallas making this so much harder to watch. It’s amazing the conversation is no longer centered around being bounced in the second round but that we can’t get out of the first round.

Then, on the power play, I think the biggest issue is that MacKinnon and Necas are best suited to the same position: the left circle. With Nate occupying that spot for basically his entire career, it means Marty is forced to play either behind the net as a rover, in the bumper slot, where he’s not that effective, or at the net front, where his deflection game needs some work. So, I propose the following power play units: 1) point – Makar, left circle/zone entry – MacKinnon, right circle – Nelson (having a more confident shooter there, like Rantanen used to be would be beneficial), bumper – Lehkonen, and net front – Landeskog (put him back where he can do what he’s done best his whole career); 2) point – Toews, left circle/zone entry – Necas, right circle – Drouin, bumper – Coyle, and net front Nichushkin. These units would also give the power play some balance, so we don’t always have the same five guys out there getting stale. It also puts two right-handed shots on each unit, for added balance.

If we lose this series, Bednar has to go. Pete Deboer has bounced us from the playoffs the last 4 times we’ve faced his team. He always plays two high and throws us off of our game. Bednar can’t learn how to coach around that. However, the most recent strike against Bednar is how the Avs had absolutely no urgency in a 3-minute+ pp to start a sudden death OT. To me, that falls on the coach. Yes, he’s won a cup but the talent of this core group and all of the pieces the front office went out and obtained this season is being squandered and I’m tired of Bednars lackadaisical demeanor on the bench/pressers. Clearly, there’s no fire in that locker room and this team does not look hungry.

After all the assets were pushed into the middle of the table this year for Coyle and Nelson, if they don’t regroup and win the cup this year, it could close real fast. Hard telling not knowing though…