Execution Errors Costly in Red Wings' Faceoff Failures

Just when the Detroit Red Wings thought they had gained some momentum against the New York Rangers Monday night, they lost it completely from an inexcusable source.

Down 2-1 early in the third period, the Red Wings had largely weathered an overpowered Rangers attack and had a chance to pull even. But 4:51 into the final frame, New York winger Reilly Smith scored an insurance goal right off of a faceoff.

“Obviously, we had a really good second period. I had liked the feel of the game. I had liked the feel of our momentum going into the third and then bang, we get a face off goal against.”

This type of execution error is something to be expected in the early part of the season, but these faceoff errors are all too common for Detroit three games into its season. The Red Wings have allowed three goals against off faceoff plays, including another power play rendition in the second period against New York. As much as the Red Wings want to polish their all around defensive play, these faceoff are also an integral part of that.

So what exactly is going wrong with these faceoff plays? The first one to blame on faceoff issues is often the center, but in the NHL the center isn’t the only one who takes responsibility for faceoffs. Instead, these faceoff issues are a matter of all five players winning their individual assignments. To illustrate this, let’s take a look at Smith’s goal from Monday.

In this video clip, we can see how free Smith’s path to a shooting lane is because he gets good separation from defenseman Ben Chiarot as soon as the puck drops. Ideally, Chiarot is able to initiate some minor contact (read: legal interference) on Smith off the draw that allows his teammates time to get into structure. Instead, we see forward Tyler Motte and defenseman Moritz Seider sprawling to block the shot. Why didn’t Chiarot mark his man? Whether it’s a case of focus, technique or Smith flat out beating him off the starting blocks, it doesn’t really matter.

These “edge plays” on the faceoff are integral to preventing what amounts to an easy set piece for Smith, or any other player for that matter. Losing the edge play doesn’t always have an immediate impact, either. Take a look at this goal scored on Detroit by Smith’s former team, Pittsburgh.

Penguins forward Anthony Beauvillier outfitted the Steel City with free McDonald’s because of how cleanly he won his matchup against Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson. The camera angle of this clip is harder to see, but we can spot Beauvillier skating ahead of Edvinsson right to the low slot. Edvinsson, even if he’s seven inches and 27 pounds heavier than Beauvillier, is put at a disadvantage in front of the net because he is always reacting to Beauvillier. Because of this, Beauvillier separates from Edvinsson just enough to cash in a bad rebound given up by goaltender Ville Husso. Common coachisms say that goals are scored at the net, but they are also scored off the draw when you can exploit an opponent’s mistakes.

Detroit’s faceoff woes also showed on Chris Kreider’s power play goal in the second period, when Motte couldn’t slow down Artemi Panarin, who fed Kreider after retrieving the puck along the half wall. Considering the disadvantage of being a man down on the draw, Lalonde puts less emphasis on this play as an issue. But there are no excuses for losing a 5-on-5 faceoff play so easily.

“I think it’s a little bit on centers, but it's our edge play,” Lalonde said of the faceoff play blunders against New York. “And they're a really good team on the edges. And the one we gave up in Pittsburgh — we've got two 5-on-5 goals (against) in the first three games. Very frustrating. Not a recipe for success. And they're both simple edge plays, getting beat off lines. (That’s a) point of emphasis we need to be better at.”

The errors discussed above are just the plays that Detroit has allowed a goal off those faceoff play errors. There's a bit of selection bias there in that a goal scored off those plays yields an outcome that's easy to notice. If one watches more film of the Red Wings' faceoffs — or any team for that matter — these faceoff miscues are common. But teams that can minimize them put themselves at an advantage.

The Red Wings’ defense has had many issues, but addressing these faceoff mistakes can go a long way to shoring up the unit. In the losses to Pittsburgh and New York, the opponent’s go-ahead goals came off faceoff set pieces that Detroit lost. There’s a momentum aspect at play, just as Lalonde felt during the Rangers game.

With a chance to show progress in hosting New York at Little Caesars Arena Thursday night, the Red Wings hope to show improvement on their faceoff play.

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