McDavid clean airĪt five-on-five, the coach sometimes needs to get the captain away from close checking. Woodcroft bet on Danault being unable to score prolifically away from the checking role, and by the time Los Angeles adjusted to moving Danault to the checking role and Kopitar to the scoring role, the die was cast and the series was u nsalvageable. When the coaching staff combined 97 and 29, it left Danault all dressed up with no place to go. The series turned on many events, but moving McDavid and Draisaitl together improved Edmonton’s results.
Here are McDavid’s minutes versus Danault and with Draisaitl by game. Woodcroft’s response to the problem developed over the ensuing games. The Kings were using Danault and Kopitar effectively against the Oilers’ elite centres, and the result (1-1 goals) helped them win early in the series. Draisaitl went head-to-head against the Anze Kopitar line (11 minutes) and went 2-0 goals, 55 percent expected goals. The captain was hard-matched by the Phillip Danault line (15 minutes).ĭraisaitl also played a lot (12:31) with the same linemates ( Evander Kane, Kailer Yamamoto) and delivered 1-0 goals, 10-6 shots and 67 percent expected goals.
McDavid was deployed for 16 minutes five-on-five with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman, with quality results (12-5 shots, 71 percent expected goals) but down one goal on an own-zone faceoff that featured bad luck. In the first game of the series against Los Angeles, Woodcroft ran his two top lines heavily and without tweaks. Here are some things to look for in the days ahead. Looking forward to the series against the Vegas Golden Knights, and beyond, Woodcroft’s innovations could be key to Edmonton’s success. It gives the team an edge during a time when the opposition is deploying their depth personnel. In the rotation of lines, he double-shifted the freshest impact centre ( Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl) with the fourth-line wingers.
.jpg "three by jay posey")
He used the fourth line as a “donut” line, a trio with a revolving centre. This year, during the difficult series that just ended against the Los Angeles Kings, Woodcroft enjoyed great success with a unique depth line. Opponents had a more difficult time line matching, and Woodcroft was able to hide inexperienced players down the stretch and into the playoffs. He started running 11 forwards and seven defencemen (as opposed to the 12-6 alignment that is traditional) shortly after arrival and it clicked.
0 kommentar(er)
