Game to game adjustments: Six ways teams do it in the Stanley Cup playoffs

Imagine a team going 16-0 in the playoffs. I’m not sure if we will ever see a team go on that kind of a run, but don’t be fooled: if we did, they, too, would be making adjustments game to game.

Here we are in the Stanley Cup Final and special teams are having a huge impact on the series, whether it be purely momentum-based or statistically. The Tampa Bay Lightning finally stopped the bleeding in Game 5 and managed to hold the Colorado Avalanche without a power play goal.

So what areas are coaches looking to adjust from game to game during a playoff series when nothing really goes unnoticed? Here are my top six:

1. Special Teams: These are tasks that have been delegated during the season. One assistant has the power play and the other has the penalty kill. In some cases, they will bounce some ideas off each other or the head coach, and even the goalie coach will be involved in the penalty kill. I believe strongly that the game-to-game adjustments in this area have a greater impact with the players’ engagement. Currently the Stanley Cup Final could be won and in this area alone. I expected some adjustments by Tampa going into Game 5, and we saw them. Engage the players in this process and partnerships lead to ownership.

2. Face-offs in both defensive zone and offensive zone. We all get excited when we see a goal from an O-zone faceoff or a stretch play from a defensive zone win. However, the team on the wrong end of that play will be mumbling a few expletives and will make sure that doesn’t happen again. They will review little tendencies on wins and just as importantly have a clear plan when they lose a draw.

3. Since the game is played mostly without the puck, then the coaches will pinpoint any areas where guys might be cheating or hoping in all three zones at 5-on-5. Tighten this up.

4. Goalie pre-scout will go even deeper: versus a right or left shot, ice location (ice geography), straight-on shots, with a pass through the “royal road,” bad angle shots, and how to play a goalie who might struggle to make a clean save, which equals second chances (rebounds). Overall, it’s about how the offensive team can make the goalie work for his space and sight lines. This will be part of the power-play review as well.

5. Physicality with a purpose. Coaches will see if their team let up on finishing a hit or a bump or if in some cases they went out of their way to hit and expose another to a mismatch defensively. The physicality can really wear down a team’s D-corps and at times get them hearing footsteps, which forces rushed plays with the puck or pulling up on races.

6. The lineup. Does a team think they will be better suited for a 12 forward, six defense traditional setup or an 11 & 7 which we’ve seen from Tampa for years? Now more teams have used the latter, including the St. Louis Blues, with Scott Perunovich in as a “specialist” for the power play since Torey Krug was injured. Another strategy while dressing an 11 & 7 lineup is to keep your top two lines together and rotate your bottom five forwards together – a similar idea for top four defensemen and bottom three defensemen. Another aspect to lineup management is when to inject some fresh legs – Carter Verhaeghe in the 2020 playoffs comes to mind – or deciding when to split up a line and build strong duos and find high end complementary guys.

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Former QMJHL head coach Jon Goyens has 28 years of coaching experience, from the lowest levels of minor hockey all the way to serving as a special consultant for an NHL team during the Stanley Cup playoffs. He is the winningest coach in the history of the Quebec Midget ‘AAA’ league with the Lac St. Louis Lions and has helped develop 25-plus players to be selected in the NHL Draft. He has also worked as an individual skills and development coach with future Hockey Hall of Famer Hilary Knight, as well as NHL players such as Jonathan Drouin and Mike Matheson.

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Game to game adjustments: Six ways teams do it in the Stanley Cup playoffs

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