I didn't watch the whole game against the Leafs, but he missed on at least 3 chances in the first period.
He missed several chances against the Islanders and went back to his old habit of taking offensive zone penalties.
As I said before, this team cannot win when the best player makes these kinds of mistakes.
In fact, the whole line has gone to sleep. Hogson is following in Vanek's footsteps in terms of missing opportunities. Pominville is gun-shy and passes rather than shoots, which is not surprising because I can't remember the last time he put a snapshot on net, let alone scored on one.
And yes, I know what some of you will say: there are plenty of others on the team more worthy of criticism, players on other teams miss opportunities and take bad penalties as well, etc, but other people making mistakes does NOT get Vanek off the hook. The point is, and always has been, that this team won't win unless Vanek is perfect. At the start of the season when Vanek was racking up points, the team was at least winning some games and in most of the losses. Since he's gotten into one of his trademark slumps, the team has become a complete pushover.
Vanek isn't consistent enough to do it himself and no one on the team is capable of stepping up.
He missed several chances against the Islanders and went back to his old habit of taking offensive zone penalties.
As I said before, this team cannot win when the best player makes these kinds of mistakes.
In fact, the whole line has gone to sleep. Hogson is following in Vanek's footsteps in terms of missing opportunities. Pominville is gun-shy and passes rather than shoots, which is not surprising because I can't remember the last time he put a snapshot on net, let alone scored on one.
And yes, I know what some of you will say: there are plenty of others on the team more worthy of criticism, players on other teams miss opportunities and take bad penalties as well, etc, but other people making mistakes does NOT get Vanek off the hook. The point is, and always has been, that this team won't win unless Vanek is perfect. At the start of the season when Vanek was racking up points, the team was at least winning some games and in most of the losses. Since he's gotten into one of his trademark slumps, the team has become a complete pushover.
Vanek isn't consistent enough to do it himself and no one on the team is capable of stepping up.
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