GDT: Dallas Stars @ Calgary Flames - Game Four

[Mazatt]

we went cheap with the coach and it shows

And how exactly is it showing?

 

[Mazatt]

I actually don't think the Flames need to alter their current lines all the much. The biggest change they need to make is mental. Have the wingers higher up to challenge the defensemen, this means on the breakout the centre has to be aware enough to drive the middle in time for the winger to try and chip off the boards/to the centre of the ice for the breakout. Other change is to clear the front of the net a whole lot better. With the wingers driving at the D-men more it won't be as much of an issue, but Talbot has had to deal with way too much traffic so the Flames need to work a lot harder on clearing in front. How? No clue at this point, but the Flames have to be better there. Andersson and Hanifin espcially need to communicate and ensure they always have someone in front instead of both committing to the guy in behind the net.

Edit: If they do change their lines I thought of a way to do it. Assuming Tkachuk doesn't return of course.

Gaudreau - Monahan - Bennett

I'm a firm believer Bennett's success isn't due to playing centre, it's a big shift in his confidence and he is a general playoff performer. Using him to attempt to spark the top line makes sense to me.

Dube - Backlund - Mangiapane

I tackled back and forth with the idea of dropping Mangiapane to the third line, but again with Tkachuk out there wasn't much else to put up here. Either way he isn't earning his role so far. Dube has so much confidence with driving the net and in general with making plays it only makes sense to elevate his role.

Lucic - Ryan - Lindholm

Reduce Lindholm's minutes. He isn't playing effectively outside of special teams and we don't need to keep pushing his 5v5 minutes up. It just doesn't make sense. Ryan can take Bennett's centre role and Lucic stays put.

Quine - Jankowski - Rieder

Jankowski looked good imo, Rinaldo was useless, replace him. Rieder is an effective penalty killer. Quine looks real good. Keep this line in terms of special teams shit and use them to try and get energy into the game with good forechecing.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I actually don't think the Flames need to alter their current lines all the much. The biggest change they need to make is mental. Have the wingers higher up to challenge the defensemen, this means on the breakout the centre has to be aware enough to drive the middle in time for the winger to try and chip off the boards/to the centre of the ice for the breakout. Other change is to clear the front of the net a whole lot better. With the wingers driving at the D-men more it won't be as much of an issue, but Talbot has had to deal with way too much traffic so the Flames need to work a lot harder on clearing in front. How? No clue at this point, but the Flames have to be better there. Andersson and Hanifin espcially need to communicate and ensure they always have someone in front instead of both committing to the guy in behind the net.

Edit: If they do change their lines I thought of a way to do it. Assuming Tkachuk doesn't return of course.

Gaudreau - Monahan - Bennett

I'm a firm believer Bennett's success isn't due to playing centre, it's a big shift in his confidence and he is a general playoff performer. Using him to attempt to spark the top line makes sense to me.

Dube - Backlund - Mangiapane

I tackled back and forth with the idea of dropping Mangiapane to the third line, but again with Tkachuk out there wasn't much else to put up here. Either way he isn't earning his role so far. Dube has so much confidence with driving the net and in general with making plays it only makes sense to elevate his role.

Lucic - Ryan - Lindholm

Reduce Lindholm's minutes. He isn't playing effectively outside of special teams and we don't need to keep pushing his 5v5 minutes up. It just doesn't make sense. Ryan can take Bennett's centre role and Lucic stays put.

Quine - Jankowski - Rieder

Jankowski looked good imo, Rinaldo was useless, replace him. Rieder is an effective penalty killer. Quine looks real good. Keep this line in terms of special teams shit and use them to try and get energy into the game with good forechecing.

I just don't see how it makes sense to convert the team's best center during the playoffs (Bennett) to wing.

This team is desperate for impact centers. Bennett has been that since being moved back to his natural position.

 

[Mazatt]

I just don't see how it makes sense to convert the team's best center during the playoffs (Bennett) to wing.

This team is desperate for impact centers. Bennett has been that since being moved back to his natural position.

Bennett's been impactful regardless of his position. Wasn't the whole thing a while back that the top line preformed best when Bennett was moved up there? Now imagine this; the Flames with Bennett on the top line now have a good top line, and with Dube on the second line they have another good scoring line. Then, they have two good defensive lines with the second line being able to play two way's. How does that sound?

Also, fun fact about Bennett; in the past 3 games the Stars have 27 scoring chances with him on the ice (33 in the series). Does that sound like a dependable line to you?

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Gaudreau - Monahan - Bennett

I'm a firm believer Bennett's success isn't due to playing centre, it's a big shift in his confidence and he is a general playoff performer.

Center is the most valuable skater position. You want your best centers to play center. This is the position that supports the defensemen in the defensive zone, supports the wingers in the offensive zone, skates miles on the backcheck, and most typically transitions the puck through the neutral zone. It's the position that covers the most space defensively with skating and positioning.

These are the things Sam Bennett excels at.

He's a center.

Fullstop.

What does Bennett not excel at? Being the leader of the rush in transition, carrying the puck along the boards, slowing the play down along the boards, playing stationary hockey. Playing with centers worse at center than him.

He's not a winger. Sure, he's talented enough that he's still been effective on the wing before, but that's not his game. Even Crosby has played wing before, on Bergeron's wing in an international tournament, so I'm not saying Bennett should never play wing. But he should never play wing with someone who's a worse center than him. And I'd argue that unless we magically acquire Jack Eichel, Sam Bennett is the most talented center we have on our roster. Always has been.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Bennett's been impactful regardless of his position. Wasn't the whole thing a while back that the top line preformed best when Bennett was moved up there? Now imagine this; the Flames with Bennett on the top line now have a good top line, and with Dube on the second line they have another good scoring line. Then, they have two good defensive lines with the second line being able to play two way's. How does that sound?

Also, fun fact about Bennett; in the past 3 games the Stars have 27 scoring chances with him on the ice (33 in the series). Does that sound like a dependable line to you?

The entire team has been awful the last 3 games. I'd say Bennett's play has been one of the bright spots.

I also don't see any reason to keep Monahan Gaudreau together. The team should make sure they do two things:

1) split up Gaudreau and Monahan
2) keep Bennett at center

 

[DFF]

And how exactly is it showing?

his brain freeze in that last minute, wiped out all the good things they have done.. that's a coaching issue

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Also, fun fact about Bennett; in the past 3 games the Stars have 27 scoring chances with him on the ice (33 in the series). Does that sound like a dependable line to you?

I actually agree Lucic - Bennett - Dube have been a bit poor the last two games (as a line). I'd argue the main reason for this is that they're overfocused on finishing checks on the forecheck and underfocused on trying to keep the play in the offensive zone. I don't think they're a bad line, but they're a line that needs the coaches to sit down and do a video session with. That's all they need - a video session.

 

[Mazatt]

Center is the most valuable skater position. You want your best centers to play center. This is the position that supports the defensemen in the defensive zone, supports the wingers in the offensive zone, skates miles on the backcheck, and most typically transitions the puck through the neutral zone. It's the position that covers the most space defensively with skating and positioning.

These are the things Sam Bennett excels at.

He's a center.

Fullstop.

What does Bennett not excel at? Being the leader of the rush in transition, carrying the puck along the boards, slowing the play down along the boards, playing stationary hockey. Playing with centers worse at center than him.

He's not a winger. Sure, he's talented enough that he's still been effective on the wing before, but that's not his game. Even Crosby has played wing before, on Bergeron's wing in an international tournament, so I'm not saying Bennett should never play wing. But he should never play wing with someone who's a worse center than him. And I'd argue that unless we magically acquire Jack Eichel, Sam Bennett is the most talented center we have on our roster. Always has been.

I know both you and WhiskeyYourDevil are big Bennett supporters but calling him the most talented at centre is a weird stretch to me. Especially comparing him to Jack Eichel. His talents aren't in coming back defensively, I've seen Monahan coming below the goal line to pick up pucks, or hounding players in the corner far more than Bennett. I'd consider Bennett's skills to be very offensive--driving the net, working down low, benefitting off the rush. And I think that fits very well with Gaudreau's skill set if he's willing to throw pucks on net. And this isn't an idea to put Bennett in a position where he'll rack up a ton of goals, it's trying to put him in a position where the team around him is getting more goals.

The entire team has been awful the last 3 games. I'd say Bennett's play has been one of the bright spots.

I also don't see any reason to keep Monahan Gaudreau together. The team should make sure they do two things:

1) split up Gaudreau and Monahan
2) keep Bennett at center

Bennett's offensive play has been good. Defensively it's a different story imo. To me, I rarely notice him initiating breakouts or actually covering defensively, so moving him off of centre isn't a big deal imo. Again, Bennett's play has been great on feeding off chaos and that will happen regardless of his role as a centre. Making the claim we need to split up Gaudreau and Monahan is especially weird considering they were all over the place yesterday and had very dangerous chances in overtime, as well as to start the game. The only separation that line needs is Lindholm moving down the lineup.

I actually agree Lucic - Bennett - Dube have been a bit poor the last two games (as a line). I'd argue the main reason for this is that they're overfocused on finishing checks on the forecheck and underfocused on trying to keep the play in the offensive zone. I don't think they're a bad line, but they're a line that needs the coaches to sit down and do a video session with. That's all they need - a video session.

I agree with that--especially with a lack of purpose with their checks with Lucic and Bennett. Dube has also been great as far as board battles. Tbh, I'm only for splitting the line up to get more scoring throughout the lineup since I see individual pieces with them that compliment other players well and can get more scoring. Defensively their average but they produce a lot of goals, but their breakouts are also terrible and end up with the Flames hemmed in more often than not. In general I'm not even saying Bennett's a bad centre, I'm saying that the team would be better with him higher in the lineup, and he won't replace Monahan or Backlund in their established roles (Monahan has been preforming better in that spot alongside Gaudreau)

Also thinking about it I'd prefer Dube with the top line and Bennett moved up with Backlund and Mangiapane.

 

[Mazatt]

Only other change I could see being realisistic is swapping Dube and Lindholm outright, but that leaves the second line with Rieder which is the entire thing I was working to avoid by moving Bennett and Dube up.