yave1964 Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/ott-vs-det/2016/10/17/2016020035# Last night in the Wings 5-1 blowout of the Senators, halfway through the second period while the Wings were on the power play Karlsson intercepted a pass and flicked an innocent looking pass towards Ryan (Ohio State!) Dzingel who skated in on a breakaway and scored the Senators lone goal. What is the point of this, mentioning the Sens one and only goal scored on the night? the fact that it was a shorty which the Sens seem to have more than anyone in the game. Last season the Senators managed an insane EIGHTEEN empty netters, read that again carefully, eighteen goals while a man or more short, that is more than Washington, Columbus, Philadelphia, Arizona, Detroit, Carolina and the Rangers combined. Only one other team had more than ten. Dzingel's (Ohio State) goal was the first shorty so far for the Sens but surely will not be the last for the club. Karlsson has as good of vision as any defender in the game today and I made a point of watching the Wings next two power plays, studying the Senators set up. Instead of the tradition box where each player more or less takes a zone, the Sens play a Triangle with Karlsson handling everything down low, two defenders, one each at or around the faceoff dots and the 4th guy Dzingel (Ohio State! or did I mention that?) at the top waiting for an outlet pass. Most teams could not do this, but most teams do not have as a dynamic player as Karlsson who can more or less handle everything down low by himself allowing the fourth guy to constantly be on the lookout for an outlet pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 I'm not banking on our ability to repeat last year's feat, though as you point out, we have a more conducive cast than most to give us a chance. My question with this is, will Boucher start playing Karlsson more on the PK with the idea of defense with counterattack? So far, he has seen some minutes on the PK, but unlike what I and other Sens fans might have feared with seeing that, it has not reduced his offensive output so far. Needless to say, I'm happy with his five points in three games. This whole concept shows why I take exception to the classical idea of what "defense" is. I want a guy like Karlsson (or Paul Coffey or Bobby Orr in the past) to help the team press the puck. The more you can keep the puck out of your own zone and in the opponent's zone, the fewer scoring opportunities you'll give the other team. A guy with the vision, speed, skating ability, and ability with the breakout pass that Karlsson has is a huge bonus there. As that setup pass to Dzingel last night shows, there's a lot to be said for that version of "defense." It'll be interesting to see how Boucher handles it over the course of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puck_Pun Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 While having so many shorthanded goals is impressive, being more aggressive during penalties also netted a below average (for the league as a whole) PK percentage- 75% vs 81%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted October 25, 2016 Share Posted October 25, 2016 On 10/22/2016 at 0:23 PM, Puck_Pun said: While having so many shorthanded goals is impressive, being more aggressive during penalties also netted a below average (for the league as a whole) PK percentage- 75% vs 81%. There's another side to that though. If you're scoring a lot of shorthanded goals, I don't really feel like a straight penalty kill percentage truly reflects the efficiency of your penalty kill. But that aside, I'm pretty unhappy with some of our defensemen on the PK. Ceci has been flat out dreadful on it at times, and Chabot made some pretty big mistakes against Arizona. I think if that's tightened up a bit, we can see an improved kill and still see the shorties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted October 25, 2016 Author Share Posted October 25, 2016 4 hours ago, ScottM said: There's another side to that though. If you're scoring a lot of shorthanded goals, I don't really feel like a straight penalty kill percentage truly reflects the efficiency of your penalty kill. But that aside, I'm pretty unhappy with some of our defensemen on the PK. Ceci has been flat out dreadful on it at times, and Chabot made some pretty big mistakes against Arizona. I think if that's tightened up a bit, we can see an improved kill and still see the shorties. Chabot is going to be alright but is just a kid and should not be used in such pressure situations until he goes around the league a few more times. To me, Phaneuf was brought in for these situations, to take the pressure off the kids and keep Karlsson fresh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottM Posted October 25, 2016 Share Posted October 25, 2016 @yave1964 I agree on Chabot. I only brought that up to point out that I don't think it's the push that has led to the poor percentage. And as for Phaneuf, part of the problem there is that he hasn't been able to stay out of the box this season. He's obviously no help on the kill if he's the reason for it. That's been my gripe with him this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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