Quote:
Originally Posted by Infinit47
My take is that Sutter is unwilling to adjust his game plan until it's way too late. The team will win the way he deems the right way to play or they will lose. We saw it in the Oilers series and we've seen it all this year.
Last night Lucic-Lewis-Duehr had an XGF% of 19.1%, and that was enough to earn them more 5v5 ice time than the Kadri line or the Lindholm line. Sutter watched that line play and thought they should play the second most 5v5 ice time of all 4 lines.
Is it any wonder we can't hold a lead when Sutter won't shorten his bench and insists on dressing Lucic who flat out can't keep up with the play? Sure, he can be effective on the cycle if he gets in the forecheck quickly enough, but it's impossible to watch him defend without hearing the Benny Hill theme.
Teams like the Flames need to lean on their best players, and Sutter flat out won't do it...unless it's a starting goalie, then he plays them no matter what.
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Certainly a solid argument for Sutter leaning on balance too much ... every player played 11+ minutes of five on five last night.
But Lewis, Lucic and Duehr were all towards the bottom of the list when it came to time on the ice last night. Maybe as trios they were together more than the other trios?