After they scored similar goals this past weekend, I can’t help but wonder what might be said between Clayton Keller and Leon Draisaitl when the Edmonton Oilers and Arizona Coyotes face off Monday night.
I was watching Edmonton play against Vegas Saturday night, and Draisaitl’s goal immediately caught my eye. He caught the pass on the backhand while facing away from the Golden Knights cage, turned, and fired it past Vegas goaltender Laurent Brossoit. It was a power play tally, and I knew I’d seen Draisaitl do it before.
It’s easy for me, an ex-netminder, to remember a goal like this. Shooters so rarely spin and fire after having their numbers facing towards us. But with Draisaitl, it’s a play that the Oilers can execute. Catching the puck on the backhand and then spinning it towards the net has an element of surprise. And Draisaitl is able to open up a passing lane by using technique.
The key is that Draisaitl hides the release incredibly well. The puck is on and off his blade so quickly that Brossoit has a hard time picking up the exact location of the release. As a result, the Golden Knights netminder shifts to his right and drops into the butterfly, exposing the short side just enough for Draisaitl’s shot to slip through.
Goaltending is hard enough when an NHL player is barrelling toward the net with the puck. But at least then, the netminder can try to read the shot. Draisaitl tosses that out the window with his spin play. And he can do it because he’s so comfortable using his backhand. Draisaitl doesn’t even need to see the net – his muscle memory knows where it is.
I think he’s one of the few NHL players capable of pulling it off. But I’m also certain that players around the league have taken notice.
Walk into any NHL locker room and you’ll find a TV showing the previous night’s highlights. And the players absolutely watch. The NHL is a copycat league, and players are always looking to add a new dimension to their own game. Watching highlights is one way of crowd-sourcing information.
When I saw Keller’s goal on Sunday, I immediately thought of Draisaitl. Did Keller see the highlights from the night before? Maybe. Maybe not. But the goals – although not identical – shared enough DNA that I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a lineage.
Keller’s goal could have been a simple case of a confident player throwing the puck on net. The pass was behind him. Keller had to adjust to catch the puck on his backhand. So unlike Draisaitl’s goal, it wasn’t a set play.
But they sure look similar, don’t they? Keller knew exactly what he was doing: he shot with the intent of catching Colorado netminder Alexandar Georgiev off guard. And that’s exactly what happened. The Avalanche goalie doesn’t react until the puck goes past him.
It was Keller’s 36th goal and 80th point of the season. The Coyotes forward has points in 12 straight games. He’s having a career year. And I think a lot of Keller’s success can be attributed to the studious nature of today’s players.
They crave instant feedback and watch highlights endlessly. iPads are available on every NHL bench. Top players are watching YouTube daily to find new drills and shooting techniques. Goalies are doing the same with technical instruction. The hockey world has truly become open-source.
That’s why I think Draisaitl’s unique approach to the power play is something that will resonate throughout the NHL. The Oilers won’t be the only franchise using the technique before long.
Sometimes all it takes is a spark – one play that catches a player’s eye. Whether that play is replicated is almost inconsequential: often it serves more as inspiration than an archetype.
Oilers highlights are low-hanging fruit for NHL players. They all want to see what Connor McDavid does next. But Draisaitl is right there with him. And I’d argue that Edmonton is the most-watched highlight pack – by a longshot – among players. Simply put: when blue and orange jerseys are on the TV screen, eyes are glued to it.
Hockey players are visual learners. And in today’s world, secret plays don’t exist. Everything is available in an instant.
With the success of Draisaitl’s spin move, and Keller’s goal scored in a similar fashion, don’t be surprised when it happens more often in the future. After all, it’s a copycat league.
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