Day 3: SEL@ROV review

So RHL15 is underway. Time to tell the Rovers offense.

Ok, 0-1 isn't reason to abandon ship, but it's curious that the team would come out flat in their home opener. Sure Marc Denis played well, and you have to give him some credit for that, but this is a team that is usually in the 30+ shots per game range, so 23 shots is a bit low. It seems as though the Rovers really went off the rails late in the first when Nils Ekman was assessed a match penalty for a phantom spear on new Select Serge Aubin. With Ekman tossed from the game, second line center Olli Jokinen never back on the ice, with the third line of Frolov, Halpern, and Horton seemingly picking up all their shifts. With Korolyuk and Jokinen effectively benched, there was little help for the first line, who did manage 10 shots.

Now it's not all bad from a Rovers perspective. Martin Gerber had an excellent debut, stopping 16 of 17 shots. The defensive rotation was also solid, with model ice-times distributed and efficient passing from all blueliners. With that in mind, the Rovers are not going to make any lineup changes for their trip to South Edmonton tonight. This line-up really didn't get a fair shake in the opener with the 2nd line effectively being scrubbed before the end of the first period, so a full night from all lines is needed to really determine if things need to be tweaked.

That said, an 0-2 start won't sit well with fans expecting a quick charge out of the gate.