Flying V Defence

Regina Kicked the Tigers butt last night. I want to show an example of the Tigers defense that is repeatedly causing them issues in their own zone.

They frequently adapt to "line defence"  If you watched the Oilers of yesteryear they used to do this often.  Their are a lot of little mistakes and a full line formation leads to poor zone coverage.

This play was goal #2 Regina scored last night.

Regina Goal #2 - The Flying V Defence
What is wrong with this picture below?



1.  Defenceman going into the corner

• This is a non-cycle play. Sometimes it is necessary for a Dman to go into the corner, however it can be semi-dangerous, if the forwards are not aware or covering defensively, even when they have puck possession. 

• 2 Dmen  in the corner often means their will be a defensive switch coming. (more on that later) 

• 90% of the time the Tigers make this breakout successfully, but they should still be aware that a change in puck possession means Regina is likely going to get a good scoring chance.

• It is wrong to assume that in order to correct this play the outlet pass needs to be better. Outlet passes will fail occasionally, they need to be better prepared postionally.

2. Tunnel Vision

• Nobody has their head on a swivel, video does that better justice
• Unaware of any potential incoming Regina players that will likely be skating in towards the play

3. Line Defence

• Line defence leaves no passing options  if the Tigers recover the puck. 
• One single Regina player can cover all outlet passing options.
• On a turnover they are vulnerable to large on ice gaps

A Few Seconds Later

What Happened
Forrest has recovered the puck and he appears to have room to escape; however, he is on his back-hand(which is difficult), and the Regina player coming in has a lot more speed that Forrest

His fellow Tiger line-mates are now  poor passing outlets, His only play is to 1v1 or bounce the puck off the boards. This positioning is extremely poor as we will see why next picture.

Pic 3

What Happens

Forrest doesn't connect on the outlet pass and it leads to a change in puck possession, uh-oh. 

Here is where 2 DMEN in the corner is dangerous. Their was a turn-over, 2 Dman are along the boards in very poor defending position. The forwards were expecting to breakout.

This is a complete breakdown in positioning, their are HUGE danger areas. The whole left side of the ice, the regina forwardsskating in front, and their is a lot of space for the Regina defenceman to make plays.

The one Red Circle has both a Tiger defenceman and a Regina forward. The Regina forward beats the Defenceman to the net, which is a big no-no. That can't happen. 

Defence

In a nutshell defensively, every-time a forward forces a defenceman  to make a decision, or "switch coverage" of a player it will create a gap, which leads to open space, as well as potential for errors in communication on forwards covering. Every-time you hear defensive switch, you should think "potential for extra space"

Very often, but not always 2 defenceman in the corner means a "defensive switch" is coming soon, aka  potential for gaps in communication and positioning.

Many offensive plays are designed to force the dmen to make decisions because it creates space.
This is what creates offence 5v5 at the NHL level.

Voluntary Switch

The Tigers here gave Regina a potential "voluntary switch" with the 2nd Dman going into the corner. Normally 1 v 5 you'd think that should be ok, and soemtimes the 2nd Dman is closer to the puck

However it should mean forwards should be more aware of the danger that brings.

The Goal

This was not Schneider fault at all. Their should have been somebody in front previously which would have led to better defense, then schneider would have been in good positioning for a pass out front.

Right now his anticipation of where the play is going, is not matching because the Tigers aren't doing a good job in their own end.

Poor Positioning

The Two Tiger defenceman (red circle) have both been beaten to the net by everybody because they both collapsed into the corner. 

Directly before this their was a momentary 2 on 0 while Regina almost deflected the puck into the net and that forced Schneider to swing hard to the right. He is now recovering to the middle as he is a bit unaware where the puck is, with the shot and a potential deflection by the Pats.

Tunnel Vision

Notice again that all Tiger forwards on the ice are looking at the puck carrier. The guy with the puck at the net could have easily have thrown it to the slot where an incoming Defenceman like a Hobbs could have blasted a shot, and broke a Tiger ankle....

Danger Areas

Their are now 3 big danger areas. The Pat at the corner of the net with the puck, the guy in the slot, as well as the high slot area(which we can't see) but a defenceman could easily be ready to walk in. Their is 1 Tiger out of picture but he likely can't cover both high points.

Conclusion

The Tigers shot themselves in the foot with really poor coverage in their own end. Regina didn't create this chance the Tigers gave them a free goal. A championship team forces the opponent to create their own goals, and not give them up for free.