Sheng Peng
Why did Ryan Warsofsky bench Will Smith on the late 6-on-5 in the San Jose Sharks’ 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames?
“Teaching moment for sure,” Scout #1 opined.
Warsofsky didn’t offer much explanation after the game but went into more detail on Friday.
It wasn’t just about the Smith line change that played a part in the Connor Zary goal that made it 2-1.
Two NHL scouts and hockey tactics guru Jack Han shared their thoughts about the sequence.
“All three forwards change at once,” Scout #2 said about the line change. “It’s a group mistake.”
Kiefer Sherwood (44) flips the puck out to the neutral zone. Zach Whitecloud (28) retrieves it, and through Smith (2), turns it back to Yan Kuznetsov (37).
“Pretty low effort all around, soft on his stick and really slow going back to the bench,” Scout #1 said of Smith. “These are the details and habits that he needs to dial in — typical of young skilled players.”
Scout #2 was more focused on Sherwood though: “The low forward [Sherwood] needs to read he’s F3 and support the weakside and middle ice and buy time for his linemates to change.”
So Sherwood changed too quickly.
Either way?
“Terrible line change,” Warsofsky said.
So why was it Smith, a point-per-game scorer, who got sat late when the San Jose Sharks needed a goal?
After the game, Warsofsky said obliquely, “The whole game has a lot of factoring into decisions that we make.”
Warsofsky went into more detail on Friday.
“In this game, you have to win pucks. You have to win pucks. If you want to play with the puck, you have to go in there, and you have to win it,” he said. “And you saw it in the US-Canada [Olympic gold medal] game, whoever won the puck is going to be in the offensive zone, or you’re going to be in the defensive zone.”
Per Stathletes, Smith has won just 32.9 percent of his Puck Battles this year, down from his rookie year’s 42.3 percent.
It’s worth noting, nobody expects Smith to be, say, Sherwood, who’s won 53.9 percent of his Puck Battles this season.
Last year, it was actually a breakthrough for Will Smith, to learn when to pick and choose his battles. At the 20-year-old’s size and strength, he has to discriminate when to get tangled up with a bigger and stronger player.
That said, about sitting Smith?
“This time of year, you got to win pucks in all three zones,” Warsofsky said. “I think Will can do that more consistently. Needs to do that better. Especially 6-on-5, you’re gonna have to win a puck. So that’s what it really came down to.”
And of course, on the Zary goal, it’s not just about the line change.
Han did not like how John Klingberg (3) defended the Mikael Backlund (11) to Zary (47) pass up the middle: “Klingberg played it as if the third [Shark] was in position, as opposed to a 2-on-1.”
Essentially, for Han, Klingberg’s job is to deny the pass to the uncovered Zary, as that’s the most dangerous area of the ice.
And goaltender Yaroslav Askarov would probably like to have the Zary shot back.
“These are good teaching moments for young guys playing in games that matter for the first time in their careers,” Scout #1 said. “One play like that can lose games this time of year.”