#spacing

#spacing

The most important piece of data, at any given second, is "Where is the puck?" If the puck is a hundred feet away from your team's net, there is realistically no chance that you will be giving up a goal within the next couple of seconds, and if it's that far from the other team's net, there is no way you're going to score.

The point is that preseason win-loss results ultimately don't matter - though the process does, specifically from the team's regular rotation players. Miami is playing much faster this preseason. But there is one glaring flaw with the team's offensive output - a big topic of conversation after it's been a bottom-third unit each of the last three seasons. It ranks DEAD last in a very important statistical category, which can't carry over if this roster has any chance to have success come the regular season.