Anatomy of a Goal: Out Hawking the Hawks

If I say to you that a long bomb pass through an open neutral zone results in a game winning goal, would you expect that the shooter was Chicago's Patrick Kane, or Nashville's David Legwand.  Well, Section303.com reset the Legwand 'Meter, so it must be the latter!

This goal is a great example of  a lightening fast transition game by Nashville, and a defense by Chicago  that does not play a Nashville style "Trap".  Its a much better, and differing picture, than game 2's long bombs.  The result, a two-on-one breakaway and a Legwand game-winning goal.

Want to see Chicago's reaction to the game, click here.

The Video

The Breakdown

The play is in the Preds' defensive zone.  Notice first the excellent positioning by the Predators.  Every player is exactly where they need to be.

1.  LW Smithson collects the puck along the boards.  He is going to move toward the net away from the pressure, and collect the puck.  Chicago does not keep up the forecheck, but instead accepts the turnover and starts to transition back to defense.  LW Smithson will make the cross ice pass once the pressure lets up.

2.  Well, Chicago may start to transition, but C Legwand and RW Sullivan bust it down ice.  This aggressive play was not typical of Legwand's line during the regular season, but I'm glad to see it.

3.  The D Man (I think its Weber, but Its hard to tell from the Video: EDIT, its Klien, thanks to Shlimmy for pointing that out.) makes a great pass under amazing pressure from Chicago.  The pass is definitely of the long bomb variety.

4.  Here is another view of the pass.  Again, notice the pressure on the Preds' D.  Notice also how much open ice there is.  This is not a picture you saw very often last night, when the Preds were on defense.  The Preds did such a wonderful job of clogging the neutral zone.

5.  The great thing about this pass is that it catches up to Sullivan, who is skating full speed.  Also, the pass is banked off of the boards, before it gets to Sullivan, so that the odds of it getting turned over are far less.  [The football comparison here is a QB putting a football on a WR's, say, outside shoulder, if the defending CB is on his inside shoulder.]

6.  Sullivan has half a step on the Chicago defender.  He does not quite have the puck in a shooting position, though, so a pass to Legwand makes perfect sense.  Notice that if the Chicago defender chasing Legwand is one or two steps closer to the play, he could get in the passing lane and shut down the play.  No such luck for the Hawks, though.  Speed is so important, especially in the playoffs.

7.  Sullivan makes a perfect pass, forcing Neimi to shift from left to right quickly.  Legwand has half a net to shoot into, and he doesn't miss.  The result is a game winning goal, and 00:00:00 on the Legwand O'Meter.  Go Preds!

The Poll

AOAG: Defensive Breakdowns & Losing Your Man

PredNation,  tough loss for the good guys over the weekend.

Some PredBloggers, including a really hilarious blog in See Puck City, and a bunch of post-game tweeters, were up-in-arms over the defensive pairing of Dan Hamhuis (D, #2) and Kevin Klein (D, #8).  I didn't get to see the game myself, so I decided to devote an Anatomy of a Goal to one goal against this defensive duo.  My conclusion:  Hamhuis, Klein, and David Legwand (C, #11) get caught flat footed.  Who is most responsible?  Cast your vote in poll after the break.

In this edition of Anatomy of a Goal, lets look at how defensive breakdowns, and losing track of your man, can result in easy goals against.

Side-by-Side Breakdown: Turnovers Below the Goal Line

Pred Nation,  Happy New Year!  Good win last night by the Predators.  Almost every PredBlog had a recap last night, so check them out on the blogroll.

Turnovers.  They will kill any team, including last night's opponents the Columbus Blue Jackets.  In this special edition of Anatomy of a Goal, let's do a Side-by-Side Breakdown to see how defensive turnovers by the Blue Jackets below the goal line resulted in two easy goals, a win, and two points, for the Predators.

The Breakdown

Thuresson's tying goal is on the left.  Legwand's OT game winner is on the right.

1. In both shots, the Columbus player has the puck against the boards in their own zone.  Both puckholders are being pressured by an aggressive Predator's forecheck.

2. In both cases, the Columbus player attempts a pass because of the pressure by the Preds' forecheck.
--On the left:  the player attemps to pass to a player behind him (and not to the player on the left of the screen).   This is a bad pass because, as we can see from the replay, the only person behind him is a Predator.
--On the right:  The pressure causes the Blue Jacket to get tripped up.  The player makes a pass while he is falling, which is good.  However, lets just say the pass was quite crisp and tape-to-tape.

3.  The bad pass results in a turnover.  Once each Predator gets the puck, he does a good job of making a quick pass.
--On the left: The turnover is relatively easy, as the Columbus player passes the puck directly to the Predator.  However, the active forecheck was what resulted in the Predator being in position to recieve the pass.
--On the right:  Joel Ward does an EXCELLENT job of fighting for this puck and creating the turnover.  Watch the replay and check it out.  What a player.  Once Ward is able, he quickly makes a pass.  (We've seen where this kind of grit scores Pred's goals before).

4.  The passes are both quick and to Preds standing wide open in the slot.  What a shooter's pipedream.  Both shots catch the Columbus goalie moving, and the shots are so close in that that goalie has no time to react.  Easy goals.

Conclusion & Video
What impresses me about these plays (and admittedly I did not get to watch the due to new year's eve festivities), is the aggressiveness of the Predators in forcing the turnovers.  These are not necessarily the prettiest goals.  These (especially Joel Ward's) are hard work goals.

Credit also belongs to the Columbus defense, who apparently are not the best at clearing men out of the slot. Keep in mind, however, that when the play is below the goal line, at least one defenseman usually is too, which means it is easier for a forward to creep in front of the net.  A quick play like this is very hard to defend against.  Here's to hoping that the Preds get to score alot more of these goals, and that they can limit their recent trend of sloppy turnovers as well.

Thuresson's Goal


Legwand's Goal