I'm always fascinated by the jump between games two and three in the best-of-seven format, primarily because we get to see a flip in the coaching dynamic for the first time. An awful lot's made about line-matching; sometimes, it seems like a talking point for the sake of being a talking point, and sometimes it's rather salient.
I think Philadelphia's Craig Berube definitely tried to flip the script, so to speak, in game three. Did it work? I'm not exactly sure. Philadelphia conceded four times at even-strength, but they totally dominated the play territorially speaking for most of the night. Now, I assume a good portion of that was score effects, but it's still worth mentioning.
The million dollar question here, is whether or not you buy into your team's territorial control and continue coaching in the same manner for game four, or move away from the designed line-matching in game three. Which, I note, was pretty distinct.
I went ahead and averaged the ice-time the two big centers -- Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux -- played against various NY Ranger groups in their first two road games. And, I went ahead and grabbed the average EV ice-time they saw in game three. There's something definitely here.
So, you can look at this two ways. One way is that Craig Berube tried to use Sean Couturier to shut down the Derek Stepan line in game three, creating the Claude Giroux v. Brassard/Richards lines. Or, Craig Berube tried to get Claude Giroux against the weaker trios, forcing Sean Couturier to play against the toughs.
It's likely the latter, but it's fascinating how this stuff plays out, I think.
We know how brilliant of a two-way player Sean Couturier is, so I'm guessing that Berube rolls this one more time and deploys him against Stepan (and Nash, and St. Louis), keeping Claude Giroux in the softer minutes.
Giroux posted 64% possession in game three; Couturier 56%. But, again, a lot of that was in trailing minutes, where play is easier to control.
Either way, I still think you draw it up the same way, and just hope your goaltender -- whoever it is -- doesn't give up four goals. Maybe your offense finds a way to sting back at Henrik Lundqvist, which is probably easier said than done.
And, most importantly, maybe Claude Giroux and his line lead the way. It sure seems like, assuming Craig Berube holds firm, they're going to get these comfortable match-ups at home, while Sean Couturier is thrown to the wolves.
Just some late night thoughts..
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