The game where Calgary beat Vancouver 4-2, Tkachuk scored his first goal in the 3rd. There was a play much earlier on the same shift where Tkachuk was up in the neutral
zone and Smith completed a pass to him. Problem is, all 4 other Flames were starting their breakout routes in the Flames zone, swooping in front of the net and moving up ice. Smith threw the puck to Tkachuk who had no support, and three or 4 Canucks closer to him than any Flame. He turned it over pretty promptly.
Fortunately for the Flames they regained the puck on that shift, and Tkachuk scored. But that was frankly a really stupid and unnecessary play by Smith. Sure he found a clear enough line to hit Tkachuk with the pass, but Tkachuk was still with no teammates near, and surrounded by Canucks. There was a very low percentage chance that anything good would come of it.
That kind of play doesn’t work for me.
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