Cronin is a breath of fresh air behind the bench, the guys kept their foot on the gas until the bitter end, they were out there playing like they had something to prove and were proud of the logo on their chest.

Mintyukov apparently was given homework on how to be effective at both ends of the ice, and let me tell you, the kid understood the assignment. Yeah, he made some mistakes tonight, he's a rookie, but to be able to show up game one lauded as a offensive dynamic and pull off THAT level of two way game. This kid is going to be a PROBLEM for the Pacific division.

Max Jones was doing his work in the crease. I really believe if he can start to capitalize, he's got potential to move up to 2nd line as a complimentary piece.

McTavish also appears to have taken to Cronins tutelage. Won a ton of faceoffs tonight and even looked fairly competent when he didn't have his stick.

Gibby had a really stellar game. Stopped 35/38 shots on goal against the defending cup champs, damn solid performance.

Yeah, we've growing pains to come, there were errors tonight that need to get cleaned up, but this felt different. This felt like a team of guys who wanted to be out there. At the very least, they are putting an entertaining product on the ice this year.