Winning Play: Outnumbering the opposition

How to create offense, especially at even strength, is the constant challenge for any team.

One way to create offense is to outnumber the opposition — and not just with odd-man rushes. Outnumbering the opposition anywhere on the ice can create offense.

There are many examples of this in any game; there were many examples of this last night in the San Jose Sharks’ 5-2 victory over the Calgary Flames.

For example, outnumbering the opposition in the defensive zone helped San Jose stave off Calgary’s hot start:

Great job by Burns & Kane to recognize Flames are changing, they trap Gaudreau up high, force a difficult pass and turnover. Then Thornton makes a killer pass to Kane & Rittich’s leakiness does the rest #SJSharks #Flames pic.twitter.com/oNyDmH4uaX

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) February 8, 2019

Then, outnumbering the opposition on the forecheck would finish off the Flames:

Exploiting a Sharks’ change, T.J. Brodie (7) and Matthew Tkachuk (19) outnumbered Radim Simek (51) at the line. But Simek refused to yield, sweeping the puck off Brodie’s stick, then beating Tkachuk to the loose puck.

In a couple strokes, Simek turned a Calgary 2-on-1 into an Evander Kane (9) counterattack.

Kane’s (9) pass, however, missed Joonas Donskoi (27), sliding into the corner for Mark Giordano (5) to retrieve. Tomas Hertl zeroed in on Giordano’s forehand; Donskoi closed on Giordano’s backhand. The Norris Trophy favorite was in trouble.

Hertl got a stick on Giordano’s attempt up the wall, while Donskoi was quick to pounce on the ensuing loose puck. Another San Jose 2-on-1 forced a turnover.

Sean Monahan (23) hustled back to help on Donskoi. Giordano tried to chase too, but he might have been held up by a subtle Hertl hold. Regardless, Donskoi had the time and space and patience to outwait Brodie, who was trying to wall off both the net and the slot. The moment that Brodie opened up his stance, Donskoi fired it through him to a lurking Kane, who made it 4-1.