Nineteen old sensation Jack Eichel has the home crowd buzzing every time he touches the puck, but he’s had nothing to show for it over the last three games.
In Tuesday night’s 3-1 loss to Dallas, Eichel again went without a point. That’s three consecutive games that Eichel has gone without a goal or an assist and he’s minus three over that stretch as well.
The NHL is catching up a bit with Eichel as teams now have video on the rookie and can break down his tendencies. Both the Stars and Sharks picked Eichel up as he crossed the blue-line into their end and cut him off before he could make a move to the net.
Last week while down in Florida and after his two point performance against Tampa Bay, Eichel was asked about teams catching up with his speed and nifty moves. Jack said he’d like to think he has enough in his bag of tricks to adjust, but saying it is one thing.
Watching Eichel against the Stars he seemed to be less involved in the play when he didn’t have the puck. Coach Dan Bylsma had stressed that very point to Jack at the start of the season, but recently he looks like he may have regressed a bit.
Eichel is too good a player to be kept off the scoreboard for long. His teammates will also have to adjust to his style and be in better position for a pass when Jack makes his move down the boards. When teams realize that they can’t just play him one way they’ll be forced to give him more room.
All of this is the learning curve rookies go through in today’s NHL. Every tendency and every move can be studied over and over on video, but the good players find ways to get it done even when the opposition knows what they’re going to do.
Eichel will have another chance to show he’s learning Thursday night at home against the St. Louis Blues.
Filed under: Koshinski's Korner
Tagged with: Buffalo Sabres, Dallas Stars, Dan Bylsma, Jack Eichel, NHL
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