Simmonds steps up

I thought one of the more impressive plays last night was a small one, when Wayne Simmonds carried the puck up the right side, pushed the puck along the boards as a check was about to arrive, then fought through the check, picked up the puck and carried it in for a chance. Really good, and he got rewarded later with a goal, although he worked for that one as well. The Simmonds-to-first-line experiment has worked well, at least so far. Here’s what Terry Murray said this morning…

MURRAY: “Simmonds really complements almost anybody, because he’s a really intelligent guy. Again, talking about Parse and that smart play, Simmer is the same way. His game along the boards has really been elevated here. Strong on the puck, gets possession, cycles it back down to those skill guys and he plays off them really well. He got rewarded with a really heavy play last night. He goes in against Jovanovski on that play, and he’s coming up with the puck and continuing the play. Those are things that are happening on that line pretty consistently because of his attitude. He’s taking another step.”