More consistent net presence still needed

Asked about the need, both in even-strength and power-play situations, to generate more scoring chances, Terry Murray went back to a familiar phrase: net presence. It’s used a lot, but when you watch last night’s game, and see how many glove saves Niklas Backstrom was able to make, without much commotion in front of him, it does drive home the point that Murray is attempting to make.

MURRAY: “I think it applies to all situations, whether it’s 5-on-5, power play, 4-on-4, overtime, and after watching the game and talking about it with the coaches, we all agree. Establishing that net presence, on a consistent basis, is the area that needs to be focused on, in particular the power play and 5-on-5. We seem to want to give support to the puck-possession player too quickly, and that draws you away from the net. There comes a time when a player has full possession, he’s moving his feet and he has a little bit of pressure on him, but you have to know that he’s able to make a play from that point. So net presence is where you need to be, as a low forward. We’re not in that area on a consistent basis.

Later, after talking about the need for power-play success, Murray returned to the theme…

MURRAY: “I don’t want to put it all on the power play, because it does apply to 5-on-5 looks. The goal scoring, there is responsibility there for a player to be at the net. Again, my feel of it is that whenever you have a difficult time scoring goals, you don’t go (inside), where you’re supposed to go. You go (outside). You think, `I’ve got to get open, I’ve got to get open, I’ve got to get open,’ so you play on the perimeter. You think, `OK, I can support my teammate and find open ice.’ Well, it’s human nature. It’s a mentality that all hockey players have, but when you really want to correct things, you’ve got to go right there (to the front of the net). Now you’ve got to get back to that ugly stuff and grinding it out and, at all times, making sure you have traffic at the net, screening the goaltender. These guys are so good today that if you shoot the puck on the low-to-high — which is sometimes all that you have, because of the home-plate attitude that most teams show — and there’s no screen, he’s going to catch that puck all night long.”

Finally, Murray was asked for examples of players who were doing the job correctly. Murray identified Michal Handzus, particularly for his power-play work in front of the net, and gave some half-praise to Ryan Smyth — for standing in front of the net but for trying to side-step and tip too many pucks — then said Wayne Simmonds started heading in the right direction last night…

MURRAY: “Simmer, when I made the change to put him with Zeus, his attitude did a 180, and his net presence ended up being very good for the rest of the game. He was battling. But the responsibility for it is not designated to one player on a line. The cycle is happening, and it’s that low forward, now that the puck is established with possession and you’re looking to make a play, it’s the low forward’s responsibility to get to the net. No matter who it is, that’s your job, and that’s what we’re drifting away from.”