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DannyD

3-on-3 Lineups

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The 3-on-3 OT last night in Tampa got me thinking about who we would/should put in our OT lineup. I came up with this...

Current Roster w/injuries

Goose-Zetterberg Tatar-Richards Larkin-Abby?

Kronwall Green Smith

I'd be kind of worried about having Smith out there on the third pairing but he has the speed to push the pace. Larkin and Abby are both good defenders so they can help cover up some of his mistakes.

Healthy Roster

Zetterberg-Pasha Larkin-Tatar Franzen-Goose

Kronwall Green Dekeyser

There are so many different combinations we could use. I would love to get Pulks out there with his shot but he worries me on the defensive end. If Jurco can have a resurgence under Blashill he would be a good option out there as well. If Jensen had made the team I would've put him out there in a heartbeat.

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The 3-on-3 OT last night in Tampa got me thinking about who we would/should put in our OT lineup. I came up with this...

Current Roster w/injuries

Goose-Zetterberg Tatar-Richards Larkin-Abby?

Kronwall Green Smith

I'd be kind of worried about having Smith out there on the third pairing but he has the speed to push the pace. Larkin and Abby are both good defenders so they can help cover up some of his mistakes.

Healthy Roster

Zetterberg-Pasha Larkin-Tatar Franzen-Goose

Kronwall Green Dekeyser

There are so many different combinations we could use. I would love to get Pulks out there with his shot but he worries me on the defensive end. If Jurco can have a resurgence under Blashill he would be a good option out there as well. If Jensen had made the team I would've put him out there in a heartbeat.

No way in hell I'd put Franzen out there in 3-on-3 OT, he's a pylon and would be blown past in a heartbeat and boom, game is over. Get someone fast like Ferraro out there instead.

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Yep, I would love to see Pulks with time near the bottom of the circle to wind up and drill it 3-3. I'd put him with Dats or Larkin as Dats is good defensively and Larkin has mistake-erasing speed. By the end of the year I would love our 3-3 lines to look like:

Pulks/Pavel/Kronwall

Tatar/Athanasiou/Green

Nyquist/Larkin/Dekeyser

Agree that Franzen might be a bit too slow for the 3-3 with all that open ice. Z has the smarts to make up for his lack of speed but his finish ability has sure tailed off since his 40 goal season a few years ago so he might have trouble putting the biscuit in the basket when he does get the chance. I think Smith would be a nightmare 3-3, he's out of position too much as it is when it's 5-5 lol. I can see Green making some really nice rushes with all that space though and he definitely has the skill and finishing ability to join in with the forwards when they get the puck. Kronwall was a tremendous puck-rusher in GR but since his many injuries hasn't really ever done too much of that with the Wings. Helm could be another candidate with his speed but I've seen him blow SO MANY breakaway opportunities over the last few years that I doubt my TV would survive a whole year of shoes and remotes thrown at it if Helmer were a regular on the 3-3.

I'm looking forward to watching it though and if I were Blash I would seriously consider putting Mrazek in for the 3-3 and shootouts even if he didn't start the game. Howard is BRUTAL on the shootout and I can't imagine him being great facing all those breakaways and odd man rushes when it's 3-3 either. The playoff race is so close, we can't afford not to exploit every advantage we might have out there for those extra points. In the end, I think this is what will seperate our two goalies into starter and backup. Mrazek is so much more confident in those situations and could be the type of goalie that gets in players heads (a la Hasek) and causes them to miss the net or be too creative and lose the puck.

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I read an interesting article about 3 on 3 that said it really isn't about speed like everyone thinks. 3 on 3 leads to breakaways regardless of speed. Guys like helm get on breakaways all the time anyway and convert at a really low rate. The guys you really want out there are the ones who are really creative with the puck but don't necessarily get on breakaways very often, aka datsyuk and zetterberg

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I read an interesting article about 3 on 3 that said it really isn't about speed like everyone thinks. 3 on 3 leads to breakaways regardless of speed. Guys like helm get on breakaways all the time anyway and convert at a really low rate. The guys you really want out there are the ones who are really creative with the puck but don't necessarily get on breakaways very often, aka datsyuk and zetterberg

3v3 is more man advantage plays than it is breakaways. I want speed more for defensive reasons than offensive anyway. Like you said, guys are going to be open regardless of speed. What I want is the guy's who close the gap on puck carriers/pass receivers quickly. And guys who can go North/South in a hurry, especially on the backcheck.

Edited by number9

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I read an interesting article about 3 on 3 that said it really isn't about speed like everyone thinks. 3 on 3 leads to breakaways regardless of speed. Guys like helm get on breakaways all the time anyway and convert at a really low rate. The guys you really want out there are the ones who are really creative with the puck but don't necessarily get on breakaways very often, aka datsyuk and zetterberg

Justin Bourne wrote that, who usually puts solid pieces out there. One of my favorite hockey writers.

Anyway, 3 on 3 seems like one of those things where the coaches will have a big influence on the outcome. There's less bodies clogging up the ice, so in theory, executing plays should be more simple to perform, and thus there's more opportunity for "play-calling". Even if you just let the players do their own thing under some general system (like how much of hockey is currently played), the combinations of players can really lead to specific and exploitable advantages and disadvantages, just based off of individual player's strengths and weakensses. Of course this is also true at 5 on 5, but at least some of the time at even strength there's other players that can cover for you, and beating your man still doesn't gurarantee time/space to score. 3 on 3 if one player is burned, the whole team is most likely in trouble.

I think Datsyuk Helm and Kronwall would be a solid line to face off against other team's top offensive lines. They're all defensively responsible enough to shut down players like Crosby or Kane, yet dangerous enough to be able to make things happen in the offensive zone, too. Its a shame two of them are currently injured.

Green Dekeyser Zetterberg might be a solid line, too.

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