EDMONTON – Ahead of Game 4 Calgary Flames head coach Darryl Sutter unveiled a secret plan to actually play defense against Oilers forward Connor McDavid.
“Our strategy of just letting him do whatever he wants at all times doesn’t seem to be working,” said Sutter at practice. “So tonight let’s try something different.”
“What if, and hear me out here, we didn’t let him skate at full speed towards our goal with the puck every single shift?”
Other McDavid strategies the Flames are considering putting in place include not taking 100 penalties a game, putting as many people as possible between him and the Calgary net, and something called “clearing the puck.”
“So you’re saying that, when playing a team that has one excellent player, we should focus on stopping that player?” asked a confused Johnny Gaudreau.
Sutter added that if his new strategies don’t work they’ll go back to what has always worked against McDavid: commit dozens of holding/hooking/slashing penalties and count on the refs not to call any of them.
Photo by: All-Pro Reels
