Murray, on how to improve scoring

This will be the last question/answer tonight, and then we’ll pick it up again in the morning…

Question: A year ago, you talked about the need to improve 5-on-5 scoring. It went up by three goals, but the goals-against also went down. Is that acceptable, or does the scoring need to improve?

MURRAY: “We still need to improve, and it’s going to get harder to improve. This game today, where you have five players collapsing, pulling back and waiting at their own blue line and there’s very little room to operate in the middle of the ice, it’s going to get harder. More teams are going to go this way, because now you’re seeing what’s going on in the playoffs. Those teams will dictate to other teams how they’re going to play, and it’s going to get harder next year. But the offensive part, 5-on-5, it still has to get better. We have charts in our players lounge that we update daily, as to our shot count, the individuals, where they stand in the league as compared to other players, goals for, everything is documented and it’s a vision as you walk in for your coffee in the morning. So we’re going to stay with that. We’re going to have to push it more. That’s all you can do. You keep working at it and bringing that as a focal point to your training camp next year. You want to improve defensively, you want to be solid there, but we have to find a way to get more offense.

“One of the way is certainly by putting more shots up. It’s not just carelessly throwing pucks to the net. It’s not about that either. You’re looking to do the right thing when you get pucks to the net, so that you can set up a rebound, a loose puck, for your teammate, who is middle-lane driving and looking for something good to happen off that kind of a play. We’re like 28th in the league when it comes to average shots per game. It’s going to have to get up there where the big boys are, on the offensive part of it, to be in the top 15. That way, your offensive numbers will increase as a part of that.”

Question: Is there anything, in terms of changing the system, that would allow you to open things up more?

MURRAY: “Playing a good defensive system allows you to have the puck more, so you go back the other you. You have to check. I think our forecheck system is a very aggressive forecheck. We’re going with three on the attack, all the time, on our forecheck. We have reads, and it allows speed to the puck from the three forwards, and then one of those guys has to recover, and there’s a read there that he has to make, in order to be that high shooting guy. Whenever we do recover the puck, he’s the scorer. He’s the guy that’s going to get the puck and put it to the net. We do encourage our defensemen to be aggressive on the pinch. We pre-pinch on the strong side, we pinch on any pucks along the boards on the weak side. So, compared to any other team in the league, structurally, system-wise, we’re as aggressive offensively as anybody. Now we need to be better to find a way, whenever we are keeping pucks alive, and to me it ties into shot mentality. We have to be better at that.”

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