Last night's game is the reason I think Bannister isn't the coach for us. I have been completely unimpressed with our 5v5 play for the majority of the year and the underlying metrics are legit worst in the league under Bannister prior to last night's game. I've been pulling my hair out all season b/c yes, our roster has flaws, and yes, we probably aren't competing for a Cup this year or next. But good God man, our roster has enough talent that it shouldn't be THIS awful. Worse then Chicago, San Jose, Columbus, Anaheim, and Montreal? No shot.
So last night happens. We played lights out. I mean seriously, that was probably the best I've seen us play all season. Our forecheck was amazing. We were crashing the net hard. We were taking it to Nashville for a lot of the game. Did we make mistakes? Yea. Did we play great for all 60 minutes? Nope. But on balance, we were BY FAR the better team. Binnington was uncharacteristically shaky and we lost. Sucks, but THIS is the performance I've thought this team capable of for most of the season, and it didn't happen until we were well and truly with our backs against the wall.
Had we played like this for even 50% of the season, with our goaltending? We're easily a playoff team. I know that's tough for team tank to hear, but it's the truth. This team has talent. It -should- be in the mix. But for whatever reason, we haven't been able to really find a system and flow that allows us to put continous pressure on the other team. It's been driving me crazy all season and last night was the (Thankfully) ok so I'm not crazy this is just bullshit moment for me.