Enroth, Defense Strong
Jhonas Enroth was the man in this afternoon’s game. He didn’t face a ton of shots, stopping 29, but made some big saves on odd man rushes, and stayed in the game after getting roughed up by Mark Pysyk halfway through the third period. He was sharp all night, and deserved a the shutout, but also should buy dinner for his defensemen tonight, who bailed him out of a few sticky situations where the Swedish netminder found himself caught out of position.
Ruhwedel Watch
Tonight was the NHL debut of Chad Ruhwedel, the man who went to bed on Friday a college junior at UMass-Lowell, and woke up on Saturday a professional hockey player. Much like Brian Fantana and Ling Wong the panda, I kept my eyes on Ruhwedel all night, and the recent college junior didn’t look out of place. He obviously kept his game conservative, which allowed him to make simple, crisp outlet passes, but also jumped up nicely into the play when the time called for it. He’s a good skater, and handles the puck with ease. You can hear what he had to say about himself, his debut, and what the last 24 hours have been like in the audio below.
Ennis On The Wing, Foligno At Center
Tyler Ennis was moved to right wing during the third period of Thursday’s loss to Montreal, and stayed there today. It seemed to spark the slumping forward – he was in on a few nice rushes, and was still able to flash his “Ennis-ness” by skating all the way through the Flyers zone. For those who think he needs to be in the middle to show off his playmaking ability, this game is a good argument against that theory. If he’s still on the team in a few years, Ennis will likely need to find a home on the wing, with Grigorenko and Larsson just a year or two away, and Hodgson entrenched in the top six.
However, another player made the move into the middle as Marcus Foligno centered the fourth line today, and won 75% of his faceoffs. “We were really impressed with Marcus in the faceoff circle,” said Rolston about the move. He also cited Foligno’s strength in the dot as something that allows him to control those pucks. It’ll be interesting to see how long this move lasts.
DBTB Three Stars
1. Jhonas Enroth – 29 save shutout
2. Christian Ehrhoff – 1 goal, 23:59 of ice time
3. Chad Ruhwedel – NHL debut, 13:00 of ice time
Post Game Quotes
“He played with a lot of poise…poise with the puck. Thought he was real good in our own zone.”
– Ron Rolston on Ruhwedel’s first NHL game
Audio
Comment of the Game
Just wait until they name the realigned divisions
I’ll be shocked if they don’t name the new Atlantic “The NBC Sports Division.”– Binthet