Video Vault - Caps Goals Against Provide Lessons
Video Lesson #9 - Caps Goals Against Provide Good Lessons
It’s National Hockey League playoff time, and that means that everything is scrutinized more closely.Every penalty, every non-call, every coaching decision and every goal allowed is going to be dissected and over-analyzed by media, fans, players and coaches. The problem with this is that emotion, the drama of the moment and the public’s thirst for instant gratification often lead to snap judgments, incorrect assumptions and blame being placed unfairly.
A look back at some of the goals the Capitals have allowed thus far in the postseason illustrates that upon further review there are often more components to a defensive breakdown than those that are pointed out in the immediate aftermath of the play. This is why it’s so important for young players who want to be elite and play at higher levels to watch their games on video after the fact. It allows you to understand actual game situations and see how they set up from a different perspective, see how you and your teammates respond to these situations, get a sense for how you might look when others watch you on tape and learn from your mistakes.
The clips of goals the Caps have allowed below provide several great lessons for young players that may have gone unnoticed while watching the games in real time.
Capitals defenseman Radko Gudas makes a mistake in this clip that many young defensemen make – then has a chance to make up for it and makes a second mistake – and it all results in a goal for the Philadelphia Flyers in an NHL round-robin postseason game.
As the clip begins, Gudas carries the puck behind the net as winger T.J. Oshie moves toward his breakout spot near the half wall. Gudas is getting moderate pressure from one forechecker and there is a Philly defenseman moving over to the point to contest the breakout. It should be an easy chip to Oshie, who would have had plenty of room to look up the ice for a teammate on the breakout or to just get the puck out of the zone.
Instead of making that play, however, Gudas reverses and turns back toward the crowded side of the ice where there are three Flyers and seven total players. Essentially he has turned right into the forecheck, which is what Philadelphia wants. As he does this, the Flyers take away his passing options, and all of Gudas' teammates are in such close proximity that completing a pass to anyone is nearly impossible. Even if he does complete a pass, the chances of making another connecting pass to someone to break out are extremely low.
At this point, his only option is to fire the puck off the glass and hope it gets out. Even if it doesn't, at least his team has a chance to adjust and get back to the front of the net. Instead, he tries to force a pass, which becomes a turnover and results in a goal. If Gudas had been skating into the traffic and reversed it the other direction to where his teammate was, that would have been fine. He did the opposite, however, and then had a safe play to try to bail himself out and decided not to take that option as well. Double jeopardy.
In this clip, Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov loses track of Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim during a 4-on-4 situation in which every player must be accounted for. Kuznetsov makes a choice to move out toward a pointman, who is calling for a pass and has his stick cocked for a one-timer, but doesn't have the puck. He does this while another Philadelphia player still does have the puck, which allows him to find Sanheim behind Kuznetsov for the goal as the Caps' forward cheats out toward the point.
In general, 4-on-4 defensive situations are handled with man-to-man coverage principles. Every player is responsible for an opposing player in the defensive end. Just like with basketball, as the puck players and move, defenders can switch off and cover other players as long as there is good communication. And sometimes defensively you leave a player farther away from the goal who is less dangerous than another player open to make sure the more dangerous player is defended.
The way this play sets up, Kuznetsov is on Sanheim in the high slot area as the puck cycles up to the point. The Caps are pressuring the puck carrier, Kevin Hayes, cutting off the pass to the point while also preventing him skating down low with it.
If you freeze it at 0:06, Hayes is contained. He is bracketed by Caps players. Yes, the far point is open, but Tom Wilson has that passing lane blocked. Kuznetsov needs to realize this and stay with his man. If the pass is made somehow to the point, then he can consider jumping out to block a shot or cover that player, but by vacating the slot and cheating toward the point, he leaves Sanheim wide open for an easy feed and scoring chance.
Puck-watching and lack of defensive awareness are things that many young players struggle with. It's very easy to get sucked in to watching players on the other team skate with or move the puck while forgetting about your defensive responsibilities.
On this play, with both defensemen out from the front of the net covering other players, Kuzentsov actually in in good position in front of the net as the clip begins. The center often acts as a third D-man many times when the opposing team has possession, and the front of the net should always be covered. So he's doing fine positionally at first, but then gets mesmerized watching the play develop and allows Scott Laughton to sneak behind him for the easy pass and finish.
Here we go with puck-watching part deux for the Washington Capitals. Defenseman Michal Kempny is actually in pretty good position, engaged with the forward in front of the net early in the clip and as the puck is passed out to the point. However, once this shot is taken, instead of clearing out so goalie Braden Holtby can see the puck easily and boxing out the forward, he watches the shot come all the way in to the netminder.
On first glance, this play looks like bad luck as Holtby makes the save and the rebound bounces off of Kempny's back and right onto the stick of the Islanders' Anders Lee, who scores. But when the action freezes you can see that Kempny lets Lee slip away from him and get into position for the rebound as the shot approaches.
Much like in basketball, as a player prepares to shoot from the outside, defensemen should be using any means necessary to push any opposing forward out of the slot so the goalie has a better of the puck while tying up the forward's stick to prevent a rebound goal. Just that split-second of puck-watching costs Kempny and the Caps here.
Many observers wanted to blame defenseman Michal Kempny, who had been victimized by puck-watching earlier in the same game, for the same offense on this goal. But the reality is that Jakub Vrana didn't skate hard enough to get back to defend the play properly, he took a terrible angle on his backcheck and then he floated away from the play as a rebound was put into the net.
This is not to say that Kempny is entirely blameless - he could have reacted more quickly after the shot was taken, the trailing player was wide open for New York, which meant that the defenseman had to choose whether to defend him or the player closer to the net. Kempny probably could have reacted a little more quickly to get back for the rebound after challenging the shooter, but Vrana could have been in position to box out the forward or clear the rebound had he skated hard all the way back.
Vrana's poor effort continues after the shot as he just glides away from the play instead of continuing to track back toward the puck. It's really not fair to blame Kempny at all for this goal.
At 0:21 Vrana is gliding and puck-watching, not even aware of the player trailing the play in the middle of the ice. He should be sprinting back on an angle toward the high slot to cut that option off. Instead he's against the boards staring at the puck-carrier. And even after he sees the open player and the pass is made, Vrana never gets to anywhere near full speed. He never even takes a hard stride.
There's no excuse for this to happen to player who skates as well as he does, but even if you aren't the best skater you can be a valuable asset to your team if you always skate hard coming back on defense and never give up on a play.