Welcome to this week’s installment of Goal Breakdowns where I go over a couple of goals for and against from the last week of action for the Columfied Blue Falcons. Errrr Columbus Blue Jackets. Sorry, with all those Springfield Falcons in the lineup, I get confused sometimes. As it stands right now, the Jackets are looking to be without their starting goalie, their top scoring defenseman, and seven of their top ten forwards. The likely second line for next game is Marko Dano, Alexander Wennberg, and Jack Skille. That would probably be the Falcons top line should everyone somehow manage to get healthy. Let’s all hope guys start getting better, and that Scott Hartnell, Ryan Johansen, and Cam Atkinson (who could very easily have stayed out of the lineup after skatefacegate) keep up their torrid starts. This week I’m going to cover a few goals very quickly, both for and against, and go a little deeper into two others. Let’s get to it.
Adam Burish (on Sergei Bobovsky) assisted by Jason Demers
Just watch Adam Cracknell on the following goal. That’s him doing a piss poor job of forcing Burish in the neutral zone (and taking a terrible angle to do it as well), then giving up on the backcheck and taking no one. The Jackets have had a lot of success by hustling back and putting backpressure on the puck carrier, as opposed to the forwards hanging around to pick up the defensemen. Some pressure from Cracknell on Burish might have taken away the time he needed to get a shot off. Cracknell is not particularly talented, so seeing him absolutely dog it from a hustle perspective on a play like this is disheartening and really makes me question whether there is a place on the Jackets for him.
Corey Perry (on Sergei Bobrovsky) assisted by Sami Vatanen and Cam Fowler
Watch Wennberg on this goal. He comes out like he might be changing, then doesn’t, then is very slow to react to the puck being moved back to his side of the ice. Wennberg being so far out of position and covering absolutely no one forces Jack Johnson to step up on Vatanen, which opens the lane for Perry to sneak behind him and bury. On a play like that, Wennberg absolutely has to realize that he needs to support that side of the ice, and once he realizes it, he needs to skate a lot faster to get over to help.
Sami Vatanen (on Sergei Bobrovsky) assisted by William Karlsson
This goal is pure rookie mistake. The Jackets often rotate their forwards when on the penalty kill. It’s something they have gotten very good at, and if done correctly can cut off shots from the outside. For some teams, instead of rotating, the forwards will pass off to the player with the puck as he moves across the box. Wennberg and Michael Chaput really didn’t know what the other was going to do in this situation. Vatanen moves across the top of the box, which means either Chaput stays with him and Wennberg switches sides with Chaput (done often by the CBJ), or Wennberg comes out hard on Vatanen, and Chaput drops back off (the standard “box” method of penalty killing). You’ll notice that slight moment of hesitation where Chaput backs off thinking Wennberg will jump out on him, while Wennberg is started to cut back underneath. These two really needed to communicate to figure out who was going to do what here. It is vital on the penalty kill, as the slightest mistake opens up space. In this case it opens enough space for Vatanen to score.
Ryan Johansen (on Antti Niemi) assisted by Scott Hartnell and Nick Foligno
There isn’t anything system-wise to break down here, just some incredibly subtle work by Johansen. Watch Johansen’s feet as he skates in on Braun. There is a slight hesitation in his stride, causing Braun to let up, as he thinks Johansen is going to cut inside. This gets Braun’s feet standing still, and Johansen is able to continue on skating without really breaking stride, and Braun is not able to get his feet turned soon enough. This gives Johansen just enough space to get a beauty of a shot off. This looks like nothing, but is so ridiculously tough to actually do. Try skating full speed, and fake crossing over, without actually crossing over, and without cutting any speed. I can pretty much guarantee you will either fail at one of those aspects, or fall flat on your ass.
Nick Foligno (on Antti Niemi) assisted by Scott Hartnell and James Wisniewski
Before he came to the Jackets, I’d seen Scott Hartnell enough to know what he is as a player, but watching him every game gives you a greater appreciation of the little “nifty” or “cheeky” plays that really help him be successful around the net. His kick pass to Foligno on the game tying goal in San Jose was a heads up play of beauty…
Tim Erixon (on Jonathan Quick) assisted by Scott Hartnell and Ryan Johansen
…As was his tip pass to Erixon in Los Angeles. I thought he was tipping it on net and got lucky at first, but watch it again. Look at the angle of Hartnell’s stick when he is tipping it. He is not aiming at the net, he’s aiming across the crease to Erixon. A lesser player might have done that on accident, but Hartnell is money around the net, and if he is aiming his tip that far away from the goal, he’s doing it on purpose. I hadn’t fully realized just how nifty he was in these kinds of ways, and it really illuminates why he’s been such a good player at helping his team score goals in the dirty areas of the ice.
David Savard (on Robin Lehner) assisted by Artem Anisimov and Alexander Wennberg
First thing to look at on the entry is the hand off from Wennberg to Anisimov. This is pretty standard fare on the powerplay. You have one guy coming in with speed (Wennberg) who then passes to a guy standing still on the blueline (Anisimov), who moves the puck across quickly so the first player can still keeping skating full speed. This does two things. First, it keeps the defensemen skating backwards, as they have to respect Wennberg’s speed. Second, it keeps the outside defenseman wide. Had Wennberg carried the puck in himself, both Ottawa players could close up and take away the space from in front of Wennberg. This would force him to pass to Anisimov after he enters (which is fine, and many teams use this), but it also eliminates Wennberg as an option. This play here keeps the defense honest, as if they bite too hard on Anisimov, he can hit Wennberg, but if they sag too far, then Anisimov can walk across and get into the high slot for a shot (or just force Ottawa to scramble).
Anisimov basically stands still with it, as Wennberg forces the defense back in. The Senators also have backpressure on Anisimov, meaning he can’t stand still with the puck to get setup, nor can he walk across the space into the slot. The key here is Letestu, and he’s the one that tells me this is a set play. Letestu cuts across the middle of the semi-box the Sens defenders have setup. this pulls the weakside forward across with him, and along with the backpressure, and the defenders pushed back by Wennberg, creates a massive hole for Savard to walk into, and a perfect passing lane to that hole.
Anisimov passes the puck well before Savard gets into the frame, hell the puck is almost all the way across the zone before we can even see Savard. I really like what he does though. The temptation would be to either walk into the puck for a one-timer, or to carry it in as far as possible before shooting. Savard waits just long enough for the traffic to get close enough to Lehner, but shoots quick enough that he knows the shot will get through to the net. Lehner is playing slightly off the angle, probably respecting a slap-pass to Wennberg for the tip.
Savard ends up beating him clean, although Wennberg does look to try and tip it in. The nice part about this is now teams have this on tape, so they will be wary of the weakside pass, and Letestu’s fake accepting of the pass won’t work. The weakside forward will probably not move with Letestu, and stay home at the top of the box. This then allows them to hit Letestu with a pass, and a quick shot through the screening Wennberg. That’s generally how these things play out at the NHL level. You burn a team with something one time, then use that look to try and make the next team think you are doing the same thing again, but switch it up.
Now I am off to the gym. The Jackets have to be getting pretty far down the list for their call ups, and I need to drop a couple dozen pounds to get back to my playing weight. Until next week!
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