Brian39
Registered User
- Apr 24, 2014
- 7,140
- 13,101
I don't think schwartz, fabbri or senko will have a problem finding schenn in the slot if he's open for a 1-t. the only issue not having a righty on that side does is eliminate any seam pass one-timer opportunities(outside of a cross body one-T), tho if there's anybody i'd want either taking a cross body one-t or a soft catch & shoot would be #91. Maybe we just keep senko on that side(which we've done a ton of times previously) to help offset not having a righty since even tho he's not on his natural right side, he's still such a dangerous threat from the left side it could atleast help makeout for the lack of a righty on that side. Also, i kinda prefer tarasenko catching passes and either walking and passing or walking and shooting rather than him just ripping one-t's at the top of the circle, vladdy's snapper is so deceptive and so accurate and so quick that i'd rather have him just take snappers on the left and allow somebody else to rip the 1-t opportunities on the right side
To expand on Easton's reply, the issue isn't whether our guys can connect a pass to him for a one timer. The issue is that the resulting scoring opportunity isn't as dangerous.
The Giroux to Schenn one timer from the left wall is dangerous because it happens extremely quickly. The one timer isn't about going cross crease and making the goalie slide over. Instead, it is about very quickly altering the shooting angle with a 5-10 foot area pass and hammering the puck on net before the goalie can re-set. It works due to aa combination of 2 reasons:
1: the goalie has to respect the shooter because a righty can hold the puck in a mid danger scoring area even when hanging out of the perimeter.
2: a pass from a righty off the left wall is harder for a goalie to read than a pass from a lefty. To connect that pass, the lefty either has to cross the puck in front of his body (if square to the net for a shot) or position his body in a way that he is no longer a threat to beat a goalie with a clean shot. A righty can connect that pass from a shooting position, so the decision to pass/shoot is made at the last second (instead of the second to last second). Every NHL goalie is incredibly good at reading the puck off the blade of the shooter and is going to recognize that a pass is coming from a lefty in that spot quicker than from a righty. Simply put, once the puck carrier decides to go for the one timer, the play is executed more quickly with a righty than a lefty.
So you have 2 factors that combine for a play that leaves the goalie in trouble: He can't cheat to the one timer (even if he knows it's coming) and the time between the release of the pass and the incoming shot is incredibly short. With a lefty, the goalie can cheat a little bit more and has a split second extra between pass to shot. So it doesn't matter that are lefties are capable of executing the play and getting the puck on his tape. The goalie is going to be more square to the one-timed shot when the pass is from a lefty, so it just isn't as dangerous of a play for a goalie to deal with.
Edit: With all this said, I'm not too worried about it at the moment. In looking through some of the videos posted, it appears that Schenn is able to score on the PP in a variety of ways. While this may be the best tool in his bag, he is far from a one trick pony. I also want to experiment with Petro or Parayko playing along the left wall (preferably Parayko as I think his wrist shot is better than Petro's). That wouldn't be nearly the scoring threat of Giroux, but having Tarasenko on the right side is a better cross ice option than Giroux has, so goalies/PKs would have to respect that a little more.
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