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Weekly Plus - Minus 12/23/08
Best and worst performances of the week...
By Jason Kasiorek
www.griffinscentral.com
Rookie Frankie Pare continues to make the most of his ice-time, but this past week the freshman phenom turned it up another notch. A force in all four games, Pare posted 3 goals and seven points in four games along with a team high +7 rating, also netting him the AHL player of the week honors. Other strong performances on the week included Jakub Kindl scoring 6 points in 4 games to move into fourth in AHL rearguard scoring, Francis Lemieux's hat trick, Ville Leino breaking his scoring drought with three goals, and dominant performances between the pipes by both Jimmy Howard and Daniel Larsson.
This weeks top three plus and minus performances:
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 | Francis Pare
Playing on suddenly red hot line with Lemieux and Evan McGrath, this trio produced 7 goals and 14 points in the four wins last week. Pare used his seven point week to get back to point per game pace and hopefully has cemented his place as an everyday player in the lineup. |
 | Jakub Kindl
Kindl picked up the pace after an off week, notching a career high three assists in one game, and an impressive 6 points in 4 games. His defensive game has started to smooth back out as well, and the second year blueliner looks to be gaining confidence with the puck. |
 | Jimmy Howard
Jimmy has turned the corner on a shaky stretch by posting back to back dominant performances. In the first he held the opposition to one goal despite playing behind a depleted defensive corps, and then notched his first shutout of the season in his second start. |
| Minus | |
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 | The Injury Bug
Injuries have eaten up the team's depth, with the top two blueliners out for an extended period in Jonathan Ericsson (Shoulder) and Garrett Stafford (Ribs). Add in recently recalled PJ Atherton (knee) and forward Justin Abdlekader (Shoulder/Back) and the Griffins are almost out of bodies. |
 | Darren Haydar
It's tough to single out a player that scored 3 points this week, but more is still expected of Haydar. The Griffins captain just has not been a presence on the ice, and except on the powerplay, has been a liability at even strength. |
 | Aaron Gagnon
Gagnon has been very streaky this season, and despite some good work on the PK, simply has not played with enough urgency to deserve an everyday spot on this roster lately. He got some good minutes last week playing with surging players like Leino, Pare and Lemieux, and had nothing to show for it. |
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