.jpg)
1 hour ago
3
Dallas Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan made an admission about his team's style of play but sent a clear message about the objective heading into the NHL playoffs.
During his media duties after beating the New York Rangers 2-0 on Saturday, Gulutzan noted that while he is willing to continue playing a conservative, more defensive game, he is aware they need to improve with the puck and are working on it.
"We don't score easily, you know, we grind to score, but I mean, we start off differently than a lot of teams, we're not out here trading chances back and forth," Gulutzan said.
"We're playing a little bit of a stingier brand of hockey that we're willing to stay with," he admitted. "Usually that's the way it goes in the playoffs after everything settles down. And hopefully that benefits us as we go."
Glen Gulutzan challenges Stars to improve puck possession
The Texas franchise's coach added that it is not fun to just play defense, and, for him, the message is clear -- they need to work on holding the puck longer to attack more effectively.
"It's no fun to just defend. I think our team's really good without the puck. We're very, very good without the puck. But it's more fun to play with the puck," he said.
"That was really the message here. We got to do some things, holding the puck, start getting our forecheck, get our feet moving through the neutral zone so that we can play with it. I mean, who wants to defend all night, right?"
"So, that was kind of the message there. And it's been the message for about a month, like, 'Hey, let's get better with it. Do some more things with it.' And we've added a couple of things with our line rush that we're still trying to get perfected a little bit and then try to create more."
Dallas visits Toronto at Scotiabank Arena on Monday, April 13, at 6:30 p.m. CT, 7:30 p.m. ET in the penultimate game of the regular season.
English (US)