I noticed on multiple occasions tonight that the Flames held onto the puck for about a second too long, and that resulted in the Oilers players catching up to them and either taking the puck away or forcing the Flame player to make a bad/panic play.
Seems like things are not coming to them naturally, and they're thinking about what is the next play they should make. I don't know if that's a more practice-thing or a new systems-thing, but it's not lack of talent/hockey IQ. When it got down to the dying minutes of the 3rd period, the decisions with the puck were much quicker; and it kept the Oilers hemmed in.
I saw glimpses of this quicker style earlier in the game from the 4th line, but they lack the talent to finish off their chances with a good scoring chance.
|