Team USA Player to Watch In truth, the Detroit Red Wings may not have deserved to beat the NHL's cellar dwelling San Jose Sharks last night. At five-on-five, the host Sharks were the better team, but the Red Wings won the special teams battle and with it the game. The first of Detroit's two power play goals on the night came in the first period, off the stick of Daniel Sprong. At first glance, it's nothing complex: the Red Wings win a draw cleanly, then work the puck to an open Sprong in the slot, who fires one of his signature blistering shots home for the goal. However, upon closer examination, we can see why Sprong works well in the "bumper" role in the middle of a 1-3-1 power play, the importance of using the full offensive zone on the power play, and the value of assistant coaches Alex Tanguay and Jay Varady's pre-scout. Jan 2, 2024; San Jose, California, USA; Detroit Red Wings right wing Daniel Sprong (17) reacts after scoring a goal during the first period against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center at San Jose. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAzMzc1MTE1ODQzNDEzNTgz/usatsi_22213192.jpg] Jan 2, 2024; San Jose, California, USA; Detroit Red Wings right wing Daniel Sprong (17) reacts after scoring a goal during the first period against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center at San Jose. First, a word on Sprong as "bumper" player. Detroit—like any team—has been tinkering with its power play personnel throughout the season, but that's been especially acute since the introduction of Patrick Kane, and one chess piece we've seen moved around is Sprong. Sprong's greatest asset is hardly a secret: He has a ridiculous shot [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/detroit-red-wings/features/daniel-sprongs-long-journey-home]. When you think about deploying a shot like that on the power play, you tend to think of putting it on the flank. That's where Sprong started the year, going all the way back to the preseason. However, for about a month now, we've seen him instead deployed in the bumper—at the center of the action rather than on its perimeter. On some level, this is a bit confusing. It would seem to minimize the value of Sprong's one-timer, while Derek Lalonde has spoken about the importance of the position as a puck support role (see below). It's not as though Sprong can't fulfill those duties, but it risks taking away from his specialty—firing pucks on net. Well, with help from Alex Tanguay and Jay Varady (the joint architects of the Red Wings' power play), Sprong can still find opportunities to deploy his foremost weapon from that position, as he did against the Sharks Tuesday. The goal comes from a set face-off play, which Tanguay and Varady deserve credit for identifying as a fruitful path to pursue against the Sharks penalty kill. Sprong actually wins the draw himself after J.T. Compher is tossed. He wins it back to David Perron at the left point who plays it over to Shayne Gostisbehere, positioned along the right flank at the point. What follows is a demonstration of the value of moving bodies over the value of moving the puck. Detroit doesn't snap this puck all around the offensive zone to create a wide-open look. Instead, the puck movement is very simple—from Perron's pass to Gostisbehere through the eventual Lucas Raymond feed inside for Sprong. What creates the space is Perron and Compher's movement away from the puck. From his point position, Gostisbehere drifts in a bit, then plays a pass to Raymond along the right flank. Raymond attacks vertically along the half-wall and slips a pass back in for Sprong. The reason he has space to make that pass is that as he skates down the wall, Perron and Compher both race to attack the back post. Their movement commands the attention of the San Jose PK; if they don't guard against Perron and Compher, the Sharks will yield a tap-in on a cross-ice pass from Raymond. As a result, they are forced to sink lower into their defensive zone to mark that pair of Red Wings at the back post, leaving Sprong (who remains stationary near the top of the right circle) all by himself. Detroit only possesses the puck in a small sliver of the offensive zone, confined to barely more than a quarter of the space available. However, because of their movement away from the puck, the Red Wings are able to manipulate the Sharks' PK into giving up a slot chance to Sprong, which he converts. Thanks to Perron and Compher (and Tanguay and Varady), Raymond has what counts by NHL standards a wide-open passing lane for Sprong, who deploys that wicked shot to give Detroit a lead. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njxZpKGF2TM[/embed] Officially, the assists went to Raymond and Gostisbehere, but Varady and Tanguary each deserve one as well for the way they identified a path to breaking down the Sharks' kill. 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