SummerOfDekes wrote:Forced pass all the way from the boards to the far side of the net.
The pass was released at the face-off dot, not "all the way from the boards"
SummerOfDekes wrote:Staying closer to the middle presents a deterrence which keeps the puck carrier short side while also staying in the passing lane to try to break up a pass. That's how defenders would play it in real life, and that's how we should be able to play it in this game.
Sometimes, yes. But in this scenario, your D Partner who recognizes he was burned, begins to hustle towards the puck carrier which should've been an indication to you to switch coverage and cover the pass recipient. You chose to "stay in the passing lane" but this presents an opportunity for a well placed pass to go through you.
Although you insist the pass was "all the way from the boards", it wasn't. And this means that your player has less time to react.
Compounding the reaction time is the fact that while you were about to intercept the puck, you actually instruct your player to turn away from the puck and away from the net:
Lastly, and I'm about to get conspiratorial on you here, your teammate makes an errant poke check while the puck is in motion. It's my belief that if there's a user-error in any given sequence, it has an effect on that teams' ability to corral loose pucks, get a fortuitous outcome on a pickup or, in this case - intercept a bullet pass.
NeonSkyline21is correct in that you should've gotten body position on Yakupov and either nudged him using incidental contact and/or a well timed stick lift.
Ever since '19, passively being in the passing lane is not an ideal defensive philosophy.
