Offensive Hockey: Timing Your Arrival To The Slot
Creating more offense by saving ice and timing your arrival
“Go to the net” is a piece of advice as old as hockey itself. Of course! This is where goals are scored. The defense knows this and is thus trying to stop the attacking team from using this space.
A net-front presence is a normal strategy deployed in the offensive zone. Hockey people often talk about the importance of having a player in front of the net on offense that player can provide deflections, occupy the defense, and screen the goalie.
Saving Ice & Timing Your Arrival
If a player simply goes to the net and stands there the defense will adjust to cover them to neutralize the majority of their threat. What many players and teams are now doing is counterintuitive… they’re leaving the net front and slot completely open.
Now we are seeing players and teams using anticipation and timing to attack the slot. It’s not about getting to the offensively dangerous ice and standing there… it’s about getting into that high-quality ice at the correct moment. Great modern net-front players and teams aim to arrive at the net at the same time as the puck.
The concept is further enhanced by the idea of ‘saving ice’, where a player purposefully leaves space unoccupied and ‘saves’ it for a later time when an opportunity arises.
Individual Play
Clayton Keller is an elite talent, but an area that he has really focused on in the second half of the 2022-23 NHL season is jumping into spaces at the right time. Too often he would occupy space on the inside or wait in the outside space too long.
Now we’ve seen Clayton vacating space to only jump back in later when the timing is right.
Team Play
Some of the most gifted offensive teams in the NHL, like the Tampa Bay Lightning, Buffalo Sabres, and Toronto Maple Leafs, are pushing the envelope and having success. These teams rarely want to have a static player at the net front in the offensive zone. Rather, we can see how they have all five players constantly rotating. This keeps the defense guessing and makes it harder to defend. When this offensive system is running well, defenses have issues keeping up.
If an offense posts a player in the normal net front, defensive teams are easily able to cover the static player. That could be great for challenging the goalie with traffic but limits offensive support and options. That’s one less area of the ice to cover and one less player to get lost in the offensive zone.
Teams are left with a choice. Either play straight man-to-man coverage, which can be an outright disaster. Or, more conservatively, place three guys low to defend the slot. But that leaves a 3-on-2 up top. The skilled teams will burn you repeatedly with that kind of advantage, especially if you give them the high slot and top of the circles.
Case Study 1: Tampa Bay Lightning
Something you’ll notice about the Lightning is they rarely have a net-front presence/screen on offensive zone sets. Instead, all four ‘off the puck’ players are passing options. This concept will likely be copied by other clubs.
What Tampa did here is they rotated the man cutting to the net to create lanes. If nothing materialized, the player would circle back, and someone else cuts through. It becomes a never-ending cycle of different players cutting to the net while the players rotated the puck to get chances. They use every inch of the ice.
In doing so, the defense never has a chance to settle. They are constantly guessing which player is going to cut to the net. There is constant puck support and the offensive team trusts each other to read the play and provide an outlet to keep the pressure on the reeling defenders.
Case Study 2: Buffalo Sabres
Don Granato’s Buffalo Sabres are in constant movement in the offensive zone. This doesn’t mean that they flying around at top speed. They are moving to make themselves small targets for defenders that are constantly altering the threats.
At any time, the Sabres’ players can change speed by either accelerating or slowing down. This timing leaves open valuable space until the moment of reckoning.
Their constant interchanging and leaving the slot open is an absolute nightmare for defenses, who are forced to make uncomfortable switches.
All five defensive players must be focused and diligent at all times. Even a quick misstep can lead to a goal against (and a bonus offensive zone possession line change also helps out).
Next time you watch a game, notice if a team is static or in constant movement. Those who have developed movement are exciting tactical teams to watch.
Related:
Creating Space Through False Movement
Looking at the genius-level movement from Erling Haaland
Further Reading