The Arizona Coyotes need to work on not giving up their hard-earned leads in games. Sure, but how? Coach Tocchet reveals the answer!
The Arizona Coyotes (10-6-2, 22 points) beat one of the best teams in the NHL Monday night in their opponent’s building. The Coyotes won 4 to 3 in a shootout against the talented and powerful Washington Capitals (13-2-4, 30 points) after leading at one point 3 to 0.
Despite Monday night’s hard-earned victory, it was frustrating to see the Coyotes lose another lead, a trend that has occurred in the prior 4 games (two at home and two on the road). Fortunately for the Coyotes, they were able to secure two critical points, but not without a scare right up to the end.
On Tuesday night the ‘Yotes square off against the defending NHL champion St. Louis Blues in their building. It’s quite the challenge for any team, especially a group that has dropped two winnable home games by relinquishing leads to the Blue Jackets and Wild within the past 5 days.
What does the team need to do to quit surrendering leads late in their games? Coach Rick Tocchet said that the Coyotes players defending their own goal need to stay in front of the opposition’s men when they are near to or approaching the “D” zone’s most dangerous scoring areas.
By constantly adjusting his defensive position relative to the movement of the attacker that he’s defending, a man playing effective defense can make it difficult for the attacker to occupy valuable space in the slot and in the circles. By remaining “goal side,” a defender can be in a good position to block a shot as well, as his body is between the attacker and the goal.
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It certainly sounds simple enough, but in a fast-paced game like professional hockey, it’s not such an easy task to accomplish and sustain defensive pressure for 60+ minutes of “high-octane” action. In essence, a series of “one on one” battles between opposing players occurs concurrently throughout the game, and the player who fails to “cover” his man by “puck watching” and losing track of the person he’s supposed to be defending is often punished, as is his team, when the opponent gets free and scores a goal.
Good defense, just like good offense, results from coordinated and complementary actions by a single player while working in concert with a group of players, and constant communication and focus are essential to that group’s and team’s success.
Let’s hope that the Arizona Coyotes heed Coach Tocchet’s sound advice as the season moves forward. Let’s go Coyotes!