Flames won't be able to play their game if they just dump it into the trapezoid for Smith to corral every time, and the Oiler's propensity to cherry-pick really suits him as he can just whip it out and not worry about the icing or making a perfect pass to a dman all the time. Other dump & chase heavy teams had to gameplan around it while he was with us so, it is vice versa now. Adapt or be eliminated.
We saw some pressure mounted off dumps into the corner, beyond Smith's reach, where the forecheckers were able to contest the puck along the boards against Edmonton's D. But if you just let Smitty get it every time you may as well just play tight man coverage 5 on 5 while he figures out what to do with the puck.
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