The gameplan, and trust Sutter has put into all pairings and lines, and picking up guys that he trusts in the bottom 6, means the Flames can play 4 legit lines and wear down opponents who run 3 lines by the end.
It means guys like JG play less minutes or less hard minutes, because there are 3 lines usually playing after his stints on the ice. By the 3rd period of games, that extra cardio and energy makes a big difference to skill guys
Previous coaches,.outside of Peters, didn't give thust or then build off that trust, and the Flames got worn down.
A rock solid Markstrom helps too, but he's got confidence in what's going on in front of him.
But this is all Sutter. Which makes last year so frustrating that BT listened to the players after the Dallas Choke job, and kept Ward, effectively wasting last year.
No matter how well they look, if they would've had this record to start last year's they would've made the playoffs ahead of MTL.
This is the best Flames start in over 20 years, but it's been just solid, well rounded play where they outwork the opponent shift in and shift out, by players who have been told their roles and players have bought in.
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