Holtz played the best game of his career last night. He was everywhere. Maybe they have something with him next to McLeod, who is also becoming a force. Trading him would be foolish. He's the best faceoff man in the league and plays with an edge. If he's going to start burying a few now, he has tremendous value. When Meier returns, I drop him right onto that 2nd line with Hischier and Mercer, who both looked great. No disrespect to Palat, but he's an anchor on Hischier on that line. Defensively, I'd continue to roll with the same 3 pairings that played last night. I'm really impressed with Nemec's poise and steadiness so far.
Wish we could've gotten a look at Clarke last night - I'm sure his parents do too, considering they made the last minute trip down from Ottawa only to see Brendan Smith play, while their son ate chicken tenders in the scratch suite.
Now 12-5-1 in their last 18, they sit in the final WC spot just 1 point behind PHI, 2 points behind NYI and 4 points behind CAR - with games in hand on them all. No home letdown vs. CHI tomorrow.