I'm going with "frivolous practice". Working stuff out outside of the game.
I don't like to second guess the coach, but the only change I thought was called for would have been to sit Pandolfo and put Spooner in between Caron and Peverley. With everything else Julien's tried, I'm not sure I understand the reluctance to not try that.
Now that Spooner is no longer an (immediate) option, it looks like he's trying to solve the problem created with having 3 wingers on the 3rd line. It seems like he's manufacturing his own set of problems.
I do have to keep telling myself, though, that Julien, his coaching staff, and Chia all see the same things we do, and they are not as stupid as the posters on this forum often make them out to be. I have to believe there are reasons for doing what they are doing, reasons we are not privy to.