Jets keeping/losing the gap

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/02/2015 (3892 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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THE JETS:

44 Zach Bogosian, D

39 Toby Enstrom, D

18 Bryan Little, C

16 Andrew Ladd, LW

26 Blake Wheeler, RW

31 Ondrej Pavelec, G

THE CANUCKS:

22 Daniel Sedin, LW

33 Henrik Sedin, C

14 Alexandre Burrows, RW

8 Chris Tanev, D

23 Alex Edler, D

31 Eddie Lack, G

 

THE BACKGROUND

The Jets have talked a lot about ‘gap control’ this season, specifically the work of the forwards to race back to help in defensive support and defencemen jumping up on the offensive attack. This has also been an area of concern lately, especially during the team’s 0-4-1 slide since the all-star break.

GOOD GAP CONTROL

The Jets were solid with this early in Tuesday’s OT loss to the Vancouver Canucks, and we’ll use examples — both of the good and the bad — featuring their No. 1 line of Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler while paired with defencemen Zach Bogosian and Toby Enstrom.

As an example of good gap control, the Jets are leading the Canucks 1-0 in the first period when Vancouver has the puck and is exiting the defensive zone. Little chases the puck carrier from behind and applies pressure while working hard backchecking. If he doesn’t hustle, there’s a lot of room in the neutral zone. Instead, as Vancouver gets into the neutral zone there are five Jets in the area, making it very hard for them to come through. The Jets forwards can be aggressive and the defencemen, knowing they have support, can step up and protect the blueline.

BAD GAP CONTROL

In the diagram pictured here the Jets first apply good pressure in the Canucks zone, but then get caught with three forwards deep. Wheeler (26) is in on the forecheck hunting the puck, which is exactly what Paul Maurice wants to see. Little (18) and Ladd (16) are also in on the forecheck. Little first jumps in to support because you want to apply pressure. But as Ladd pressures and finishes a check, the gap begins to develop.

As a result, the Canucks move the puck quickly from Chris Tanev (8) to Alex Burrows (14) to Alex Edler (23) to Henrik Sedin (33), creating a huge space between the Jets defencemen and forwards. That forces the Jets two defencemen, Bogosian (44) and Enstrom (39), to back off and not hold the blue-line. Instead, they protect the middle and hope to buy time while the Jets forwards come back. The space in the neutral zone is huge and Vancouver has lots of time to cut across, make a drop pass and apply pressure. They get a three-on-two as a result because the Jets’ gap between the defencemen and forwards is so big… they are two zones apart.

Ideally, Ladd would have provided a ‘soft lock’ where he is aggressive and tries to force a turnover, but does not play the body on Burrows. The Canucks make three quick passes to create the bad gap.

J.P. SAYS

“A problem of concern for the Jets in their five-game losing streak right now is the gap between the forwards and the defencemen. Early in the Vancouver game they were doing a solid job of keeping the gap, allowing the defencemen to hold the blue-line, knowing they had numbers and support. You want to have a tight gap so that defencemen can hold the blue-line and be aggressive.

“But as the game wore on, their gap control wasn’t as strong and with the space between defencemen and forwards extended, it allowed the Canucks to get out of their zone too easily and attack the Jets with speed. This is something they’re going to have to continue to work on with the upcoming three-game homestand, beginning Friday against Chicago.

 

J.P. Vigier, who grew up in Notre Dame de Lourdes, Man., is a former NHL winger (Atlanta Thrashers, 2000-07) who finished his career in the Swiss league. He does Jets analysis for both TSN 1290 and Radio Canada and teaches power skating and skill development for kids of all ages (jeanvigier11@gmail.com).

— Ed Tait