Speed to burn, baby. Charlotte was still too loose with the puck for my liking, but holy crap ... they have a speed advantage over the Wolves, and they turn it into chances on the regular. I also thought they did a great job of absorbing and diffusing the Wolves' pretty obvious desire to stir up the physical nonsense. I mean, that's probably a smart play because Chicago doesn't look to have many matchup advantages and that's one that falls in their favor. But Rocky Thompson doesn't need to be calling out Velluci over his comments following Game 2 like that ... its childish. As well run as that Las Vegas franchise has been, there's a persistent streak of the playground bully that runs through their organization that I do not care for.
Brown's line with Necas and Jurco was filled with danger, and both Matthios and Geekie continue to pop off the screen for me ... both have an edge to their game. Ned was terrific in bouncing back from a rough Game 1. His decisions handling the puck still give me angina, but the kid is a heck of an agile puck stopper. Gauthier scored and then sort of receded into the background, which is a continuing theme when I get the chance to watch Charlotte. On D both Bean and Sellgren stood out ... mobile, smooth and both stronger than they look. Chicago seemed to want to throw bodies at Sellgren in particular but the kid is stronger than he looks. He's little, but he's got game. Bean is starting to look a lot like what I expected Fleury to look like at this point ... confidently striding out of the zone, slipping probing passes to the forwards and ripping shots from the point. I'm deeply impressed with his progress.
