Whether he meant to or not, head coach Martin St-Louis made a statement when he started overtime with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Kaiden Guhle.
Hang on, one might say. What’s so special about starting three-on-three with your two best offensive talents?
Because of their likely opposition.
Since the Colorado Avalanche were more than likely to open the extra frame with Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar, a different coach might have elected to try to absorb that shift with more defensive-oriented players and then deploy Suzuki and Caufield in a more favourable situation.