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Devon Levi ProRead 8 pass or shot off the rush

Understanding Key Pass-or-Shot Factors off the Rush

Devon Levi is up in Kelowna, B.C. this week and InGoal Magazine has been on hand to catch up with the Buffalo Sabres goalie, grabbing fresh content on and off the ice, making now a perfect time to get back into our Pro Reads video session together late last summer.

THE SEQUENCE

In this video breakdown, Levi is facing a rush chance against Aleksander Barkov and the Florida Panthers, who are also on a power play at the time:

Levi isn’t even in the picture yet, but what information are you looking for as this rush chance gets over the Buffalo blue line? Consider both the attack and the defenders.
This next freeze frame gives away part of the answer:
Now that we’ve given away the fact this becomes a 2-on-1 down low, what factors matter in this second freeze frame? Had you already identified any of them in the first image?
With Levi in the picture now, what do you make of his depth and choice to use an overlap?
What factors do you think would go into those choices? This won’t apply to most of you — at least not directly — but does the fact it’s Barkov with the puck matter?

THE SAVE

Like all rush chances, speed matters, both in terms of the attack and potential backwards flow for the goaltender, so watch the save video.
Watch it a second time and ask yourself the same questions we posed above.

What did you think of the way Levi played this chance?
Did you read the pass option as the most dangerous threat?
Having done so, would you have stayed squared up and outside your post on Barkov?
Was there anything you can see that led to his initial positioning decision?
What about the timing of his push and the push itself?

THE PRO READ

Now let’s hear from Levi on how he saw on this sequence unfold and how he managed it:

It looks like you’re not an InGoal subscriber (yet). Below we’ve included a brief excerpt from the full ProRead to give you an idea of how it breaks down in the full video. We invite you to subscribe today to see the full ProRead – and hundreds more exclusive articles.

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