For the Vancouver Canucks, a win in overtime has been downgraded from actually winning to simply not losing.
Their 3-on-3 strategy was on full display yesterday in Florida, where the Canucks were outshot 8-1 in the extra frame before falling in the shootout.
Vancouver is 0-7 in overtime this season. Hence, the new approach.
“The way we play in OT, we started talking to each other, saying let’s just play these tight defensively and we’ll take our chances in the shootout,” Daniel Sedin told The Province.
“Our thought is, play it like a PK. When you start skating around that gets tiring. Now, we’re standing still and just trying to defend the slot. It’s not pretty, but that’s the way we have to play.”
But is it? Because the Canucks are only 2-2 in the shootout. And let’s face it, they easily could have lost yesterday in overtime.
In other words, is accepting what’s essentially a zero percent chance of winning in 3-on-3 (while still assuming a significant risk of losing) worth it to gain a 50-50 shot of winning in the shootout?
For the Canucks, apparently the answer is yes.
We’ll see how that works out for them.