GDT - Kings @ FLAMES Thurs 31 March 2022.

[conundrumed]

One thing worrying me this yr is teams covering our points in the O-zone. We cycle well and the Dmen are a big part of it.

This is about the 4th time I've seen teams take away the point on us and it never goes well. We need another trick when that happens, but we are so accustomed to it that it's automatic and we lose the puck when it is defended.

Something to keep an eye on. It's really my only worry.

That, and Sutter really wants to get Backlund scoring and is giving him prime real estate to do so. It's not really working out.

[travel_dude]

19 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

One thing worrying me this yr is teams covering our points in the O-zone. We cycle well and the Dmen are a big part of it.

This is about the 4th time I've seen teams take away the point on us and it never goes well. We need another trick when that happens, but we are so accustomed to it that it's automatic and we lose the puck when it is defended.

Something to keep an eye on. It's really my only worry.

That, and Sutter really wants to get Backlund scoring and is giving him prime real estate to do so. It's not really working out.

 

Expect some lineup changes for the Blues game.  Maybe not personnel, but deployment.  That part depends on Kylington, whose status is unknown right now.  Last night the top line was off, except for some great moments by Johnny.  He didn't have much to work with.  Tkachuk was bad.  Lindholm wasn't winning draws.

 

I watch the Flames D when they try to get the point shot off.  Very few manage it.  Kylington manages to do it a lot of times, but he's indecisive at times.  Guddy probably has the most consistent ability to get one off.  Ras overthinks it and passes off way too often.  Hanifin mostly hits shins.  Overall, they seem to hang on too long and lose the lane that was there for a second.

 

I would rather Backlund do one of two things; take the puck to the net and possibly score or create a 2nd chance, or use the wingers last second.  The muffins are offense killers.  We had the Kings on the ropes, got fresh bodies out there, and he fires a shot center mass.  Goalies recognize the pressure and freeze it.  Not a good look, and they usually are not scoring chances.  

[conundrumed]

21 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

 

Expect some lineup changes for the Blues game.  Maybe not personnel, but deployment.  That part depends on Kylington, whose status is unknown right now.  Last night the top line was off, except for some great moments by Johnny.  He didn't have much to work with.  Tkachuk was bad.  Lindholm wasn't winning draws.

 

I watch the Flames D when they try to get the point shot off.  Very few manage it.  Kylington manages to do it a lot of times, but he's indecisive at times.  Guddy probably has the most consistent ability to get one off.  Ras overthinks it and passes off way too often.  Hanifin mostly hits shins.  Overall, they seem to hang on too long and lose the lane that was there for a second.

 

I would rather Backlund do one of two things; take the puck to the net and possibly score or create a 2nd chance, or use the wingers last second.  The muffins are offense killers.  We had the Kings on the ropes, got fresh bodies out there, and he fires a shot center mass.  Goalies recognize the pressure and freeze it.  Not a good look, and they usually are not scoring chances.  

For Backlund, though, those muffins are to get an O-zone draw for the top line. It's never a bad plan and I'm sure that's why he does it. You have to do that even though it seems frustrating putting it on the goalie's crest, but it's one of those things that comes with a plan. Get the draw, send out your guns.

With the D in the O, it's not how they get shots off, but rather the D coverage taking that away. The fwds ring it around to the point, but a few teams are reading it well and taking it away.

That's the part that makes me a little leery, because that's a big part of our O game. One of those things where, if they're doing that, put pucks into the slot. We have to get better at seeing what they're doing and adjusting effectively.

[travel_dude]

10 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

For Backlund, though, those muffins are to get an O-zone draw for the top line. It's never a bad plan and I'm sure that's why he does it. You have to do that even though it seems frustrating putting it on the goalie's crest, but it's one of those things that comes with a plan. Get the draw, send out your guns.

With the D in the O, it's not how they get shots off, but rather the D coverage taking that away. The fwds ring it around to the point, but a few teams are reading it well and taking it away.

That's the part that makes me a little leery, because that's a big part of our O game. One of those things where, if they're doing that, put pucks into the slot. We have to get better at seeing what they're doing and adjusting effectively.

 

The Backlund play was after a change of the entire line.  Any other time it's a good plan.  I think the next play was a FO loss, so that didn't pan out, but the point was the Kings were tired.  No way they get a change until the goalie froze it.  Keep at them and they take a penalty or we get a goal.  

 

I'm a little bit frustrated with the setup in the O-zone as well, especially on the PP.  We have a set play that gets used a lot and it involves Tkachuk behind the net.  We will avoid cross crease passes to goto it.  When Lindy is on, it works, but a lot of times it's a pass into coverage with little chance of success.  One of the things that teams like COL do is the D start to creep in on each pass.  They collapse the coverage until they have better seams.  But anyway, I am just saying we do things that are easier to defend, once the team knows the tendency.  They know we tend not to shoot from the D, so they clog the middle and box us out.  We go around the horn too much at times and spend half the time recovering and setting up the next pass.  PP2 doesn't seem to get much time in the O-zone, so they need to look at personnel or strategy, cuz it ain't working.  Thought we were more dangerous with Kylington on the boards.  Maybe we need Monahan in the slot, since he can at least battle for real estate.         

[robrob74]

On 3/31/2022 at 8:45 PM, travel_dude said:

Seriously poor choices on the shootout.

Gaudreau should have gone first

i didn’t like how he and Tkachuk went so wide. 
 

Monahan should have gone instead of Backlund 

[robrob74]

13 hours ago, conundrumed said:

One thing worrying me this yr is teams covering our points in the O-zone. We cycle well and the Dmen are a big part of it.

This is about the 4th time I've seen teams take away the point on us and it never goes well. We need another trick when that happens, but we are so accustomed to it that it's automatic and we lose the puck when it is defended.

Something to keep an eye on. It's really my only worry.

That, and Sutter really wants to get Backlund scoring and is giving him prime real estate to do so. It's not really working out.

a lot of other players are having a cold spell lately. We get a game where others chips in. But Mangiapane is cold. Backlund, Dube was getting a few. Monahan has been cold since taking him off the PP. Coleman has gone a bit cold… the team hasn’t been crisp more often than not lately. Maybe it’s playing the lower tier teams and not motivated for them.

 

i don’t like that trend. 
 

it’s like Sutter said, we can talk playoff hockey all we want but this core hasn’t had success in the playoffs. 

[The_Tribal Chief]

Just released by brad Monahan out again on ltir he has to go for surgery on the other hip now i reallly feel for this guy

[travel_dude]

4 minutes ago, The_Snowbear said:

Just released by brad Monahan out again on ltir he has to go for surgery on the other hip now i reallly feel for this guy

 

Yeah, I posted a bit about it on the Biatches thread and the Lineup one.