The Blue Jackets have been allowing a lot of goals so far this season. Way too many of these have been easily preventable through competent defensive zone play from the forwards. Now this isn’t excusing the defense, as they have been no great shakes either, but the forwards have been guilty of very simple mistakes. There has been a lot of puck-watching, players out of position, chasing the opponent, and over-committing. Let’s quickly take a look at the guilty parties so far this season. Goals are rarely the fault of a single player, but I’m going to highlight a specific forward or two on each of these.
Atkinson Puck Watching on Ellis’ Goal
Cam gets caught staring at Sergei Kostitsyn and ignores Ryan Ellis sneaking back door. As the left side forward killing a penalty, the backdoor and right point are Cam’s responsibility. He stares down Kostitsyn, loses his responsibility and Ellis scores.
Dorsett (and others) Out of Position on Lashoff Goal
The right wingers job in the defensive zone is generally the left point. In this case, Dorsett was busy chasing the puck up the wall, as the rest of the Blue Jackets were out of position. This allowed Lashoff to get a wide open point shot.
Anisimov Puck Watching on Ian White’s Goal
With a hat tip to Nikitin’s chase around the net, Anisimov gets caught way too low, staring down Franzen, and allows White to sneak backdoor for a wide open look. Anisimov needs to have his head on a swivel and be aware of what’s behind him.
Dorsett and Calvert Miscommunication on Datsyuk’s Goal
This is a 5v4 situation, and there is not a single Blue Jackets player in the most dangerous area of the ice. Dorsett overcommits down low and Calvert doesn’t recognize that he needs to cover the netfront. In this case, one of the two of them has to realize they are both playing the same side.
Umberger Puck Watching on Ekman-Larsson’s 1st Goal
Umberger gets locked in on the puck carrier and fails to notice the wide open Ekman-Larsson. With two defensemen and one forward covering two Phoenix players, Umberger really needs to get his head up and find someone else to cover.
Anisimov Out of Position and Puck Watching on Sullivan’s 5v3 Goal
This is the most perplexing one of all. This is a 5v3. Anisimov’s one role here is to protect the slot. The defense has three players taken care of down low, and Boedker is far too low to be a danger walking into the slot. Anisimov gets locked in on the puck, strays far too low, and Sullivan gets a beautiful setup right in the slot.
Calvert Takes a Bad Angle on Sullivan’s Tip-In Goal
Calvert is the left winger off this draw, lining up on the inside of the hashmarks. His one job is to cut straight through to the right point. Instead, he gets caught up with Sullivan in front, and is much too slow getting out to Morris. This allows Morris to get the shot through Calvert, Sullivan tips it, and its in the net. If Calvert gets out there quicker, he either blocks the shot, or Morris doesn’t even shoot it.
Atkinson Out of Position on Ekman-Larsson’s 2nd Goal
Atkinson is the right winger here and Moss is already being defended by Prospal and Moore (although fairly poorly). He hesitates to make any kind of decision on what to do, doesn’t commit to making a move on Moss, and doesn’t cover his responsibility (the left point). Moss gets the pass through Cam and OEL (the left point) finishes it.
Anisimov Out of Position on Parenteau’s Goal
This is yet another case of Anisimov getting locked in on the puck, getting out of position and allowing his man to be wide open and score. Both defensemen are already defending Duchene, yet Anisimov gets locked in on him and never takes a look around to see if there is anyone else to cover. This leaves Parenteau wide open and he makes no mistake.
Letestu Puck Watching on Duchene’s 1st Goal
This one is the most egregious puck watching yet. Letestu is staring so intently at the puck that he never notices Duchene skate directly in front of him through the area of the ice that is his responsibility. Letestu is in the right position yet still allows his man to score.
Johansen Coasting and Reaching on Mitchell and Duchene Goals
As opposed to the other plays, Johan wasn’t even close to being primarily responsible for either of these goals (that honour would go to Jack Johnson, and Fedor Tyutin and Nikita Nikitin). However, it is quite upsetting to find Johansen stopping skating and reaching to try and make a play. He needs to keep his feet moving and use his body to either make a play or pick up his man.
The mistakes covered above are very easily fixable. For the most part, these are things that most players learn in peewee. This is both a good and a bad thing. It’s good, as NHL players should be able to easily fix this. However, NHL players should never make these kinds of mistakes. So why are they happening? My guess is some combination of rust, a new system, and over-excitability. I presume that Richards is trying to install a system on the backcheck feature a lot of back-pressure on the puck carrier. However, this requires a lot of communication between the backchecking forwards, and that clearly isn’t happening yet. Between this and the mandate of “never being outworked” has created a lot of over-pursuit among the forwards, leading to players out of position. My hope is with everyone getting more comfortable both playing hockey and playing together, this will subside. That will lead to less thinking on the ice, the primary cause of puck watching. If these things happen, then easily prevented goals like these will stop being a problem.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
