One: Embrace the Shoot Mentality, Same for Driving to Net
CALGARY – Before jetting up to Alberta, Kraken coach Dan Bylsma included a drill in practice Friday in direct response to Thursday’s home loss to Toronto. He explained in his post-workout remarks:
“Looking at last night’s game, there were four opportunities right in the middle of the rink in a good spot to shoot the puck and we did not,” said Bylsma. “We passed the puck instead. That’s focus and mentality more than it is execution. We have to get better at the shoot mentality.”
In his post-game comments, Thursday’s lone goal scorer, Eeli Tolvanen was asked about his recent success, notching goals in five of the last seven games. He answered, “I’m shooting the puck more, getting more shots, going to the net the last few games.”
As if in sync with the Finnish forward, Bylsma said the Friday drill was equally about emphasizing the high-scoring areas in the offensive zone and the need to get to those locations.
“We want to send the continual message about where we score from. That’s in the ‘house’ and the blue paint,” said Bylsma, referring to net-front, goal crease, and the slot. “It’s a statistical fact that if you draw a box around that area, 80 percent of our goals come from there. It’s not just shoot mentality, it’s also a drive-to-the-net mentality.”
Two: Positive Trends for Evans, Eberle
Both young defenseman Ryker Evan (upper body) and captain Jordan Eberle (pelvis) turned in their no-contact red practice jerseys for regular attire starting with Thursday’s morning skate. Evans remains “day-to-day” but it appears possible Evans can return to the lineup in his hometown Saturday. It’s so great to see Eberle back on the ice and increasingly participating in drills this past week. While most Kraken players will scatter during the 4 Nations break, Bylsma said Thursday Eberle will take a few days of leisure, then “he will be on his program and on his rehab shortly thereafter.”
Three: Know the Foe: Calgary Losing Ground in Wild-Card Race
The home-squad Flames are reeling from a recent pair of losses, first interconference opponent Toronto (6-4 final) Tuesday and, most especially, losing, 4-2, to West wild-card leader Colorado in a game that was more one-sided than the final score. Calgary is now on the outside looking in on the wild-card berths, two standings points behind Vancouver for the No. 8 seed and trailing the Avalanche by an unwieldy seven points (as opposed to three points if they had beat Colorado). In the Pacific Division, the Flames are three back of LA with Vancouver in between. Calgary and its fans will no doubt be highly motivated to pick up and/or not lose any more of a foothold going into the pending break.
