Quote:
Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary
I feel like Calgary has been too aggressive at times with McDavid.
sounds weird, but if you try to make a move first, he'll just go around you... almost like a shooter waiting for the goalie to make the first move... or a defender reaching in in basketball and the guard just crosses you over or spins around you.
staying out of the box and controlling the cycle game and TOI is really the best way to limit his touches... they do need to hit him when they can however... Like body blows in boxing, the hope is that the effect manifests in the 6th or 7th game.
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Yep, I agree. Just off the top of my head I can think of 2 Oiler goals that resulted because of the Flames’ over pursuit of McDavid.
1. The play in game 1 where the Flames’ defensemen skated hard towards McDavid only for him to spin right off him upon contact and find Bouchard? for a goal.
2. In game 2, Zadarov leaves his post to pursue Mcdavid who has the puck, McDavid passes it, easily gets around Zadorov, receives the puck back and basically goes in on a breakaway and undresses Markstrom to cut their deficit to 1.
There’s probably more examples out there. But basically, the Flames’ need to understand that McDavid is a special player and you don’t need to hit him every time he has the puck. Similar to Gaudreau in that they can make you look foolish if you attack them one on one.
It’s smarter to just front him, keep an arm’s length away and keep him to the outside. If there’s a situation where there’s support and/or he’s in the defensive zone, then sure, lay a hit. But for the likes of Zadorov to abandon his post just to run after him...you’re just going to end up looking foolish in the his highlight reel and he did.