Spanning between last week’s games against the Blue Jackets and Maple Leafs, there was a stretch where the Blackhawks conceded six consecutive goals that were all some form of a back-door tap-in.
The Jackets scored their fifth goal last Wednesday when the Hawks fell one man behind in a cycling defensive rotation and Connor Bedard ultimately let Dmitri Voronkov get free for a back-door tap-in.
The Jackets scored their sixth goal when Boris Katchouk laid a hit on Kirill Marchenko but lost track of him afterward, leaving Marchenko alone for a back-door tap-in.
And the Jackets scored their seventh goal when Wyatt Kaiser turned the puck over and Patrik Laine executed a give-and-go around Isaak Phillips, beating him to the net for a back-door tap-in.
The Leafs scored their first goal Friday when Kaiser, as the weak-side defenseman defending a rush, left Nicholas Robertson open behind him and Robertson buried a back-door feed.
The Leafs scored their second goal when Alex Vlasic failed to check Calle Jarnkrok and TJ Brodie fed Jarnkrok for a back-door tap-in.
And the Leafs scored their third goal when, after the puck ricocheted across the ice, Kaiser and Phillips didn’t shift over aggressively enough and Ryan Reaves found space between them to tip in a centering shot-pass.
The pattern finally ended Sunday, although the Blues’ third goal was also a back-door tap-in by Pavel Buchnevich — albeit on the power play. Connor Murphy was most responsible for that one.
But while it was happening, the pattern was hard to miss, and Hawks coach Luke Richardson certainly noticed and discussed it.
One key thing the Hawks believe will help them better defend these situations involves working harder to box out opponents from the crease area entirely. Vlasic, while talking about what went wrong on Jarnkrok’s goal, explained that well.
“I checked my shoulder, I thought [Jarnkrok] was on the left side of me, and then as soon as I turned my head, the pass was already coming back-door and he was behind me,” Vlasic said. “Watching over it again, it’s definitely tough to prevent a goal from going in...if you are right on the guy. It’s almost easier to open up and box him out.
“It’s definitely tough [to do that] depending on who you’ve got coming to the net, and how heavy and strong they are. But crafty players are going to find ways to lift your stick right before the puck comes. So you’ve got to do your best to turn forward and not even let him get close to the net. If it goes off your foot, that’s the only thing that can really happen as long as you’ve got his stick tied up.”
Another key adjustment involves tighter gaps when defending transition attacks, as well as generally tighter coverage on the strong side of the “D”-zone, which ideally prevents passing lanes to the back door from opening up at all.
Murphy said the Hawks have talked more about “closing the play off where the puck starts” than about covering the back-door guy specifically. “If we can push them when they enter our zone [and] get them uncomfortable earlier, it doesn’t allow them to sift the puck through to the far side,” Murphy added.
Said Richardson: “If they can saucer a pass 85 feet across the ice and land it flat, then we’ll give them that.”
This message has been especially directed at the Kaiser-Phillips pairing, since their gap control has been subpar lately.
But it’s hardly surprising the Hawks are struggling defensively — allowing the third-most scoring chances and most high-danger scoring chances in the NHL — given their defensive lineup features four de facto rookies.
This season is more about learning and developing than anything else, and by identifying weaknesses — like allowing too many back-door tap-ins — now, they can be addressed for the future.
