Some good teams take quick playoff exits, but this one shouldn't.
Springfield Falcon (10) Nick Drazenovic lines up the shot while the Falcon's (17) Sean Collins and the Monarch's (23) Brian O'Neill hit the ice in the crease in the first during Game 2 of the Calder Cup Quarter Finals Sunday at the MassMutual Center. We hear the expression often: a team built for the playoffs.
Usually, the assumption is about defense. Springfield Falcons coach Brad Larsen says it's not that simple.
"We have never talked about defense first. We talk about being responsible,'' said Larsen, whose team takes a 2-0 series lead into Thursday night's American Hockey League first-round game at Manchester.
The Falcons are seeking to sweep the best-of-5 round. With two overtime games so far (2-1 and 3-2), this series had been dead-even in every way but the outcomes.
"The key (to the Falcons' postseason strategy) is how fast we can get the puck back. If we get possession and move it out, they can't score,'' Larsen said.
"We try to go north-south, not east-west, and get the puck behind them and go down low,'' defenseman Blake Parlett said.
"The biggest thing in the playoffs, though, is the physicality. You're always aware to finish all your hits.''
The playoff mantra also includes this sentence: Don't beat yourselves.
"Mistake-free hockey is probably impossible, but we want to keep the big ones down,'' Larsen said.
"I have never seen a run-and-gun team win it all, except maybe the Edmonton Oilers of the 1980s. That was a different time and era.''
Whether the style becomes overtly defensive or not, scores generally drop in the playoffs. Patience is key.
"A lot of guys block shots with their bodies, more so in the playoffs. It's harder to get scoring chances, but you can't get frustrated,'' right wing Spencer Machacek said.
Playoff strength almost always means adding key players toward the end. Columbus picked up Machacek on March 10, and right wing Matthew Ford two days later, and sent them to Springfield.
After scoring 25 points with a minus-23 plus-minus rating at St. John's this year, he scored 14 points in the last 18 Falcons games, with a plus-1.
Ford had recorded 13 points in 35 games for Adirondack. He logged 11 in only 18 games for the Falcons.
"Spencer had been playing hard but not getting rewarded. Then he got stronger and stronger, and (as he started scoring), his confidence started building'' Larsen said.
"Ford helped our power play. He's also a guy we could move up and down our lineup.''
Larsen believes the Falcons are built for the playoffs. The early results, however close, bear him out.
"We could have easily be 1-1 in this series, or down 0-2,'' he said. "In playoff hockey, you have to take care of the details.''