COLUMBUS, Ohio -- There are a number of ways to go about it, but ultimately every hockey club wants to dictate the terms of each game. Over an 82-game schedule, it's an impossible task for any NHL team to do it night in and night out, but the ones that do it on a relatively consistent basis typically end up in good shape when the postseason rolls around.
Ask what it means to dictate terms and the mind jumps to skillful offensive plays, crisp passes, eagerness to shoot the puck and aggressiveness to get to the dangerous areas of the ice.
What about when the puck isn't in your possession?
Of course you want to skate hard and have a physical component to your game, but perhaps the most important key is taking time and space away from your opponents ... methodically. Sitting back on your heels and reacting rather than anticipating without the puck is a recipe for disaster. That's especially true for the neutral zone, where it's vital for defensemen to command where the opposition can and can't go as they attempt to transition.
That starts by defending the offensive blue line and doing whatever you can to keep the puck from even reaching the neutral zone, or at least preventing the opposition from getting there with the puck on their stick:
Most NHL teams have directed their defensemen to take more calculated risks to hold the offensive blue line. The Penguins are no exception. It's part of what allows them to extend zone time and grind the opposition down.
In the above clip, even though Mike Matheson didn't keep the puck in the offensive zone, the Penguins were able to regain possession and get back to work, thanks to him stepping up and applying pressure to the Bruins winger about to receive a pass along the boards. It's tough to tell if Matheson got a piece of the pass attempt, but regardless, he took away the winger's room to operate and forced him into a compromised position facing the boards if he were to somehow corral the puck.
Matheson deserves full credit for his anticipation and quick feet, but what allowed him to activate was Kris Letang, who hung back and shifted to the middle of the ice to serve as a safety valve in case of a pinch gone wrong. There's also Bryan Rust and his momentum swinging with the play. He likely catches up to the Boston winger in the event that they completely evade Matheson while maintaining possession.
That's how the Penguins' system works. Be as aggressive as possible to apply pressure and funnel the puck into the next layer of coverage.
Defensemen don't always have the luxury to pinch, and quite often it doesn't make sense to do so. That doesn't mean they can't keep the heat on their assignments and force the opposition into the palm of their hand:
Modern-day defensemen are taking more and more opportunities to defend in transition by skating forward at a curve instead of backward. This is commonly referred to as surfing. Not only can defensemen maintain tighter gaps, but they are also able to dictate the direction of play because everything is happening in front of them while their momentum carries forward.
When defensemen skate backward, it's much easier for the puck-carrier to manipulate their feet as they typically have the option to cut either direction and force the blue liner to cross over. Above, Marcus Pettersson never put himself in a compromised position on his heels and was able to direct the carrier wide, right into traffic along the boards at the defensive blue line.
As with pinching and activating, skating forward while defending in transition won't be practical or viable in every scenario, but it has become one of the most effective neutral-zone defensive tactics. If defensemen have too much separation between their own forwards and fail to maintain adequate gaps on the opposition, the result tends to be a cakewalk across both blue lines for the team transitioning up ice:
A loose gap can signify a fear of getting burned or a lack of situational awareness ... or sometimes both. In such cases, the puck-carrier will attack the center lane where they are most dangerous.
With constant changes of possession and the chaotic nature of the sport, every defenseman will find himself backed off from their assignment a little further than he should be. When that happens, it's imperative to occupy the middle of the ice and force the carrier to the outside. It might also help if you're a gifted skater who can move laterally with ease:
Despite Letang's poor gap, his occupancy up the middle enticed the puck-carrier to take the outside lane. As soon as he committed, Letang displayed his smooth skating and closed the gap with a single stride. Within an instant, Letang had completely taken away the outside lane that he just invited the puck-carrier to take. At that point, he dared the puck-carrier to try to beat him with a move to the inside. The carrier opted to dump it instead.
Here's what happens when you combine a loose gap with letting the puck-carrier get the inside lane:
Pettersson got caught in no-man's land, as pretty much any decision he could make once the puck neared the blue line would open up an alternative option for the puck-carrier.
He had no leverage. No leverage means the attacker is calling the shots and dictating what will happen next.
The majority of the time, defensemen will utilize inside leverage to keep play to the outside. If their teammates have their assignments properly marked, there should be an opportunity for the defender to slide over, step up and seal the carrier off along the boards:
Notice how Mark Friedman smartly crossed over toward the middle before the carrier had any kind of opportunity to catch him leaning the wrong way. By the time the carrier picked their head up, their only option was directly up the boards. Friedman recognized strong coverage from his teammates and used it as a chance to completely erase the separation and make a play on the puck.
It's essentially the same play just from the other side of the ice, but I'd be remiss if I didn't include a clip of Matheson using his downright exceptional skating to deny a zone entry, as well:
For all the talk of offensive and defensive impacts at the individual and team level, it feels as if we often neglect discussion about neutral-zone play, even though it's a major factor in those impacts at both ends of the ice.
The neutral zone is arguably the most important area of the ice to control. Whether or not you dictate terms there will likely determine your fate.
