For three months only, the CEO of shot blocking unleashed the NHL’s most lethal transition game.
Few NHL coaches take up as much space in the hockey hivemind as John Tortorella. But look past the locker room meltdowns and you’ll find it hard to agree on his actual style: is he the guy that sets shot block records, or the guy who has two defensemen below the OZ harsh marks? Torts isn’t tied down to one system, and neither were his teams: the 2004 Lightning were good enough for his famed “safe is death” mantra to work; fast forward 15 years and the Blue Jackets were neither ready nor able to execute as well.
So what was George McPhee thinking when he handed him the Vegas Golden Knights, an excellent roster limping into the playoffs on a cold streak? If it was “can’t play, might as well stand in lanes”, he’d be left disappointed. Instead, he got a trip to the Stanley Cup Final and the most rush goals (28) in the NHL since Tortorella took over, kickstarted by the old “safe is death” magic.
What it means on the ice.
The Idea: Mobile D joining the rush. Yes, Torts is still the defensive-accountability guy, but Vegas is good enough to walk the tightrope. His more recent teachings (“D only jumps if F covers”), a risk-minimizing defensive hedge for less gifted squads (CBJ, PHI), stifled odd-man rushes before they materialized. But unleash the shackles on Vegas and “outscoring the risk” is prized in.
On the play below, a couple of wrinkles worth pointing out:
- The play starts out with the D2 Theodore high up in the NZ as a right-up option for his D1 partner (not pictured).
- The D2 then pulls up inside the blue line, drawing out the opposition while buying time for the F3 Howden to catch up and turn the 2-on-2 into an odd-man.
- This way, despite the D having joined the rush, the trailer arriving in the trigger-position is a forward, ready to dish cross-crease or bury it himself.
The Challenge: Break out with pace. At the same time, Vegas is excellent in their own end. Tortorella’s tight defensive systems, generally, are known to make life easy on the goalies: Hart has a .966 Sv% at 5-on-5 under Torts, not least because Vegas had the lowest PGRa (projected goal rate against) this postseason, which means they allowed the lowest-quality scoring chances league-wide.
There’s a tradeoff between a well-organized D and transitioning with pace, but again, the Golden Knights are finding ways to “skill their way through”: little chip plays, hanging on an extra second for play to develop, and reversing at the right moment create time and space for controlled exits. The addition of players like Marner only helped, and the blend gelled at the right time.
The Potential: Building an elite two-way team. It’s the best of both Tortorella worlds, and the reason Vegas won 19 of their first 24. It’s where the transition begins, and why rush goals can develop: their disciplined defense combines the compete-level ethos (man-on-man) with systems IQ (sticks in lanes) and forces opponents into mistakes, ready to pounce.
On the play below, Dorofeyev pushes Podkolzin to the half-wall; Eichel’s correct read then takes away the (only) low-to-high option to create the transition. Note how while he’s being forced wide for an easy save, it’s the Knights’ compete on the rush that leads to the actual high-danger chance off the rebound as Howden beats his man in the slot. Another factor in why the Golden Knights lead the NHL in high-danger goals this postseason (34).
The Risk: The rush goes both ways. The tradeoff is obvious, and defensemen joining the rush will always expose their team to the counter. It’s essentially why Torts pulled the plug on his aggressive mantra in Columbus (the Blue Jackets had a 4.66 GAA around New Year’s in 2017-18), and kept it under wraps.
With Vegas though, two additional factors: the team is generally great at tracking and often sports two defenseman skating full-steam facing their own net to assume a better defensive position (as the D2 Andersson does on the 2-on-1 below); plus show me a good coach and I’ll show you a good goalie (Hart has a league-leading .873 Sv% against high-danger chances).
Key Takeaways.
If you’re a coach: When installing aggressive systems, always make it dependent on personnel: with mobile, skilled players, the compete level can show up in aggressive OZ forechecks and pinching defensemen; with less offensively gifted players, backtracking forwards applying pressure in the DZ can be just as valuable. One concept produces very different outcomes depending on context, and no great coach thinks in “always” or “never”.
If you’re a player: Taking the “safe is death” mantra to heart, it’s better to make your mistakes going forward than by standing still. If you’re going to be wrong, be wrong because you were competing for the puck or committing to a play, not because you hedged to protect yourself. The standard doesn’t move for reputation, so don’t expect it to move for yours.