Activate the D please! Until you do we will not score. Most teams play a collapse defense so unless the D start to activate, the King forwards are playing 3 on 5 from the half boards in. Yes were going to get the rare goal here in there from the point but to get consistent chances we need to have a D down low. Just like when Murray coached, the D are afraid to go past that invisible line. If you watch tape of the games from the second half of last year and in the playoffs all the D except Scuderi would follow the puck down low when the opportunity was available. Trust the forwards to cover high.
Also what I noticed teams doing now is shooting wide and playing the rebound. With the equipment these days players are coming out to block shots and getting any type of clear look at the net is almost impossible. Look for a clear lane, shoot it whether its on net or not. You just need it to get past the first wave of defenders then you may have an out numbered advantage down low especially on the PP. Hey I think Edmonton got 2 goals by shooting wide and playing the carom vs the Kings.
teams have been shooting wide for a long, long, long time ago.....
seriously they have, its just more pronounced than ever before. it's part of the strategy of playing puck possession and how this has evolved over the years. offensive zone time leads to scoring opportunities, penalties, shots and goals. the longer and the deeper the puck is in the offensive zone the percentages increase. the last thing you do/want is the puck up high or near the blue line.
i think it was DD last night on one cycle situation in the NSH zone that this was clearly evident. LA had cycled the puck around and up the wall to the point. the pressure moved up the wall to DD, but he didn't have a clear shooting lane or pass option. instead of forcing anything or turning it over, he dumped it cross ice away from every LA player. it was a clear and clean way of maintaining zone time and minimizing risk.
in the not to distant past this would have been refrained on. the old way of playing this was to keep the puck down the same half wall with a half pass/dump in to a teammate. never would you see someone dump the puck in away from support.
one major issue with LA's game as a whole is the lack of up ice pressure on the forecheck. last year when it clicked they had very tight up ice pressure with all 5 guys. the gaps and seams were tight and it caused turnovers, which lead to outmanned chances and high percentage chances.
that same forecheck and gap pressure hasn't been there. i think it's primarily due to lack of conditioning and practice time. to play Sutter's aggressive forecheck takes a lot of stamina, the guys aren't there yet.
i've also noticed the forwards are dropping further back in the O zone (Murray style). i was watching DB particularly last night and if 14 and 11 were down below the dots 23 was typically up high in the zone. far enough that DB was usually off camera and up around the top of the circles. to me this again is a lack of up ice pressure and support on the puck - same as above