GAME 41: BWL VS OLL

 

BLACK WINGS LINZ 8 - 1 OLIMPIJA 

STRONG FIRST PERIOD BUT THE BLACK WINGS SIGNAL DEATH FOR THE DRAGONS IN PERIODS 2 AND 3

TAVŽELJ VIBES SEEM TO HAVE RUN OUT 

Lineup changes:

-71 Mehle

-98 Tomaževič

+29 Vodlan

+72 Mašič

Things we did well:

- Although we didn't do it in the kind of textbook fashion that I have been learning about in classes run by a current Liiga video analyst and former AHL assistant coach (yes, despite my nascent Sumo addiction, I am still taking hockey very seriously for both my and my readers' benefit!), we did manage to dissect a diamond-formation penalty kill to score a PPG in P1.

A diamond PK is as shown above. It is set up with the two middle penalty killers expressly tasked with stopping the side-to-side passing that teams want to do to create high danger chances and to get the goalie moving laterally. 

Now, we didn't go high to low quickly as this former Toronto Marlies assistant coach suggested; nor did we switch from 1-3-1 PP spacing to a 3-2 spread, which is something else he recommended. We did cause havoc by a low shot by Červeny from the left circle coming back out for Sabolič on the right circle to score with a screen from Bonino.

- We played an accomplished and well-fought first 20 minutes. Hang on, why's there 60 minutes in a hockey game?!

Things we didn't do well:

How long have you got? How about letting in 8 unanswered to start us off?

Even pregame I felt that we should have started Kolin. Horak needs a rest and Kolin is actually marginally better, in my opinion, with his lateral movement. Linz like to force goalies to do this and test their capabilities, so even outside of the rest aspect I would prefer Kolin in net here. Pulling Horak at 6-1 down was too late, as well. I would have done that at 4-1 to try to kick the team into action, but AT didn't seem to have the stomach for that move (it's obviously easier for me to say this from the sidelines rather than to have to deal with the personalities directly involved on the daily).

Linz ran rings around us in P2 and P3. I wish I knew what changed or what was said in the P1 interval, because *oh boy* did it work for them. See below for Linz goal breakdowns:

1st - P2 1911 - low point shot tipped by Lebler in front. No contesting or stick lifting for their star player and leading scorer. I am not an expert on defensive placement, but you may want to have someone on that guy.

2nd - P2 1634 - 2 goals on 4 shots in P2. To be fair, it's a gorgeous pass to the back post, followed by a much simpler pass to the net front and in. Ege and Gregorc get split and it doesn't look good. Again, I don't know their assignments, but I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be leaving the low slot wide open, given that is the place of highest danger chances.

3rd - P2 1214 - PPG - lovely passing from the right hand point to the left circle and then the back post. Horak does very well to save the first attempt but the net front man is there to dig it in the second time.

4th - P2 420 - PPG - similar to one of KAC's goals on the weekend, with a back wall deflection meaning Horak is committed the wrong way for a fortuitous rebound and he can't recover in time.

5th - P3 1425 - I wrote that "Linz are walking around our D-zone like they're on a pleasant picnic in a field full of flowers". Right circle shot and Horak is beaten blocker side. We challenge for offsides...

6th - P3 1413 - AT challenges for offsides when there is really no point. 4-1 and 5-1 is not a big enough difference to warrant that when it's a marginal call. It fails and we get a delay of game penalty that they almost immediately score from. Again, easier for me to say it from the sidelines, but come on now - that wasn't worth the risk and we got duly punished. I wrote "quit the game! Throw the controller out the window!". Amusingly, friend of the blog F13 also wrote to me that he "rage quit" on the game. I am sure many fans felt similarly by this point. Horak gets pulled for Kolin, finally.

7th - P3 1136 - 3 on 1 rush chance given up while chasing a goal, from which they score. 

8th - P3 2.5s left - Kolin beaten over his glove. The icing on the cake for the Black Wings.

Main takeaways:

- I don't think AT is coming back next season. He's been riding Horak in a way that seems to suggest he is coaching for his job next year, which I think is the wrong thing to do. Kolin is excellent and will not stick around if he never gets to play. If I was coach I would start Kolin in all our away games and keep Horak for home games, in order to keep the latter fresh for the play-ins (where we would not alternate goalies).  AT managed to unlock something in the team from later December to late January, but we have been absolutely blasted by two playoff teams and I don't think our leadership team, new and old, will accept that.

- Talking of coming back, I am seriously worried about retaining key free agents if we end the season with a whimper. If you were Nick Bonino, for example, why would you stay here other than to have your family feel settled? He could have his pick of any team in Europe (e.g. some slick Swiss league team) and does not need to settle for getting killed 8-1 on a Sunday afternoon. I desperately hope he stays but I cannot blame him if he chooses to go elsewhere.

- Crnović should not be starting over Hebar or Bohinc. I was a big proponent of 44's earlier this season, as I liked his carry-ins and smooth skating on zone entries. He has been showing none of that in the past few weeks. All he's been doing is taking a guaranteed penalty every game and it was the same today, with a swift PPG to show for it. It is far more valuable to be giving 22 and 86 ice time to develop their games than to roll out 44 at this point and on this evidence.

- Unfortunately, we are veering towards last article's cursed vision of the future rather than the blessed one. Bolzano up next is a brutal fixture, but we have PIV and INN this weekend that absolutely have to be wins to set us up for any chance at play-in momentum.