Gomez and Jagr Mesh Well

Over at The Blueshirt Blog, John Dellapina, reports on the successful return of Gomez to the first line...

"Jagr’s take was that the Gomez who centered him tonight was a far more confident, significantly quicker Gomez than the guy with whom he could not connect through seven games in late October. Gomez didn’t want to go too deep into analysis after one game back with Jagr, but he did concede that he might have overthought their pairing the first time around, forcing the puck to the captain in his early-season attempt to be a good new teammate.

Then again, Gomez might have had it just right when he said the key to the success of the top line (three goals, two assists) against Pittsburgh in tonight’s 4-0 victory was the presence of Martin Straka on the left wing. Straka, of course was injured for five of the seven games Gomez played with Jagr in October."

...I like both players take on why their line was so successful last night. In the 9 games since Renney's pep talk with Gomez about shooting more, Gomez has 4 goals 6 assists. With teams now respecting Gomez' shooting prowess it should open up some scoring opportunities for Jagr.

...but I think Gomez said it best when he said that the key to their line is Straka. Jagr is lost without Straka. With those two paired with a play making center, I'm expecting much more offense from that line. Even more than when Nylander centered them last year.