SCF Spotlight: Shayne Gostisbehere's Point Play

From zero to hero

Credit: NHL.com

Shayne Gostisbehere was the guiltiest culprit in his team’s Game 1 loss.

Luckily, Vegas offered the puck-mover multiple chances at redemption on Thursday night in the form of power plays late in the third period and early in overtime. That was all he needed to right his wrongs.

After the Canes squandered their first two PPs in search of the perfect setup, Gostisbehere opted for a simpler approach. Shoot for traffic. Even that would require some work vs. a stingy Golden Knights shell. Consider Carolina’s outlook on the D-man’s first touch:

• Colton Sissons (VGK 10) is close enough to hinder Ghost’s release.

• Nic Dowd (VGK 26) can affect Andrei Svechnikov’s (CAR 37) one-timer.

• Because of that, LD Shea Theodore (VGK 27) can stay home or jump into the shooting lane if need be.

• RD Jeremy Lauzon can flex out to contest a Seth Jarvis (CAR 24) shot.

• Carter Hart (VGK 79) has vision on the puck, and Theodore is occupying the side that would make the best use of Carolina’s stacked screens.

Yeah…let’s keep it moving:

In order to create space at the point, Gostisbehere aims to isolate Dowd. The blueliner slings the puck to Svechnikov, luring the high PKer outside the dot. Ghost shades just enough toward his winger to facilitate a pass but not so much that Dowd can scramble back into the shooting lane.

The real trouble for Vegas here is Theodore’s positioning. Lacking any semblance of respect for the point man’s menace, he wanders to the strong-side dot to double up on a flanker who’s fading to the half-wall. Svechnikov dishes back to Gostisbehere, and Sissons and Lauzon are now stuck in awkward predicaments. The former must choose between a point man in middle ice and a 30-goal scorer’s one-timer threat (Jarvis), whereas the latter is outnumbered in the slot (Aho and Staal). As a result, the puck-carrier is staring at a gaping corridor.

Better yet, shifting the point of attack to the left side of the formation forces Hart to track the puck around 6’4”, 220-pound Jordan Staal (CAR 11).

Two quick passes + clever repositioning = vastly improved shooting conditions:

Having surrendered a go-ahead goal off his shot from distance, Vegas’ PK over-corrects vs. Gostisbehere in OT. It ends up playing too skinny. All four skaters are parked inside the hashes:

Since William Karlsson (VGK 71) is mirroring the point man until the puck reaches the other half of the DZ and Lauzon is stationed behind him, Jack Eichel’s (VGK 9) presence in the slot is surplus to requirements.

The center should creep out to discourage/disrupt a pass to Jarvis, but due to the memory of Staal’s goal, he falls victim to Gostisbehere’s deception:

The D-man’s eyes and rear leg indicate shooting intentions and freeze Eichel in place. To make matters worse, Hart buys what Ghost is selling through heavy congestion (again, look at how skinny they’re playing), peeking near side and therefore losing the race to the far post.

While Jarvis has struggled through a rough postseason, this conversion should be a walk in the park:

Indeed, the Canadian Olympian cashes to tie the series at one game apiece:

Much like the run game in the NFL, Carolina’s point shooting should be established first to grease the wheels of its PP. It’s a simple yet effective way of leveraging the close-range numerical advantage baked into a 1-3-1 (see: Staal’s goal). Moreover, any danger created in that mode will likely compress the PK to loosen coverage on the top unit’s trigger men (see: Jarvis’ goal).

We already know Gostisbehere is up to the task, and his more direct decision-making altered the complexion of Vegas’ PK in Game 2.

In the process, he may have altered the complexion of the Stanley Cup Final.

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