Svechnikov is back!!

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Visit Carvana.com or download the app to get pre-qualified today. So, Andre's back. That's fun. So, your thoughts on 37 back in and where he goes? Well, it's been a long time coming. For him, more than us. I mean, he's been itching at it.

So, he gave us the green light this morning, so that's good. Where does he fit? That's going to be a little bit of an ongoing process probably for a while until he gets some minutes in. So, I'll probably just monitor it and he'll probably play a little bit here and there and we'll just keep ramping him up as he gets more comfortable.

So, how much pent-up energy is there? It's, in a way, similar to when Jordan Martin hooks out of the lineup for a little bit, isn't it? Yeah. Any of these key guys, you know, you miss them.

You just do. Sometimes, some guys are a little more subtle. Some guys have a little more impact in the game. Especially, obviously, he's one of those guys that, when he's on the ice, you basically notice him every shift, right? He's an impact player. So, hopefully, again, you don't want to get too excited right now. Got to give him a few games here for sure to get his mojo back, but it's definitely great to have him.

All right. Now, he's going to have competition before the game because Martin Neches has taken to going on the ice and doing stick work like Andre always does before games. You might have to stagger their moments on the ice before games, but to Neches, what did you see from him last night? Obviously, the goals were great and the assist, you know, gives you the chance in overtime, but start to finish, what was number 88 like? Well, I think he...

I really like that. That line was good, but he was doing his thing. I mean, he did the stuff that stands out, but he also, he had a couple of other shifts where he actually finished the check in the corner. You know, then you look where he scored the first goal.

You know, that's the stuff. If he can add that to his game, it's going to make him a much better player, you know, getting a little gritty. And, you know, that's huge if he can do that for us. And I think Martin recognized that. He came back, looked like even bigger and stronger than he was a year ago, and he looked bigger and stronger last year.

Yes, Barry Cote can hear me also. There were a couple of back checks that completely erased chances. Is he becoming a 200-foot player for you? I hope so. You know, we've been harping on it since this time here. And, you know, I think I've seen, like you mentioned, as a good pick up by you, like he got back on a couple. Those are sometimes as good a score and goal, because prevent a goal, right?

I mean, it's that simple. And so, if these young guys, and they are young still, if they can get that into their game now, you know, they're going to have, I think, really long, successful careers. Because coaches want to put them out there when they play that kind of game.

So let me ask you about somebody who does that on a routine basis. There were moments in the game last night where Jacob Slavin just reminded you of why he's Jacob Slavin. There was a three-on-one, it seemed to me, in the third period that he erased on his own, and then no stick in overtime at a blocked shot. Right.

Totally. I mean, the overtime one is, you know, you lose a stick in overtime on three-on-three, you're in one. And, you know, but if he was the guy to lose your stick, that's the guy. Because he's so smart and, you know, he's so quick and he can just, he knows how to position himself. So that was, you know, one of those moments where, you know, he really stood out.

But you're right, the whole game, I mean, we talk about him enough. He's just an elite player away from the puck, and I think he's adding that other element too this year. So, he's coming into his own for sure.

I mean, he's been his own for many years, but I think he's added that other little element too. Yeah, I mean, well, he was leading your team in scoring until last night when Natchez and Cook and he and me blew by him. Defensively, is that closer to where you think this team needs to be? Yeah, our last couple of games, you're in that kind of mode. I mean, we gave up, you can't not give up chances.

I mean, that's, you know, it's going to happen. It's just, you're always trying to limit them. And I thought we did a nice job with that. You know, we scored a couple of goals. One was just, you know, pure, guy knocks it out of the air for a breakaway.

I mean, there's really, there's not much you're going to do there. And the other one was a good individual play. So you're kind of the rest, you know, we had when Freddie had to make saves in the third, there was that one shift where they had like three quick chances. One in the second, you know, those are the ones you've got to make.

I mean, the other goal is making them too. So, you know, I always say we can just battle that position out, even be even. We're usually in being pretty good shape.

Yeah, I thought Freddie was very good. Do you stay with him tonight? He didn't face a ton of shots.

Or do you go back down to Toronto? It's not, you know, he just came back from something. So we don't, you know, we're not going to rush him back in the game. Although I'd like to because I think he looked solid in there. Like that's the key is that a lot of confidence when you see a goalie play like that. But, you know, Ranch hasn't played in a while and we got to make sure we don't lose him too. So you don't want to get him too rusty. It was tempting though, wasn't it? Oh, yeah. When you see guys play well, you want to run them right back out there. But obviously that's not the right move.

Alright, two more quick things. Was that the best you have seen from Tony DiAngelo since the season started? I mean, it's tough to pick anyone out that wasn't good yesterday. I mean, we were really pretty solid all the way through. Tony made a great play in overtime there to get it to Netshi and thought he was good defensively.

So, you know, again, we rely on everybody. But I think our defense is obviously such an important part of our group that we need them to be what they are. And last night I think they certainly showed it. Yeah, Tony foiled a two-on-one of his own early in the game. I actually renamed him Tony Defense. Brady Shea was very, very good. The play he made, I recognized it right away. The play he made, it was the end of a shift to create the opportunity for the tying goal.

But he was solid again all over the ice. For the best TV viewing experience, witness the coziest maroons, the most vibrant and brightest moons, the eeriest and darkest tombs, and radiant and vivid hues in any type of room with the Neo QLED and OLED TVs by Sam Soong. We're supposed to say Samsung, but that didn't rhyme, so you're welcome.

Samsung, more wow than ever. Yeah, you know, he's really, obviously last year he had kind of a crazy year with goals. But he's always been this kind of player where he kind of gets overshadowed a little bit because we have such, you know, these other guys we've already mentioned. But that play was world class as it comes. Just like you said, at the end of his shift being gas, the fact that he was able to pull away from guys that already had speed coming up the ice and then make that good play at that time of the game, too, it's pretty special.

That was the difference, right? He's never gassed, though, right? I mean, he can play forever. That's another thing that people don't talk about a lot is, yeah, he can play a lot. But even at the end of shifts, he's got another gear. Some guys at the end of shifts, you can tell, they're toast, right? If they get stuck out there, he has the ability to just kind of dig in and kind of keep going if he has to. So that's obviously great for us. I think it's the hair.

I mean, when you have a head of hair like that, I think that you just have an extra gear. Appreciate your time. I'll talk to you later. Okay, buddy. See ya.