Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
I noticed in the Toronto games that Ritchie was getting the puck and dumping. The puck went from Monahan, who had retrieved the puck in the D zone, to Gaudreau who brought it out and hit Ritchie going up the RW, who then dumps it in. But that's F'd up because Gaudreau's not going to be effective chasing and Monahan was the deepest forward in the D zone, so he was not going to be getting there in time to dig it.
Gaudreau doesn't have to be funneled either. He too often consciously goes to the left boards when he doesn't have to. Nothing is stopping him from skating up the middle of the ice. And when he's funnelled he stops skating even when he dumps. No reason to stop and not help with the chase.
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Gaudreau has some of the best lateral skating and ability to go east to west that I’ve ever seen, so if there’s any winger who can figure out when to and when not to go up the middle, it’s probably him. But the way teams are defending this line right now is the main problem, the track back on this line doesn’t allow Gaudreau or even Ritchie the time/space needed to make plays or slow the pace of play so they can come up as a strong unit of 5.
Darryl Sutter’s arrival hasn’t helped that line much either. I’ve never seen them dump and chase so much which is absolutely not their game at all. A trade is almost inevitable at this point as the clash in styles is too apparent.