Eric Comrie goes into the season as the Winnipeg Jets backup after bouncing around a bit – but always ending up back with the franchise that drafted him – the past couple of years.

That makes it a tad ironic that the video for the Pro Reads video review session we did with Comrie last season was exclusively footage from a brief stint with the New Jersey Devils before being reclaimed by the Jets, but given how well Comrie breaks down these plays and how and why he handles each the way he does, we don’t want any to go to waste. So, while we look forward to clips in Winnipeg colors soon, let’s revisit his win against the Buffalo Sabres.

THE SCENARIO

Comrie is facing another power play against the Sabres, which gives him a chance to talk about managing puck movement, depth, net-front traffic and the importance of controlled pushes in the Pro Reads video below. But first, see if you can identify the primary threats as Buffalo gets set up with the puck on Jack Eichel’s stick atop the left face-off circle in this freeze frame:

With a one-timer up top, a backdoor threat starting to attack the net and sniper Taylor Hall in the slot, we’re not sure how many would have picked Rasmus Ristolainen, a 6-foot-4 defenseman parked at the edge of the crease as a net-front presence, as Eichel’s most likely target, but that’s exactly what happens. Looking at the freeze frame below as the puck gets to Ristolainen, what do you make of Comrie’s decision to drop, his positioning, and what other threats besides Ristolainen himself he needs to worry about the most:

THE SAVE

As we take a look at the entire sequence in the save video below, is there anything that stands out, good or bad? Anything you might have done different? Maybe write down some notes if there’s any of the latter, so you can compare them to Comrie’s explanation after.

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