We're now in "hope" phase. That ain't good.
After last night's 2-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, we heard an exasperated John Tortorella talking about his slumping offense. In particular, you can see on his face the frustration with several veteran players, who have not elevated their play in the absence of so many key pieces.
For a coach, that's got to be infuriating.
They have no other choice. He said it himself: they can't just keep interchanging pieces up and down from Cleveland. They have a handful of established, talented players here that just aren't getting it done. You can look to a number of players, many of whom have had productive years in the past and have gone drier than an expensive red:
- Nick Foligno doesn't have a goal since Dec. 14. That was 11 games ago. He has seven total in 42 games.
- Boone Jenner has four goals in 35 games. He's got a 30-goal, 18-goal and 16-goal season on his NHL resume before the age of 25. They need more from him.
- Zach Werenski, a 20-year-old defenseman, has 11 goals. That's more than Cam Atkinson and Alexander Wennberg (both injured) combined. That's more than Atkinson and Matt Calvert combined. More than Atkinson and Brandon Dubinsky combined. You get it.
Here's Tortorella post-game last night, in which he discusses their scoring woes:
Hearing him say they're "hoping" those players turn it around is concerning. Sure, they have January schedule free of division games and they've been getting some standings help lately, but they need to win. They need to score first, then worry about winning.
Without those guys chipping in, it's going to be a long haul until they get their injured players back in the lineup.
YOU SHOULD BE READING
- Dean Kukan is an AHL All-Star for the first time, it was announced on Thursday. Congrats to him.
- Sam Blazer has the full-fledged recap of last night's game in Denver, in case you missed it.
- Seth Jones appeared on the YouTube show "On the Bench." It's a pretty funny skit.
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