I saw a lot of the same tendencies last night as I often saw under Gulutzan. A few things that are different and that you can see them trying out, but it is very similar to Gulutzan's system by the looks of it.
China trip, lack of practices, etc., - can't judge much in the first 10-15 games at least. I think it takes a bit to work out those wrinkles going from one coach to another, at the very least when they get a bit flustered and fall-back to what they are used to doing.
Not enough pressure by the Flames last night. Looked like a team without confidence. Gudbranson had an impact last night - more than what people want to admit. It is deflating having someone on your team getting blind-sided with a dirty hit, and then watching another team mate stick up for him and get pummelled. Agree with it or not, but for as long as fighting is a part of the game, you need someone capable on that front for instances like these.
I can't pick any goats for the game. Nobody looked 'on' consistently. The whole team looked a bit off. Didn't use their speed on the attack enough, didn't force Markstrom to move all that much in net, and missed defensive assignments all game much like they did under Gulutzan. A few lucky bounces on Vancouver's odd-man chances, but there was too many instances of the forwards not rotating back on defence to cover for the pinching defencemen. Hartley would have been screaming from the bench on those lack of rotations.
You could tell Vancouver is a well-coached team that is very comfortable with their system, and that was a huge part of why they won last night. Either way, it is tough to judge the team at this stage, and you just have to write it off and forget about. My only concern is with how easy this team gets rattled and gives up too many significant chances in a row, and doesn't have that 'swagger' to really battle back and make a concerted push-back. Let's see how this team evolves in the next 5 games.
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