from Travis Yost of TSN,

One of the discussion points I’ve found interesting over the years is whether it’s better for short-handed teams to set up in the defensive zone for the purpose of blocking shots versus setting up false shooting lanes that allow goaltenders clean looks at shots from a distance.

Going through some video during this past regular season, it was interesting to see the strategic disparities from team to team. The Boston Bruins, for example, were maniacal about blocking shots. They used goalie Tuukka Rask in something of a secondary role, essentially deciding that if they couldn’t block the shot, he’d have to bail them out.

The Vancouver Canucks were the polar opposite. Vancouver, to my eye, seemed to let an awful lot of shot volume arrive at the doorstep of goaltending duo Ryan Miller and Jakob Markstrom.

The shot data we have on both of these teams suggests something of a systemic difference. Going through the last six years of team performance on the penalty kill, no team blocked a higher percentage of shot attempts than the Bruins last season (36 per cent). Only four teams blocked a smaller percentage of shot attempts than the Canucks did last season (22 per cent). To my surprise, one of those four teams was the 2011-12 edition of the Canucks – a team that earned the Presidents’ Trophy.

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