Carey Price Pro-Read: Stacking the Pads vs. Ovi

​The Scenario

The play is pretty much as described just above, but let’s give you a visual too as Tom Wilson gets behind two Montreal Canadiens defenders inside the top of the right face-off circle, a pretty good situation in itself, and Ovechkin loads up with his stick raised:

What do you notice about Price’s positioning in this instance? What about his stance? Has he locked into a save execution at all on Wilson at this point?

The Save

As you’ll see in the video below, regardless of Price’s conservative initial depth and the shorter push across it should produce, this sequence still ends with a combination of desperation and a bit of luck in terms of where the puck hits a sprawling Price:

Of course, any Ovechkin shot from there probably requires a little bit of luck. There’s a reason the Russian winger has scored so many of his 706 NHL goals with a one-timer that Buffalo Sabres goalie Carter Hutton once told us was “an almost unsave-able shot.”

Part of that is velocity — he hit 101.3 mph while winning the Hardest Shot event at the 2018 NHL All-Star weekend — but did you know Ovechnkin can also throw goalies a curveball?

Capitals goaltending coach Scott Murray told InGoal that Ovechkin’s one-timer has a ball-hockey like “draw,” breaking down and away from the blocker as goalies move to their right, or up and around the other side like a backdoor curve ball into the top corner glove-side.

It’s not like Murray is the only one to make the observation, either.

“It is like facing a breaking ball,” said Ryan Miller. “Most of Ovi’s shots are heavy and they have a strong spin off his uniquely curved blade. It is hard to read.”

Okay, now back to Price and his take on this play.

The Pro-Read

It’s interesting to hear Price break down the save, in part because that conservative depth is admittedly for the wrong reasons, even if it’s the right choice for the situation:

Interestingly, it’s not the first time we’ve heard Price talk about the need for a strong compete level while breaking down video for Pro Reads. Admittedly, that’s a function of the saves we selected for him to look at, and he was the first goalie to sit down for one of these in-depth self-review sessions, so there may have been a few too many highlight reel stops included. But considering how widely Price is viewed as a how-to example for technical execution and patience, it’s worth noting how important it is for him to throw technique out the window at times and just battle to make a tough save. Even in a relatively straightforward Pro Read that required a good amount of luck at the end, there’s an important lesson in that.