Breaking Down NHL Goals from Week 4
A former Ranger, the Son of a Great, and a Pair of Defensemen
Welcome! As you can tell by the title, this will be a break down of some (three to be exact) NHL goals from the start of the season. Each “header” will be the goal scorer, goal number for the player (first goal = 1, second goal = 2, etc.), and opponent with the date of the game. We’ll dive into the details of what makes an NHL goal happen and taking things step-by-step should be a decent way of going about that. If you want me to cover a specific goal, let me know!! Let’s get into it.
J.T. Miller (2) VS. New York (R), 11/2/2021
Tucker Poolman (#5) of the Canucks sits at the right point and dumps the puck along the wall. As it caroms along the boards, the entire group of Rangers turns towards the puck. Jacob Trouba (#8) of the Rangers takes Conor Garland (#8), as the pair go behind the net. K’Andre Miller (#79) moves towards the puck by crossing the net front.
Trouba takes follows Garland behind the net, as K’Andre Miller moves to the puck. J.T. Miller (#9), pursued by Artemi Panarin (#10), gets to the puck first and reverses the flow of the play. Ryan Strome (#16) sits near the left face off dot.
With the flow reversed Poolman moves to the puck and retrieves it along the right wall. Kaapo Kakko (#24), a winger, moves to purse the Canucks defenseman. Panarin takes note of Quinn Hughes (#43), as the winger moves to the defenseman. Strome, a center, and Trouba both go to the center, Elias Pettersson (#40), who has moved to the point. You can even see Trouba point towards Pettersson. Garland moves undetected as his defenseman moves to the point.
We see K’Andre Miller and J.T. Miller re-enter the frame here, both coming out of the left corner. Garland, with Strome and Trouba leaving him open, moves towards a soft spot in the right corner. Panarin is puck watching, as he could leave Hughes alone at the point, but he doesn’t have eyes in the back of his head to see J.T. Miller. Poolman moves the puck up to Pettersson at the right point.
Pettersson has established himself as a threat at the point, as Garland moves towards the right hand side of the goal-line. Trouba realizes he left his post unoccupied and slams on the brakes. J.T. Miller follows the faceoff circle and moves towards the high slot.
Pettersson releases the puck to Garland, who comes up to the goal line to asses what is happening around him. Garland sees that J.T. Miller is crashing down the slot towards the net and opens his body to make a potential pass. K’Andre Miller thinks about the pass for a split second too long while caving in towards the net front. Trouba is scampering back to the net.
J.T. Miller continues his jaunt to the net front, with his stick flat on the ice, as Igor Shesterkin (#31) is already down protecting the short side. Garland makes the pass and Trouba’s stick is just a fraction late. K’Andre Miller tries to take J.T. Miller’s body but J.T. stays strong on his stick.
Trouba, late, watches the puck hit J.T. Miller’s stick. Shesterkin’s pad is just a bit late as well. J.T. Miller finishes off the pass from Garland and the Canucks make it a 2–1 game.
A simple miscommunication between Trouba and Strome is really the difference maker here. It creates the two-on-one down low with K’Andre Miller as the only man back to defend against J.T. Miller and Garland. The Canucks would go on to win the game in overtime, as J.T. Miller scored his second of the match for the winner. Miller and Garland are first and third in scoring for Vancouver, respectively, with 15 and 11 points each.
Paul Statsny (4) VS. Chicago, 11/5/2021
We start with Nikolaj Ehlers (#27) along the boards. Ehlers enters the neutral zone, as Seth Jones (#4) presses him. Andrew Copp (#9) will fill the vacated space that is left by Jones. Calvin de Haan (#44) skates back to protect against the attack.
Ehlers makes the drop pass to the eventual goal scorer, Paul Statsny (#25). Brandon Hagel (#38) pinches off Ehlers after he makes the pass.
Statsny attacks the middle of the ice, as Jones will pursue him, which is the mistake of this play. Statsny is in full stride while Jones must come around Copp and will eventually have to chase Statsny. Hagel and Ehlers both get off the ice.
We see a bit more of Hagel getting off here. Statsny moves the puck to Copp, who has no one on him, as de Haan is the only defenseman truly back.
Statsny makes a mad dash through the middle of the ice. This is where Statsny’s separation from Jones begins. Copp sees the lane that Statsny will eventually occupy.
de Haan is in a bit of a pickle here. He can’t take Copp, or the pass will be incredibly easy for Copp. If de Haan takes Statsny, then Copp can walk in and get a high danger chance.
Copp threads the needle between de Haan and Jones’s sticks. Statsny has the separation and can accelerate to the net.
Oh, that’s a lot of room.
Marc-André Fleury (#29) presents the five-hole for Statsny. Jones attempts to take a whack at Statsny to prevent the chance.
Jones does have the reach, but the Statsny shot comes just in time, nailing the five-hole.
Statsny buries the chance.
Moving towards the net front is always the right play. Having the hockey IQ to make this play is just one of the many reasons Paul Statsny is still in the NHL at age 35. This goal would be the first of two quick strikes in the first period, putting the game out of reach for a porous Chicago team. Winnipeg would go on to win 5–1.
Nikita Zadorov (1) VS. Dallas, 11/4/2021
Context: This play starts mid-way through a 4v4 situation.
Late third period, Flames are down one, 4v4, lot of open ice to be had. Here’s the faceoff.
Oliver Kylington (#58) retreats behind the net after the Flames win the draw. Alexander Radulov (#47) gives him chase.
Kylington moves freely up ice, with more space available during the 4v4. Radulov takes a whack on Kylington, which draws a penalty. As Radulov is beat by Kylington, Tyler Seguin (#91) comes in to pursue Kylington.
Kylington enters the neutral zone with Seguin all over him. Notice Mikael Backlund (#11) drive the right side of the neutral zone.
Kylington and Backlund move towards the right side of the ice as Kylington enters the offensive zone. Blake Coleman (#20) uses Kylington and all the attention he draws to enter the zone undetected. Nikita Zadorov (#16) trails to protect the back end with Kylington playing as a rover.
Kylington has all eyes on him in the offensive zone. Ryan Suter (#20) will pick him up. Backlund moves with Kylington towards the right, as Seguin and Radulov do too. Coleman has the entire left side to himself while Zadorov hasn’t even entered the zone yet.
Kylington is opening up so much ice by moving towards the right half wall, with Backlund sucking in Radulov as well. Kylington opens his hips and presents himself as a threat to shoot or pass. Coleman will stride to the net while Zadorov is just outside the zone.
Seguin, a forward, presents himself as a defenseman, but that doesn’t seem to be working, as Kylington has opened up a portion of the high slot that Zadorov can attack. Coleman continues to the net.
Kylington makes the pass to Zadorov. Seguin and John Klingberg (#3) both recognize the threat that Zadorov presents and go towards him.
Seguin moves to close out against Zadorov. Klingberg moves back to protect the net front. Not sure if he realizes that Coleman is behind him and about to screen Anton Khudobin (#35).
Seguin’s close out attempt is going to fail. Coleman has Khudobin’s eyes covered.
Khudobin is trying his best to see the shot, but he leans the wrong way, giving Zadorov more space to go glove side.
A staggeringly late reaction from Khudobin as the shot beats him low glove side. Zadorov finishes what Kylington started.
With more open ice, Kylington was able to draw in quite a few players and opened up ice for his partner, Zadorov. Coleman’s screen in front was completely necessary for the shot to get through. The indecisive nature of a forward playing defense might have helped as well. The Flames would go on to lose in overtime.
