How Shooters Are Fighting Back Against Goalies To Score More Goals
Finding The Upper Hand Against Well-Schooled Goalies
Goaltenders at all levels of hockey have been using specialty goalie coaches for years. As a result, we’ve seen save percentage rates increase as goalies have gotten the upper hand over shooters.
Shooters, finally, are starting to push back, and skills work has become the norm in the offseason. Still, shooters haven’t evolved their thinking much throughout this period of time. Let’s change that.
Understanding the goalie
First, shooters need to understand their opponent better. Studying goalies is the best way to re-engineer what they are trying to do and trying to avoid. From that, shooters can build out their tactics.
From the archives:
Two Goaltending Staples
Familiar Patterns and Spots
Goalies have patterns they practice often and spots they use as references.
Exactly down the middle
From the faceoff dots
Goal line and below (i.e., post-play)
Avoiding these common reference spots is one way that shooters can bend the situation to their advantage.
Set Feet/Avoiding Movement
To face an incoming shot, goaltenders want to set their feet. Finding a way to shoot while the goalie is within movement is another way shooters can gain an advantage.
Analytics have shown that movement left or right makes a goalie’s save more difficult.
Related - Why this shootout route is desirable
Goal Scorers Shoot Low
One of my favorite clips from a podcast is when Jack Eichel was on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast. He talked about how “goal scorers shoot low.” He referenced conversations with other NHLers like Patrick Kane.
Shooting on the ice or just over a butterflied goalie’s pad are spots top shooters consistently use. Depending on handedness, there tends to be a higher shooting percentage for shots short-side (right side for right-handers & left side for left-handers).
Related: The left handed shooter’s cheat code
Goal Scorers Prefer Quick over Hard
Beating a quality goalie by pure force and blowing it by them is extremely difficult. A hard shot is great, but a quick shot is best. Quick-release shots deceive and give goalies less time to get in front of the puck to make a save.
Anyone under a time crunch has a worse performance than if they have time. Shooters that have a small loading movement before shooting have an advantage, whether a One-timer while the goalie is moving or using the soft catch.
Goal Scorers Shoot within Movement
Most shooters stop skating and ready themselves for a shot… a major top-off to the goalie!
Great shooters are able to shoot within their skating movement. Continuing to skate through the shot is a major advantage. A great example is jumping into your shot.
Syncing shooting into a shooter’s footwork is a big deal. Here is an example from a lesson I gave around syncing shooting and a player’s footwork.
Goal Scorers Takes Better Routes
The best scorers understand how their routes into their shot matter and can upset a goalie’s positioning and timing. This is on the cutting edge of goal-scoring. We are seeing players change or choose difficult routes for the goalie. This has goalies trying to make saves in strange spots (not middle or faceoff dots for example).
Shooters are also choosing to shoot at times when goalies are still moving.
Crossing the royal road with a pass or,
By skating Across or down routes when shooting off the carry.
Upsetting The Goalie
A quick recap. Goal scorers shoot:
Low
Quickly
Qithin movement
After great routes
Upsetting the goalie and their training is a great way to increase a player’s shooting percentage and a great way for players to score more goals. Understand the goalie and reverse engineer!
Further Reading
Speeding up shooting release off a pass reception by using the soft catch
How a moving goalie changes the shooting percentages for shooters.