The Return of Gap Control & Defensive Aggression

[ColePens]

A couple people were talking about what changes were made to the defensive system and I went back and watched part of the first two games again. Here is what I noticed (Remember.. it's only 2 games. Still too early to tell what is preached).

Gap Control
I know.. I talk about it way too much. But it's such an important factor in creating turnovers and going the other way for an offensive chance. I think the best way to show the difference between this year and last year is simply by the couple big Orpik hits. Last season - Martin, Orpik, and Michalek would back up almost all the way to their own zone and to the top of the circle. That is terrible. That allows entry into the zone, doesn't allow us to create turnovers in the grey area (right before/after the blue line), and creates no pressure. The only two that would be decent with gap control were Letang/Engo.

Through two games, it's been a breath of fresh air. You see them stepping up early and it's creating disruption of flow for the opposition, turnovers at the grey areas creating offensive chances, and as we see with Orpik huge hits. A quick note - the fact our forwards are coming back allows the defense to step up. The only way to truly gap up is when you have numbers on your side or are even 2-2/3-3. So kudos to guys like TK, Sutter, Dupers, Geno, etc. who are allowing our defense to feel comfortable stepping up.

Also remember, our defender does not have to get full contact of the guy by stepping up at the blue line. As long as he disrupts the flow, the other defender can slide over and take the puck or force an error. Or the backchecking forward can go full speed and cut off the lane that opened up. That's what we were doing in 2009.

Defensive zone aggression:

Not too much has changed in the defensive zone from what I can tell schematically. I still need more time to see how players react to specific situations. The big difference is aggression and guys like Sutter who actually know where to be and focus on their defensive game. I think it's most obvious in Paul Martin. He is all over guys as they enter the zone. He's poke checking and even being physical, albeit that he isn't the strongest guy. You can also see it with Despres and Engo how they are being physical and forcing mistakes.


Conclusion

This is just what I've seen in two games. It could be lucky coincidence or maybe this type of aggression sticks all season. You guys know I'd love it if we stay with this style of play. It works. It causes opponents to make mistakes and that sends us on our way in a quick transition. That's what we did in '09 and we have the offensive talent to make teams pay. We absolutely need to stay aggressive all over the ice. I'd prefer a man-to-man defense in our zone, but the aggression is still a better change.

Let's see where it takes us.




Video Breakdown



Just to see how this happens... Vitale (or is that TK?) tries to step up and cause disruption of flow in the neutral zone right by the red line. This changes the path of Krieder and the rest is history. If you also look, you have Cooke coming back for numbers and Orpik's defensive partner is already in transition of the "Switch" that defenders use when they step up early. Great gap - great aggression. Orpik didn't even have to smash him for this to work properly. The switch was engaged and we were back in transition to offense.

Click to read more...

 

[Sidney BrOSSby*]

How great would it be to have someone put together game footage to breakdown?

 

[Tender Rip]

Moar gamez .

I applaud the effort Cole, but this is way too early. Personally I don't think anything has changed structurally. We are just seeing players so far executing a lot better when defending against rushes than what was the case at the end of last season, and there is less freelancing from forwards (ie. less of a gap between D and Fs).

The number of 2 on 1s against we saw last season were terrifying.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Cole, here is an article breaking down just the Martin-Orpik pairing. I thought that you would enjoy what they had to say:

Last season we discussed how Orpik’s defense-first mentality allowed Kris Letang to wander in the offensive end and do what he does best. Those roles rarely allowed Orpik to step up on forwards and use his body though. That’s exactly what he’s able to do alongside Martin.

“I really haven’t played with Paulie much the last couple years,†Orpik said this weekend. “They threw us together this week and I think we both communicate and read off each other well. For only practicing together for a week I felt really comfortable playing with him. Hopefully as we go on that gets better and better.â€

In order to make the combination work, Martin had to switch from left defense to right defense. This may not seem like a big adjustment, but from a defenseman’s perspective it makes a world of difference.

Both Martin and Orpik are left-handed. This means they carry their sticks in their right hands. When players come up the ice on Orpik, he’ll probably tend to steer them towards the boards where he can quickly swing into a hipcheck. For Martin, it’s the opposite. His stick is closer to the boards and it’s easier for him to steer players towards the middle of the ice…and right into Brooks Orpik.

It’s more challenging for Martin on breakouts though. Coming up the right boards from behind the goal line, his stick is closer to the middle of the ice and more likely have an opposing player’s stick in his passing lane. At times this might force him to make a pass on his backhand, but Martin is far more likely to make an accurate backhand pass on the breakout than Orpik. I think the tradeoff makes sense.

Where I also think this pairing works well is how effectively they read off each other. Most of their breakouts were seamless this weekend which is surprising for a duo that hasn’t really played together. Perhaps it’s simply due to communication, as Orpik alluded to above.

Let’s look at an example. Penguins defensive coach Todd Reirden likely wants all of his defensemen to be aggressive at their own blueline. Once forwards can “gain the blueline†— as you’ll hear commentators refer to it — a ton of new options open up. In both Orpik photos above and below, you’ll notice him within a sticklength of the other player, denying him space in that area of the ice.

What you may or may not be able to see is Orpik is also focused on the chest of the opposing player, not mesmerized by the puck or some nifty stickhandling move. Orpik’s goal is to not let the opponent around him and force him to dump the puck.

Seeing that Orpik is playing tight defense at the blueline, most forwards will softly chip the puck into his corner. Martin’s job is to retrieve the dump and either bring it back up the boards on Orpik’s side or skate around the net and bring it up the right side. Since he’ll typically have his back to the Flyers’ forecheck, it’s important for goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to tell Martin which way to go.

http://thehockeywriters.com/orpik-martin-shutdown-pair/

 

[ColePens]

Moar gamez .

I applaud the effort Cole, but this is way too early. Personally I don't think anything has changed structurally. We are just seeing players so far executing a lot better when defending against rushes than what was the case at the end of last season, and there is less freelancing from forwards (ie. less of a gap between D and Fs).

The number of 2 on 1s against we saw last season were terrifying.

I put the disclaimer that it's early, but we did not see this defense last year. I was complaining about it from day 1. I'd take that as a positive.

Cole, here is an article breaking down just the Martin-Orpik pairing. I thought that you would enjoy what they had to say:

Last season we discussed how Orpik’s defense-first mentality allowed Kris Letang to wander in the offensive end and do what he does best. Those roles rarely allowed Orpik to step up on forwards and use his body though. That’s exactly what he’s able to do alongside Martin.

“I really haven’t played with Paulie much the last couple years,†Orpik said this weekend. “They threw us together this week and I think we both communicate and read off each other well. For only practicing together for a week I felt really comfortable playing with him. Hopefully as we go on that gets better and better.â€

In order to make the combination work, Martin had to switch from left defense to right defense. This may not seem like a big adjustment, but from a defenseman’s perspective it makes a world of difference.

Both Martin and Orpik are left-handed. This means they carry their sticks in their right hands. When players come up the ice on Orpik, he’ll probably tend to steer them towards the boards where he can quickly swing into a hipcheck. For Martin, it’s the opposite. His stick is closer to the boards and it’s easier for him to steer players towards the middle of the ice…and right into Brooks Orpik.

It’s more challenging for Martin on breakouts though. Coming up the right boards from behind the goal line, his stick is closer to the middle of the ice and more likely have an opposing player’s stick in his passing lane. At times this might force him to make a pass on his backhand, but Martin is far more likely to make an accurate backhand pass on the breakout than Orpik. I think the tradeoff makes sense.

Where I also think this pairing works well is how effectively they read off each other. Most of their breakouts were seamless this weekend which is surprising for a duo that hasn’t really played together. Perhaps it’s simply due to communication, as Orpik alluded to above.

Let’s look at an example. Penguins defensive coach Todd Reirden likely wants all of his defensemen to be aggressive at their own blueline. Once forwards can “gain the blueline†— as you’ll hear commentators refer to it — a ton of new options open up. In both Orpik photos above and below, you’ll notice him within a sticklength of the other player, denying him space in that area of the ice.

What you may or may not be able to see is Orpik is also focused on the chest of the opposing player, not mesmerized by the puck or some nifty stickhandling move. Orpik’s goal is to not let the opponent around him and force him to dump the puck.

Seeing that Orpik is playing tight defense at the blueline, most forwards will softly chip the puck into his corner. Martin’s job is to retrieve the dump and either bring it back up the boards on Orpik’s side or skate around the net and bring it up the right side. Since he’ll typically have his back to the Flyers’ forecheck, it’s important for goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to tell Martin which way to go.

http://thehockeywriters.com/orpik-martin-shutdown-pair/

Great article. I didn't know websites talked about that type of stuff. You can tell Orpik is loving the ability to step up. He's lights out right now.

 

[#66]

Yep I love seeing that gap control. If the defense could stay two stick lengths away they can control what players do with the puck and maybe even read the pass and pick it off before it even gets to them.

The aggression from the defensemen is something that I think works on 80% of the ice. I didn't like Orpik stepping up to make a hit at the offensive zone blue line in the Flyers game. Basic hockey tells the winger to get that puck just inside the blue line and just chip it past the defensemen so that the center can go and get it. Most teams will use that as a lure. The Flyers have been doing that and making that chip to center ice cince the CEC opened. Even if there is numbers back, a huge hit made in that area does nothing. I hated that step up by a defensemen on the Volek goal and I hated seeing that again on Sat.

All in all its been two games against 2 teams with contrasting styles. IMO good hockey is when and how a team expands and when and how they collapse. Have a system in place but know when to play the long game and when to play the short game. I think they looked pretty bad against the Flyers but maybe winning when you shouldn't is a sign.

 

[Ugene Magic]

We have to take the circumstance into consideration. Cooke was the only man deep on that particular part of the game. Neither Kennedy or Sutter made it into the offensive zone to support Cooke so they had the numbers.

That's where the gap control gets fuzzy, when the entire line gets activated in the offensive zone.

This is where things need to be 100% ironclad and revolves around L3 knowing when to engage and when to stay back. *high slot* When he does engage there has to be someone to recognize to cover/be the L3.

Sometimes that can be lost in translation when a team is in the zone and they start tiring out. *break downs*

Another point should be made is when their bench is farther away or closer to the offensive zone. If it's closer changes can happen on the fly, but if it's not those changes happen on the way towards their zone. *possible break downs*

I think you all know what I'm getting at and being aggressive is the way to go as Cole said, but that L3 is real important for the defense to step up.

Good stuff, Cole/Jaded.

 

[Rectify]

Good points as always Cole.

As I stated in a different thread I think our forecheck looks completely different too. Last year it seemed like we sent two players full force into the zone even when it was obvious the opposing team would get the puck first. This year we seem much more content in sending one player in, and sitting back and letting the play develop.

This is cutting a major portion of odd man rushes going against us, and when they do get an odd man rush the defensive gap control helps slow the rush down. The majority of shots against us so far have been from the outside which, especially in the Philly game, allowed Fleury to simplify his game. Hopefully we can continue the strong play tonight and Fleury can come away with another good outing and gain more of his confidence back.

I won't turn this into a goaltender discussion thread, but it was so weird to feel safe when Vokoun was handling the puck behind the net. Giving my heart a rest from the constant ache that occurs when Dre leaves his crease.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I didn't like Orpik stepping up to make a hit at the offensive zone blue line in the Flyers game. Basic hockey tells the winger to get that puck just inside the blue line and just chip it past the defensemen so that the center can go and get it. Most teams will use that as a lure. The Flyers have been doing that and making that chip to center ice cince the CEC opened.

Orpik saw Kunitz coming with speed and knew he could step up. I put that goal entirely on Kunitz for not back checking to the middle like you are taught in Mites. He would be the first to admit it as well.

Ironically, the Devils beat the Flyers using double chips (def-fwd) all series last Spring and that's how they wore them down and kept turnovers to a minimum. The other day, they used the exact same strategy and the Flyers had no answers for it again.

Kind of funny actually.

 

[ColePens]

Good points as always Cole.

As I stated in a different thread I think our forecheck looks completely different too. Last year it seemed like we sent two players full force into the zone even when it was obvious the opposing team would get the puck first. This year we seem much more content in sending one player in, and sitting back and letting the play develop.

This is cutting a major portion of odd man rushes going against us, and when they do get an odd man rush the defensive gap control helps slow the rush down. The majority of shots against us so far have been from the outside which, especially in the Philly game, allowed Fleury to simplify his game. Hopefully we can continue the strong play tonight and Fleury can come away with another good outing and gain more of his confidence back.

I won't turn this into a goaltender discussion thread, but it was so weird to feel safe when Vokoun was handling the puck behind the net. Giving my heart a rest from the constant ache that occurs when Dre leaves his crease.

I tried to watch the forecheck and couldn't really figure out exactly what they wanted to do. It's a 1-2-2... but it almost looks like a 1-1-1-2. They send two hard on occasion and one slow on set breakouts. It's a little mix of both.

 

[ColePens]

Orpik saw Kunitz coming with speed and knew he could step up. I put that goal entirely on Kunitz for not back checking to the middle like you are taught in Mites. He would be the first to admit it as well.

Ironically, the Devils beat the Flyers using double chips (def-fwd) all series last Spring and that's how they wore them down and kept turnovers to a minimum. The other day, they used the exact same strategy and the Flyers had no answers for it again.

Kind of funny actually.

Thank God finallllllllllllllllllllly someone is seeing the truth. So many people blamed Orpik and it wasn't his fault. He stepped up and created the disruption because Kunitz was back. That goal was ALL on Kunitz because he took the wrong guy. That was a simple read to go to the guy who wasn't covered. It was even numbers.

The goal is 100% on Kunitz.


And one additional point - the reason Philly wasn't dangerous to NJ is because they completely knew what the Flyers were doing on the powerplay. Like we did in the 2nd/3rd period, they just played the diamond and waited for the cross ice pass to be forced. The Pens, in the first round last season, did not do that. They chased and opened up the lane for Philly.

Without powerplay goals, the Flyers are a different team.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I tried to watch the forecheck and couldn't really figure out exactly what they wanted to do. It's a 1-2-2... but it almost looks like a 1-1-1-2. They send two hard on occasion and one slow on set breakouts. It's a little mix of both.

It looks like f2 has more leeway with reading 50/50 pucks than before. It will take another dozen games before I can see any real systematic changes.

The only change I've noticed for sure is the floating box on the PK. I'm still trying to see if they want to set an umbrella on the PP or how they plan to use Neal on the far post.

We'll see how things play out.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Thank God finallllllllllllllllllllly someone is seeing the truth. So many people blamed Orpik and it wasn't his fault. He stepped up and created the disruption because Kunitz was back. That goal was ALL on Kunitz because he took the wrong guy. That was a simple read to go to the guy who wasn't covered. It was even numbers.

The goal is 100% on Kunitz.


And one additional point - the reason Philly wasn't dangerous to NJ is because they completely knew what the Flyers were doing on the powerplay. Like we did in the 2nd/3rd period, they just played the diamond and waited for the cross ice pass to be forced. The Pens, in the first round last season, did not do that. They chased and opened up the lane for Philly.

Without powerplay goals, the Flyers are a different team.

I just don't know why Kunitz pressured the puck when he knew he had to watch the back door. He was playing his responsibility like Orpik was in his lane (pressure to the circle). It was just a piss poor read.

On Sat. the Pens rotated their box and kept it tight, but allowed the strong side PKer to aggressively pressure. Why we didn't see this in the playoffs? I have no answers....

 

[mpp9]

We didn't see it b/c DB doesn't like changes in the postseason. We all know it. Up to him to be a better coach.

 

[Shady Machine]

Yep I like the gap control I'm seeing from the defense so far. Also, to echo Jiggyfly and Cole, the Orpik step up in the Flyers game is the type you want him to make. He sees he has numbers back and steps up to take out the man and try to disrupt the play. That's the kind of smart risk you want your D to make. Kunitz totally blew that play.

 

[KIRK]

I tried to watch the forecheck and couldn't really figure out exactly what they wanted to do. It's a 1-2-2... but it almost looks like a 1-1-1-2. They send two hard on occasion and one slow on set breakouts. It's a little mix of both.

1. Great post. Thanks also for the Colligan article, Jiggy.

2. I saw what you saw on the forecheck too. You really couldn't figure out a pattern. Different set ups, yes. But, you couldn't ID the variables for doing A or B (or C even). And, maybe that's a GOOD THING. Predictability makes a team vulnerable, and right now how the Pens will forecheck on a given shift is unpredictable.

It looks like f2 has more leeway with reading 50/50 pucks than before. It will take another dozen games before I can see any real systematic changes.

The only change I've noticed for sure is the floating box on the PK. I'm still trying to see if they want to set an umbrella on the PP or how they plan to use Neal on the far post.

We'll see how things play out.

Interesting. I'll see if that explains the change.

 

[#66]

Orpik saw Kunitz coming with speed and knew he could step up. I put that goal entirely on Kunitz for not back checking to the middle like you are taught in Mites. He would be the first to admit it as well.

Ironically, the Devils beat the Flyers using double chips (def-fwd) all series last Spring and that's how they wore them down and kept turnovers to a minimum. The other day, they used the exact same strategy and the Flyers had no answers for it again.

Kind of funny actually.

Fully agree that Kunitz played that about as bad as he could. It even looked like he tried to play that with his skate rather than his stick.

A lot of teams have the D step up like Orpik did and I understand you don't want to give a free out. IMO it works in a man on man system but what I don't understand is why have a defenseman put pressure on a player that far up ice playing a zone defense. Isn't he more valued back? A better assessment of helping coverage can be made at the red and defensive blue lines.

 

[Darth Vitale]

All in favor of ColePens changing his name to "GapControl", say "aye"! (The time has come.)


Aye!

 

[KIRK]

All in favor of ColePens changing his name to "GapControl", say "aye"! (The time has come.)


Aye!

What, no love for 'DefensiveZoneAgression'?

 

[Darth Vitale]

Won't fit.

 

[ColePens]

I accept.

 

[Sidney BrOSSby*]

What, no love for 'DefensiveZoneAgression'?

shorten it up!

 

[Ogrezilla]

DZoneAggro

 

[Ugene Magic]

Damn, I just realized I used L instead of F.



Sue me.

 

[#66]

shorten it up!

DZA... then he can be in the Wu Tang Clan.