Rush Offense: Creating Offense via the Overlap
How to utilize space and speed differentials to generate offense off the rush
Creating offense off the rush is of vital importance. Rush chances are great sources of offense and are great opportunities for those who understand how to attack.
There are times when poor routes and lack of intention kill the offense before it gets going (read: The Curious Movement of Chandler Stephenson), whereas intentional routes can lead to easy, slam-dunk offense (read: Creating Offense, with Crosby & Guentzel).
As we’ve discussed in the past, being able to read space and understand speed differentials are two core concepts of great offensive hockey. A micro-concept that considers both is the overlap.
What is the offensive overlap?
An offensive overlap is when a non-puck-carrying player skates beyond a teammate in possession of the puck, on the outside closer to the side boards.
Here are a few examples:
This slow through-the-middle movement by the puck carrier challenges the defense to make decisions. When the defenders are making decisions, the offense is able to quickly create offense.
Video Examples
In this clip, the puck carrier moves into the high-trafficed middle. Rather than sprinting into the defenders, he takes his time… just waiting for a defender to make a move. Whichever defender steps to pressure the puck is leaving his old/recently vacated space wide open.
Without the outside speed, the entire attack becomes extremely ineffective.
Puck-carrying offensive players who can get off the wall into the middle or dot line is a great first step to threaten the defense. The puck receiver gaining speed into space is more important. Those players off the puck must recognize their role as an outside speed threat.
Roles & Reads
Roles:
Puck carriers threaten the middle, while not skating hard into the teeth of the defenders.
Puck receivers accelerate to threaten behind the defense with outside speed.
Reads:
If the defenders drop back, the puck carrier continues down the middle until unloading a high-danger shot.
If the defenders step up, the puck carrier lays a pass to a speedy teammate overlapping.
The overlap creates a numerical advantage and threatens the defense on multiple levels. The offense creates questions for the defense to answer while having an answer to whatever the defense decides.
Further Reading
Modern Hockey: Offensive Rush Tactics with Defenseman Roman Josi
Modern-Day Rush Defending with Moritz Seider & Olen Zellweger
Modern 3v2 Rush Attack: Rush Fundamentals and Puck Carrier Reads
Modern 3v2 Rush Attack: Middle Lane Driver & 3rd Player Reads