That's definitely a factor. But why don't we have the puck enough, that's the question.
Could it be that we depend
too much on opportunistic moments and forced turnovers/mistakes by the other team? For example, some of our "popular plays" => we like to poke a puck loose into an area where a player can win a foot race. Or sometimes we cause turnovers at the blue line, or sometimes you'll see the guys dump the puck in and go in for a hard forecheck. If they win the puck, they often put it in the slot for someone to VERY quickly pounce on it (eg. think of Grabner or Kreider driving to the net). Basically, we wait for the other team to screw up and then we capitalize it.
Of course this isn't always the case or the only thing that happens, but I think it does happen a lot. I also understand that a part of it is forcing the team to screw up and it isn't always a passive "hey let's sit back!" but sometimes I think the team does fall back on that a little. Also, while these are great offensive opportunities, a lot of time they often end up feeling like spurts of puck possession, than sustained pressure. One of the times where I do see us having the puck a lot is if we get a decent cycle going. I think this happened against the Bruins game in the second period or so? That was actually quite glorious to watch.
I think another issue is that the team doesn't always know what to do if they don't have the puck. I don't even necessarily mean it in a negative/chasing the game type of way (though it can be). Rather, are they supporting each other, back checking, forechecking, or just moving/skating if they don't have it? If you watch the Leafs played (well, earlier in the year...not sure how well they've been doing now), I think the biggest thing that stuck out to me was how players were always doing
something. It feels more structured that way than just making a stretch pass and hoping a player wins a foot race or trying to pop a puck away from the blue line, y'know?
And I think if a more defensively sound system was set in place, something just a bit more structured, they would be more confident in taking the puck and moving the puck. But right now, we'll get the puck for one play but it just gets lost, we let teams go through the neutral zone like better, then we take a beating in our own zone, etc. On the flip side, I think the other thing to consider is that we aren't a super high possession team either. So when people look at those kinds of stats, I think it's good to be mindful of what style a team plays, too.
Any ways, I guess those are some of my more recent thoughts. People talk about how much this team sucks but the thing is...it still amazing me how despite them sucking, they still score the way they do. It's why I do think it's a systems thing. I think the other thing to consider is that it can be an inconsistent one. When it doesn't work, we look like absolute shit. When it works, we can actually look okay. I do wonder if that's the gamble AV has to make with what he's set up with the team.
Yeap. Sorry I have a tendency to blabber and that may or may not have actually answered your question.
