I think we haven't seen Carolina's best, but they also haven't seen our best. Igor was good, but not great. We didn't exactly win in spite of him, but we didn't win BECAUSE of him. If he steals one game this series, and he almost certainly will, we're already halfway to the 4 wins we need. Also, if it wasn't for the late Carolina penalty, they would've had literally 3 times the powerplays we did, and we still won. Both teams have more to give.
When the Canes get going, they're scary and frustrating. Possession and forecheck monsters that have near-miraculous keep-ins on our clear attempts. That sustained pressure game in and game out WILL break our D at some point.
I will say, however, that the center depth is refreshing and is something to behold. Not sure where this Goodrow has been for the past few years, but my God has he been great. The Alex Wennberg add was pretty inspired. The Kakko-Wennberg-Cuylle line has yet to give up an even strength goal (the one they surrendered last night was 6 on 5). Wennberg didn't make the headlines the way Guentzel did, but this team is much better with him at 3C instead of Brodzinski.
I thought Trocheck was gonna be a "meh" pseudo-upgrade over Strome. Adding more grit and faceoff wins but sacrificing Panarin's chemistry with Strome's offense. Boy was I wrong. And if Mika keeps playing like this the entire postseason, well, good luck. That's not even our best line.
Our best, most dynamic, game-breaking forward isn't even top 5 in our playoff scoring so far. That's both concerning and beautiful. It tells me we can win when Panarin gets shut down, and that there's depth scoring up and down the lineup. He hasn't been bad, per se, but if he gets going like he did regular season, watch out. Hopefully another GWG does something for his confidence, but the effort is still clearly there.
Love how much confidence Laf is playing with, and I love the physicality from him too. First one in on any post-whistle shenanigans.
Really though, again, this comes down to the center depth. I'm not used to having that luxury. How many years have we been screaming about faceoffs? How many rosters have we seen where it's one guy up top and a who's who of randos the rest of the lineup? This team is scary deep right now, and one of our most skilled forwards who's arguably the 2C isn't even playing.