Hartman’s goal was a “back-breaker.” GET IT?!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nColorado’s Alexander Kerfoot (god bless you) would respond in kind just 33 seconds later, but his team couldn’t pull off a miracle fifth goal in the remaining 36 seconds.<\/p>\n
The win gave Nashville a (say it with me now) “2-0 series lead” as the games shift over to Colorado.<\/p>\n
Penguins vs. Flyers Game 3 Preview<\/h3>\n The two games in the Battle of Pennsylvania have been a contrast in styles, adjustment, and buena fortuna.<\/p>\n
The Penguins won Game 1 via a cascade of pretty goals, deflections, and puck possession…with a pretty big assist from Philadelphia’s abjectly awful goaltenders.<\/p>\n
The Flyers won Game 2 by mucking things up all over the ice, but in particular in front of both nets.\u00a0 The Flyers’ first two goals were of the garbage variety (really, everything involving Philadelphia involves refuse of some type, but I’m digressing), but Philly or not, those are precisely the type of goals that EVERY team should be trying to score come April, May and beyond.<\/p>\n
The Flyers also went into a Torts-inspired defensive shell in front of their beleaguered netminder, Brian Elliott, and the insulated bubble eliminated Penguin shots from the high-danger areas of the ice (slot and circles).<\/p>\n
Every team should be okay with allowing their opponent to have gap-controlled possession along the boards, as executing a back-door pass from that spot would require the puck slipping through a minimum of two defenders and their sticks, a tall-request at the NHL level.<\/p>\n
By simply ceding the perimeter and collapsing in front of Elliott, the Flyers are taking away Pittsburgh’s skill.\u00a0 The only way to successfully negate this (annoyingly efficient) tactic is rapid pass movement (which hopes to catch defenders out of position and thus out of shooting lanes) or, as I propose, to cycle the puck behind the net.<\/p>\n
Setting up in “Gretzky’s Office” (behind the net) accomplishes several things against a team that’s decided to go full-turtle in its own defensive end.\u00a0 First and foremost, it forces at least one defender to vacate his preferred spot of in front of the net in order to pursue the puck-carrier.\u00a0 This, in turn, allows a quick puck rotation by the offense to find the now-available shooting lane for a quality shot on net.<\/p>\n
This effect is further enhanced by the fact that the goalie must retreat into his net to prevent any wrap-around attempt.\u00a0 Forced to play back in the net + the aforementioned quick puck rotation thus = harder to maintain a proper line and harder to cut down the angle = better opportunity for the puck to go in.<\/p>\n
Using Crosby or Malkin behind the net to force Philly to vacate its preferred low point collapse also means that Pittsburgh would have to abandon its preferred umbrella-style offensive setup, but making adjustments in spring is what separates the great teams from the golfing teams.<\/p>\n
I’d expect a much greater team emphasis on puck support and discipline, with a lot more shots and shot-passes (similar to what Voracek tried in Game 2) in an attempt to just get a puck behind Elliott early and force the Flyers to try and create offense instead of simply defending, defending, defending.<\/p>\n
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Welcome to Hockey After Dark, a nightly recap of the NHL playoffs made possible by insomnia, playoff anxiety, and my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":806508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[703638882],"tags":[610258579,610258578,108412,3897428,610258577,98565],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Hockey After Dark, Night #4: "Toronto Postpones Parade & Pens\/Flyers Preview" Edition - The Sports Daily<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n