Intensity

Gagner crashing the net - now that's intense.

There's a couple of players who need a little more intensity on this team:

Gagner

Brodziak

Strudwick

Penner

Penner was playing very well after MacTavish called him out. He scored a goal against Vancouver, but for the most part has been a bit sluggish with the puck. Strudwick's fighting is a plus but as a forward he needs to get in on the forecheck and frustrate his opponents. Often times I see him hanging back when he should be pressing. But I also noticed this of Smid when he was playing F. A natural consequence of filling dual roles of F and D, I guess.

What happened to the Gagner of 2007? If he can't find his scoring game right now I would suggest he should do more of the little things to get back on track:

throw the body to frustrate his opponent

crash the net

score on the empty net

That last one is a bit cheesey - I know it depends on MacT putting him out there to defend a lead in the dying minutes, which probably wouldn't happen.

Gagner's no Esa Tikkanen, but just because he's not producing on the scoreboard doesn't mean he should get frustrated - he should take it out on the other team.

And good things come to those who crash the net. Rebounds. Deflections.

And perhaps, with some confidence, we can see the same Gagner who was deking out opponents last year.

Maybe.