Like the famous song written by Harry S Miller says, “The cat came back the very next day,”
“The cat came back, we thought he was a goner”
But the cat came back, it just couldn’t stay away,”
“Away, away”
The Moncton Wildcats are in very tough, they might be goners, especially facing the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in three straight away games. Everyone knows they will be come home, no one knows if they will be done for good or actually playing for something.
Again things look very bleak right now for the Moncton Wildcats, but can they comeback?
Away, a way off?
You could say the Wildcats got away from their style of play or game plan in the Games 1 and 2, but they actually played similar to that all season long. There’s no question they worked their arses off, but couldn’t put things together when it mattered most.
The Cats can’t afford to get away from their system, structure or whatever the hell you want to call it. Can they win 2 of 3 and get the series back to Moncton?
Well just saying that seems pretty insurmountable right now, wilder things have happened, but a 2-3-2 series is clearly it’s own entity.
How can the Wildcats come back?
Well, for starters they need to find a way to stay disciplined and stay out of the box and they also need to start making adjustments on their own power play.
Players make plays, but structural adjustments are clearly required to get away and I mean far away from their current power play system.
The slot is wide open, all they need to do is not worry so much about net front where they often overload things and create a quick give and go into the bumper. A quick high to low play with movement will free things up and keep the Sags honest.
Instead of having Loshing shoot pucks until his arms fall off having him moving to keep the Sags guessing is the key, he will probably get a lot better looks when moving. The one time they deviated from their usual structure they scored with a great shot and tip play.
That’s one area that might make a difference in the outcome in a pivotal Game 3.
Again for the Cats all they need is one. That’s the starting point. You can bet your ass, Yanick Jean will have his team grounded and focused heading into Games 3,4 and potentially 5. So you can throw away any theories on the Sags which are a young highly skilled group not being prepared or underestimating their opponents up 2-0 in the series.
A perfect example of that came in Game 2, they didn’t panic when the Cats tied things up, they stuck with their systems and if anything went even deeper into them. You see that’s trust, trust in the system, trust in the players and trust in the coaching staff. The Wildcats could definitely use some of that in Game 3, 4 and potentially 5.
You see there’s no coming “back” from 3-0 in a 2-3-2 series. Tuesday night is a must win game, period.
So how do you win a must win game on the road down 2-0?
One way to win on the road is to have players step up. Ironically the Wildcats depth players have done that all season long when given an opportunity. There’s no question the Carrier’s, Trenholm’s, Sampson’s and Smith’s of the world can and will be highly effective when the opportunity comes their way.
Obviously, the line combinations are going to be in a blender with Vincent Collard serving a two game suspension. As for the aforementioned blender, well the Wildcats are undoubtedly familiar with that strategy.
Surprisingly Loshing didn’t get suspended which provides a boost of moral given the fact that the Cats aren’t down two “Top 6” forwards, but they definitely possess the personnel to step up and perform.
Puck Support Is Still a Thing
We have discussed the Cats déjà vu like tendencies for awhile now, but they need to be better supporting the puck especially on the big ice.
The indirect “stretch pass” model might be more effective on the big ice, but it still generates turnovers and a lack of puck possession which one would think the Wildcats want more of. When they controlled the puck and held onto possession of it in the Games 1 and 2, they were effective. In order to do that they need to support the puck in all three zones. Go back and look at the tape or punch in all the analytics you want the Sags support the damn puck incredibly well, their layers to their system were and will be impeccable moving forward.
Are the Sags beatable, yes any team is, but one has to game plan or make adjustments to put them in vulnerable and uncomfortable positions. A very calculated delayed pressure forecheck from the Wildcats could do just that. Again when you support the puck you have options and the Sags hit all of their options, if your Moncton you have to take some of those away. When pressured the Sags used the boards a lot, then they supported through the middle or used a well calculated flip dump and pressured the strong side extremely hard. Moncton have to their asses back to the puck in regroup opportunities, they need to come back to the puck support it and uses their speed to attack in those sequences, not try to delay or back peddle to set up a “wish and a prayer” stretch pass or neutral zone tip.
That’s chasing hockey and I’m not sure if you noticed, but the Cats haven’t been to stellar on that front.
The Cats need to apply at modified 1-2-2 approach where if they read the Sags D-men doesn’t have full control they pressure the outlet almost instantly. The delayed pressure comes from a high 3rd man, who’s sole job is create havoc and force or angle the puck carrier to the boards. They can’t give up easy translations to the Sags especially through the middle of the ice.
Again, Yanick Jean and his staff will be ready for anything, they will probably use bump backs or center support downlow in order to break out of their zone or go to a pure dump and chase model which the Cats struggled with because oh wait, they didn’t support the puck and their D-men on the neutral zone regroups and quick ups.
The Cats D-corps are very fast, they need to lug the puck more, but they need options, because the Sags also allowed them to gain easy entry in Game 1, but not so much in Game 2 which forced Moncton to dump more pucks which led to chasing even more.
Strong or hard dump ins aren’t the answer versus the Sags, they need soft cross corner dumps or soft strong side dump ins, and the Cats need their F1 to start being more physical. Hell they have all the team speed anyone could ask for.
What does it take to win in the playoffs?
A solid game plan, in game adjustments, solid specialty teams and great goaltending, oh yeah and a shit ton of discipline and the list goes on.
The Wildcats depth is their strength right now despite what a critic might think. They have the players to make this a series.
The Sags aren’t going to go away or rest on their laurels.
Can the Wildcats comeback from 2-0 in a 2-3-2 series on the road? How many lives does a Wildcat have?
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