We've arrived-but there's two questions to be answered

[Dirty Harry]

Markov and Komisarek may be the best shutdown pairing in the east, I'm not sure about that though. But two guys isn't enough to take on a top line, you need good defensive forwards. New Jersey might not have an elite shutdown pairing, but they have great defensive forwards (and Brodeur of course). In last year's final, the stifling of Ottawa's top line can be attributed to Pahlsson's line as much as the defensive corps.

OT but does Volchenkov look good out there for Ottawa or what? He's a very good defensive D-man.

[Neech]

OT but does Volchenkov look good out there for Ottawa or what? He's a very good defensive D-man.

I don't really understand what you're saying here, but I do think that Philips - Volchenkov is a great shutdown pairing.

[BTH]

Markov and Komisarek may be the best shutdown pairing in the east, I'm not sure about that though. But two guys isn't enough to take on a top line, you need good defensive forwards. New Jersey might not have an elite shutdown pairing, but they have great defensive forwards (and Brodeur of course). In last year's final, the stifling of Ottawa's top line can be attributed to Pahlsson's line as much as the defensive corps.

As for secondary scoring, it's an issue for us, but not the major one in my opinion. I actually think we have one of the most balanced attacks in the league, and we have young forward who can fill that sort of role in the future. 149 of our 227 goals came from players not on our top line (roughly two thirds).

We have a balanced attack but rarely are all lines going on one night. It's usually just the Kovalev line and then the other three lines alternate good games. We usually only blow people out when we score a lot of PP goals. At five-on-five, I'm not sure we have more than one consistant scoring threat.

[Neech]

We have a balanced attack but rarely are all lines going on one night. It's usually just the Kovalev line and then the other three lines alternate good games. We usually only blow people out when we score a lot of PP goals. At five-on-five, I'm not sure we have more than one consistant scoring threat.

Well if we had our balanced attack with all lines going each night we'd average six goals per game. The inconsistency is a problem, but that's a hallmark of a young team. I don't think secondary scoring is the first priority to address because we have young guys that will be able to fill that role more and more. S. Kost, Higgins (I still believe that this was a down year for him and he'll rebound next year), Latendresse, and to a slightly lesser extent Grabovski could all be good top 6 forwards within a few seasons.

I think we're at least an even +/- five on five. It really doesn't matter if the goals are coming from a different person each night or the same two people as long as you're scoring them. If it's a different line each night getting the same results as would one line each night, then fine. It probably makes the opposing coaches' job harder.