Interesting defensive strategy from Colorado

[kabidjan18]

Avs have the exact same problem with Zadorov who is also coincidentally out there puck watching. This was a pretty bad lack of focus and awareness at a critical time

Not Zadorov's fault. In fact, him trying to cover for others is what caused the goal. The defenseman went around behind the net and parked on the left side of the goal behind the goal line. Zadorov has to stay on the goal line because he's on the nearside of the puck. If Sekera wants to pass to the left side of the ice (right side from Sekera's perspective), he has an open lane, which is why you'll see defensemen stay on the goal line, and often they will kneel down and lay their sticks on the ice to block the pass from behind the net. But the defenseman on the near side of the play should not be the one flushing the puckhandler out. Because of exactly what happened. He left his post and then there was an open passing lane. The person who should have flushed Sekera out is Girard. Sekera can't make a good pass to the right side of the ice (left side from Sekera's perspective), particularly to the right slot or the right circle and any part of the area in between (the home plate area) because the goal is in the way. Girard has to recognize that and flush Sekera out. Zadorov had an "oh crap" moment when he realized that Girard didn't do his job and tried to do it for him, and that put him out of position and led to the goal. Now, was it a mistake to try and compensate? Probably. At that point you probably just want to stay on the goal line and try to block any outgoing passes from behind the goal line. But Zadorov wasn't "puck-watching", he was doing his job, and at the point that he ceased to do his job, Sekera took advantage and the defense was broken.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

That’s hardly some huge breakdown or egregious mistake like the thread leads on. It’s a player finding a soft spot in coverage for a fraction of a second.

The bigger ‘mistakes’ came before that. Letting Jamie Oleksiak and Ondrei sekera activate from the points and gain access to the back of the net as if they are good skaters or offensive defensemen

That’s hockey, small minor mistakes pile up and Dallas gets some luck.