GDT: Preds @ Cheesesteaks 3/17/22 | 6PM | Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Opponents Defensemen Edition

[Bringer of Jollity]

It’s ends of games like this and St Louis that remind me of two years ago when I thought Hynes was not a good coach.

I'm not following. A fluke deflection and a forward completely falling asleep in the d-zone and covering nobody, how does Hynes gameplan against that again?

 

[braindead]

Both were examples of terrible coverage decisions late in a game. I’m not talking about game planning- these are fundamentals. Is it coaching or is it execution? Two years ago, it happened so often and so dramatically that I didn’t see how it couldn’t be coaching. We had a stretch in early 2020 that looked like midget quality hockey. Now we don’t but those two plays would have been right at home in that stretch.

 

[Aardvarksson]

Philly will probably go on a new L3 streak after tonight's game.

With the Leafs being next up on Saturday, I'm expecting a Preds win. It makes sense.

Truly a bipolar team. I give up trying to extrapolate from one game to the next. A wildcard spot in the playoffs will be perfectly fitting.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

Both were examples of terrible coverage decisions late in a game. I’m not talking about game planning- these are fundamentals. Is it coaching or is it execution? Two years ago, it happened so often and so dramatically that I didn’t see how it couldn’t be coaching. We had a stretch in early 2020 that looked like midget quality hockey. Now we don’t but those two plays would have been right at home in that stretch.

In 2020 Hynes had just barely taken over. If you're referring to the early part of the '20-'21 season, there was hardly anything resembling a training camp and also limited practice time (and players in and out due to covid protocol). That's hardly a useful starting point to draw any conclusions from. This is the first full season where we actually have seen Hynes' system fully implemented, and we're 11th out of 32 in GA/G--and that's with Boro (who's been pretty solid) unable to stay in the lineup, Josi deciding he's playing as a 4th forward too frequently, and Benning/Harpur turning back into pumpkins. The two late goals tonight were a complete fluke re-direction and then a complete blown coverage by a rookie forward (who is generally reliable on the defensive end). We have a mix of young players (who are going to make mistakes) and vet players who go through these stretches of trying to do a little too much, and think they can get by without staying focused on the right details, and they're hopefully going to learn it's going to cost them.