Matching Lines and Man-to-Man Defense

[noctambulist]

I've got a question about matching lines and players mostly in away games. I like to match my checking third line against the opponents first line and I set them man to man with specific player match-ups. I think I have a pretty good checking third line with P.J. Axelsson, Dave Scatchard, and Craig Adams.

I know in away games I do not get last change so the likelyhood of getting the match-ups I want is smaller, but it seems like it's more like never.

My question is, is it worth it to go man-to-man and match lines in away games if I will almost never get the match-ups I want? And if I set players to check specific other players and they aren't on the ice, does the player just default to a basic man-to-man defense?

Thanks and I love these forums. All the guides and forums have been a huge help to a noob like me.

[Minstrel]

First of all welcome to TBL!!

I too depend upon linematching when playing my games. I was frustrated as well with the seeming lack of effectiveness on the road. First of all, make sure you've downloaded the latest patch because there have been tweaks done to the game engine between 2.1.2 and 2.1.3 to even out what was a too-strong home rink advantage. That only added to line matching aggravations on the road.

Now, I guess this could be completely wrong I never actually asked any of the SI guys directly during testing about this... but I match my LW to their RW and my RW to their LW, figuring that (picturing lines at the center face off) those players are staring into each other's eyes. I always picture if I did it the other way the faceoff would be taken and my wings would look at each tother panicked "Hey, you're covering my guy!" "No I'm not you are covering my guy!!" and there being mass scrambling after every faceoff.

As for the actual use of linematching/man on the road I experimented with taking other approaches for road games. I was going to try and countact the decreased defensive ability on the road with a push for more offense. I actually match my 4th with thier 1st and my 3rd with their 2nd as well. I started changing my 3rd to become a third attacking line and had them play zone on the road. I also had my equivalent of your third line (my 4th) go to just 'normal' while still matching by individual orders. I usually play with my lines set to 'equal' so I figured if I'm shooting for offense I'll play 'Overload' and get my scorers out there more often right? And if I got down I even would change to 'Just Two'.

Well, the result was that I almost fell out of the playoffs scratching out every other road game winning 6 to 5 and losing others 2-8. I carried that into my playoffs and after barely making it past my first matchup in 7 games I figured I was intentionally playing against my team's strengths. Then when there was a problem? My response was to go even further against what won me the games to get me into the playoffs.

So, I quickly abandoned all the adjustments and relied on that in the end no matter if it was only one goal on the road my team's advantage came from that system and going away from that at all lessens my advantage. So, no matter how slim that advantage may become on the road when you can't match as intensely/effecitvely it actually is when you have to make sure you continue to set up your matching or you've got nothing.

As they say, your milage may vary... but that was what I figured out. And I took a decidely underdog Washington Capitals team in their first season all the way to a Stanley Cup Win. You can check out the makings/reports of that team in our Washington Challenge threads.

[noctambulist]

Thanks for the welcome

I've actually been prowling around here for about a month, getting my questions answered from the great guides and these forums and even answers to questions I didn't know I had Everyone here is totally great with the help and advice.

I patched my game as soon as it came out so I'm up to date on 2.1.3.

I guess the short answer to my question would be that it is still worthwhile to match lines and players even if you aren't always getting the good matchups and that it's always better to play to the strengths of your team. I like to think that when the game skips forward (i.e. no highlights) that's my checking line shutting them down.

I wonder, would a coach with a higher tactical rating be more successful at matching lines on the road? Hmm, I should look for a Pat Burns regen

[Minstrel]

Yeah, it's easy to get caught up and start doing things that go against the makeup of your team and not realize it until it's too late. Just wanted to let you in on what I decided from my experiments

I "coach" my games but run them on fast clock, all details, very fast commentary just so I can remove people if someone gets beaten down in a period so I'm not sure if it matters for me really but if you let your coach run your games it might be a good idea to get a coach that specifically says in his profile "Likes to match lines with his opponents" like Quinn's does. I'd guess that a high tactical attribute would be helpful too.

[noctambulist]

Cool, thanks for the help. I like to coach my own games so I can cheer and curse at the screen depending on how my team is doing. But I find micro-managing a game a bit difficult as the game will have time skips and doesn't always let me adjust my tactics when I press the button to do so. This is especially frustrating when I want to pull my goalie in the final minute.

BTW - I checked out the Capitals Challenge thread that you mentioned and the challenges look like a lot of fun. I'll have to throw my hat in for the next one.

[Minstrel]

If you want to it's not too late to join us for our Carolina Challenge; all you will miss out on is the first in-season bonus points but that's just a fraction of the overall scoring. Outside of the final score tally you'll still be able to compare your results against 14 other GMs taking on Carolina and tell your team's story. We're going to have a second season Challenge too and there is no scoring carryover, you just have to have taken your team through the first Challenge.

There's plenty of time if you still want to give it a shot, just read the announce threads in the Challenge Forum for the setup and rules etc

[noctambulist]

Thanks for the invite, but I'm only about 50 games into my first season with the Bruins and I'd like to finish that game first and get a better handle on the game before showing my 733T skilz I don't have tons of time to work 2 teams/games so it might be biting off more than I can chew.

But I'll certainly be interested in the next one and watch how the Carolina Challenge pans out.

[Minstrel]

Cool deal; we'll get you hooked up sooner or later