Quote:
Originally Posted by tvp2003
Until they do, the coaches need to do a better job of preparing the players for the 3-on-3. Hartley did an excellent job the first year it was implemented, but last night they looked unstructured and tentative.
The 3-on-3 is all about possession, the long change, and odd-man rushes. By logging the puck back into the neutral zone, you can look to exploit bad positioning; you can also change off your guys while tiring out the other guys stuck in their own zone (line changes are absolutely crucial and Dougie didn't get off quick enough on his change, resulting in the breakaway). They actually had a terrific play when they passed it back to Elliott -- he baited in the Oilers player and boom: it's 3 against 2 coming back. Only an errant pass foiled that play, and it resulted in another Oilers cycle because Gio was tired and couldn't change (see above).
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Interesting the way the oilers rotated the change (unexpectedly) at the blue line so the Flames bench being further away couldn't get guys on to the bench and back into the defensive zone quick enough. It left the Flames gassed and confused.