Tips for Defending in '23
Seems like many people have some gripes about defense - myself included. Over the last couple of weeks, I've refined and adjusted defensively, and I feel that I've gotten more comfortable in defending than I was at launch.
Here are a few tips I'd like to pass along to the community. Some of this might already seem self-evident to long-standing defenders who understand the position inside and out. So, these may not be for you - although I hope my GIFS can add some context to age-old defensive nuance that may provide a new perspective and encourage everyone to up their game.
Also - I play an incredibly passive defensive game. This might not be for everyone. You're likely going to see instances where I should've gone for a poke/body check and I don't. My argument to that would be that I feel in '23 - a poke check or a body check is more likely to put you out of position than it is to actually knock the puck loose and cause a turnover, especially when a puck carrier skates into the zone.. Of course, this will vary depending on who you're controlling and their body check/poke check attribute.
Tip # 1: Be passive & Cut off the inside track
Offensive players have become accustomed to lackluster defenders online. They will bait you into using an R1 poke check, thus killing your speed, and then taking that open ice to get right in to the slot. To defend this - resist the urge to poke check as soon as you've locked on to the puck carrier and guide them wide of the slot and/or force them to attempt to cross in front of you.
Here I am taking up position and not allowing the puck carrier to cross in front to the slot. It forces him wide, negates the threat to the slot and I've also retained the speed & agility on my defender, allowing me the speed to keep tracking him and cut off his eventual 2nd attempt at getting a money-goal-slot-shot:
Here I shut down his anticipated move to the slot. When he has no recourse, he pulls up - thus negating his speed. This allows me to match his positioning while utilizing poke check to stifle another attempt at moving to the slot. If I had attempted a poke check while the puck carrier was skating full speed, he would've blown right by me. But I maintain composure and only utilize the poke when I know he's slowed down and it's not as big of a risk for me to use it:
Another example of being patient, keeping in line with the lateral plane of the puck carrier and not letting anything get to the slot:
Tip # 2: Use the threat of a poke check to slow down the rush, allowing backchecking forwards to get into their defensive positions
Here, I am once again being very passive but that's because I KNOW my opponent wants me to go for a poke check so he can abuse the slowdown and get to a prime scoring area. However, I don't poke check immediately (which is what he expects) and I force him to glide and hold the puck forehand/backhand. This slows him down considerably (thank goodness) and you can see this allows my teammates to clog the slot and snuff that threat:
Tip #3: Poke check when the puck carrier's feet stop moving
Puck carriers love to bait the D in to using the poke check. However, when they stop moving their feet, a poke check will not penalize the defender as much and is generally more accurate:
Also - once the players' feet stops moving or they've entered the dreaded LT in the slot - use a flick of RS to knock them off:
Tip #4: Pump LT on defense
A weird habit I've picked up is pumping LT while defending. This ensures my defender is constantly facing the puck carrier, even at weird angles:
This allows me to maintain my forward speed and match the puck carrier while facing him, without being victim of the animations that get triggered when you fully enter LT:
But be careful - in this clip, I pump LT just one too many times and almost get caught:
Tip 5: Lateral movement is paramount and NOT chasing is key
Here, my opponent is having difficulty entering the zone. Because they are not too keen on dumping and chasing and they want to just carry the puck in to wheel-snipe-celly, I can completely shut it down by ensuring I don't chase him but also that I move laterally to cover his intended entry in to the zone:
By not rushing the puck carrier, it forces them to make a movement that they didn't anticipate and it sends them right in to traffic:
I'll continue to update this thread with anything I find useful to pass along to my fellow d-Men. If there's anything specific you'd like me to capture, let me know!
