Quote:
Originally Posted by transplant99
So would you attribute that more to the coach changing things up, or the players finally figuring it out and doing what has been asked of them within the context of playing his system?
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It's both. Maybe Gully didn't change anything more than the way he was delivering the lesson. And maybe that subtle change in the delivery had the players finally figuring out what they were missing.
A team with the skill of the Flames can't ride bad special teams percentages forever, so you probably have to attribute some of it to puck luck as well.
Now I don't think they lethal with the man-advantage yet, but they aren't losing games to poor special teams play like they were just a month ago.
Some of the things that were driving me nuts about this team still do. Smith playing like the best goalie in the league is masking some of the errors in the defensive end, but the team is boxing out players with greater success and the chances are coming from tighter angles that Smith seems to be able to squeeze out.
Defensive systems play can sometimes be chicken/egg on the scoresheet... does Smith have a better sv% because his teammates are making it easier on him or does he's awesome save percentage mask defensive zone problems? I'm not firmly footed in either camp. it's likely some of both.