When it comes to hockey instruction, one point coaches tell forwards is that many times it’s a good idea to create space and time when heading down the ice into the offensive zone. Many youngsters, however, wind up blitzing down the ice as fast as possible. Or sometimes they may continue right into the teeth of the defense and get broken up.
Well, any players who want to see how it’s executed at the highest level can watch the video below of the Boston Bruins’ Jake DeBrusk scoring on a feed from captain Brad Marchand 25 seconds into overtime to beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on Thursday (March 14).
Sure, it’s fairly easy to find space and time for pros in an NHL 3-on-3 extra-time situation, but this example of creating space and time to gain an advantage can still translate to 5-on-5.
The winning play started with Boston blueliner Hampus Lindholm forcing a turnover in the corner and then passing the puck up off the boards. For a split second, it looked like DeBrusk, who was close to Lindholm and helping out defensively at the time, would go up and get the puck, but Marchand quickly came over from the middle to grab it, making a nicely positioned 2-on-1 possible.
As soon as DeBrusk saw Marchand retrieving the puck, he immediately sped forward up the center of the ice. Marchand started to fly up the right boards with only Montreal’s Nick Suzuki back to defend. Two other Canadiens were caught behind the play, but they hurried to backcheck.
This is when Marchand, who was about to go over the red center line, slowed down to a nice stroll-in-the-park pace. No hurry at all. DeBrusk started to go a bit wide to the left and then he also slowed down a bit to cruise toward the middle. Marchand held on to the puck until DeBrusk was in the sweet spot and then slid it to him under the stick of Suzuki.
For the finish (and the win), DeBrusk saw enough space between goaltender Sam Montembeault and Suzuki to cut right through them, stickhandling to his backhand and easily gliding the puck past the sliding Montembeault. Had either Marchand or DeBrusk not concentrated on positioning themselves into the right spot — by first speeding up and then slowing down — this play would not have had the same fine-tuned execution.
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DeBrusk, by the way, is one of the players the Bruins are counting on in their push toward the playoffs. The streaky player is hot, hot, hot right now, with four goals and five assists in his last seven games after scoring only one goal with one assist during a 15-game stretch.
DeBrusk Benefits From Marchand’s Passing Artistry
It certainly helps DeBrusk (17 goals, 19 assists, 36 points) to be on the same line as Marchand (27-34-61), who does many, many things for these Bruins, including being an absolute wizard when it comes to setting up his teammates. And that skill is highly evident as of late. Marchand has three goals and 11 assists since the start of February after 11 goals and three assists in January.
With two more assists Saturday, Marchand played a pivotal role in a 6-5 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. One of those helpers came off Charlie Coyle‘s face-off win to Marchand, who collected the puck in the slot and moved to his right before backhanding a pass across the crease to Coyle for the bang-bang finish. Goaltender Felix Sandstrom waited and expected a backhand shot from Marchand, but it never came.
Also in that game, Marchand — with three Flyers near him and Coyle in the vicinity as part of a big crowd in the slot — managed to send a pass to the right to DeBrusk, who deked Sandstrom while going to the post before deftly squeezing it in.
League-Leading Bruins Will See Flyers Again Saturday
With Saturday’s win, the Bruins (40-14-15), who are 6-2-2 in their last 10, moved past the Florida Panthers and into the top spot league-wide with 95 points. Three more games are on tap this week for Boston — home games against the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers on Tuesday and Thursday, and a road rematch with the Flyers on Saturday.