Advice Needed: Finishing in Close Quarters

[slooz 0]

Hey there,

I'm trying out Forward after playing D my  whole life and love it. However, I'm  still having a trouble in the following situation: say you and your linemate are on a two-on-one. Your linemate has the puck coming up the left side, and the defenseman is playing him instead of the pass. The goalie is, rightly, committing to your teammate as well. The linemate decides to thread the needle pretty close to the goal mouth and into your general vicinity, sending a pass near your backhand. How do you finish in this situation?

I use a lie 5 stick so the puck usually goes between my skates and the stick. Should I choke up to shorten the distance between my blade and my skates? Open up to the pass so I can use my forehand and try to snap it  in?

Any advice or experience would be helpful!

[Vet88 674]

Your a lefty? If your team mate can't deliver tape to tape then open up, you can play a lot more shots that way than committing to a backhand tip in. For example as it slide towards you just in front of you you pick the puck up on the backhand on the inside of your body, as you slide past the puck use those fast hands to change to your forehand and then snap it It's not ideal as it takes longer to get the shot away but any shot on goal is a good shot when the keeper is out of position.

[GQRDY 24]

I play D but rush up a lot so sometimes find myself in this situation, my stick lie is 5.5 I find it pretty easy to get height using my backhand ( actually easier than my forehand).

What works for me is I will either try and just one time it on my backhand at the net.

bounce/kick it off my right foot to my forehand, then shoot at the net.

if your already at the net before the pass is coming , turn around so that your on your forehand.

if you do miss the pass go get it from the corner either hold it there waiting for a pass, or either skate roughly around the faceoff circle to get a good angle at a shot.

[chk hrd 164]

Stop trying to overthink it and play what comes naturally to you at the time. Some times you might take a deflection, sometimes open up and get it on the forehand, sometimes take the back hand shot. There is no right or wrong way to do it.

[GreatestAmericanBeardo 258]

As a lefty, i usually go a little harder to the net when the puck in on my backhand. Giving me an extra second to turn/open and be ready to get it with me forehand.  Isn't that the rule: Second man in goes hard to the net. 

 

i'f you're set on shooting that backhand, then just work on that in warmups.  I find I receive/make passes better during the game if I work with one teammate and do nothing but passing during warmies.  I usually try and fine the guy the capt puts me on a line with.

[slooz 0]

Thanks for the advice!

[leftwinger37 43]

Try playing a small area game with some buddies either on the ice or on dry land. Take two nets and line them up on either a quarter or a third of the surface depending on the number of players... In that situation you have no room/no time to think about what to do. You just have to make a play. It really sharpens your skills and your instincts for those "close quarters" situations.

Also, don't overplay the pass. A lot of times it's the goalie who will overcommit on the play. Sometimes it's more about what you don't do...

[psulion22 402]

slide your bottom hand down and raise your top hand to get the blade closer to your feet as you approach the goal line if the pass hasnt come yet.  Also if you focus on stopping at the back post, your weight and momentum will be backwards or neutral, making it easier to get contact on that pass.  If the pass is hard enough, you only have to redirect it rather than getting a good shot off, so you need much less blade contact and time.

[Chadd 916]

Find the lane you think the pass will be coming through and set yourself up to handle that pass the best way that you can, give your teammate the best target possible and work on your individual skills so that you know what you can pull off in any given situation. If the goalie is slow coming across, I want to get the puck on net as fast as possible. If the goalie is fast, I like to try and cut back across the net  and give him a second to get out of position.