agree with every word of that, but these two things specifically are the two biggest contributors to why we suck at scoring goals / generating any intentional looks/volume chances. we absolutely suck at shooting, and generally speaking, most technical skills versus other teams. it cant be overstated...we really, really suck at shooting - especially snapshots. was watching mackinnon and rantanen the other day - and yes theyre two of the elite and not saying thats the expectation per se - their shots though aren't just a higher level, the way they can shoot youd think the rangers dont belong on the same ice as them. and beyond them there were several other players i saw receiving passes and firing seeds id love to see this team taking and with similar frequency as the avs did. things like making passes on the tape, receiving passes with speed, receiving passes on the backhand, shooting off the pass, attacking one on one, getting shots off quickly, finishing in tight, breakaways, and hitting empty nets are all below nhl average as a team, an unfortunate number being well below.
and then when it comes to offense...its everything about generating chances purposely 5 on 5 unless off a turnover or broken play. they never find a decent look walking into the zone 3 on 2 or 3 on 3. no one backs the d off with speed before pulling up, no one challenges 1 on 1, no one besides gauthier will dip the shoulder and take it to the net. and off the puck nobody ever drives the middle to take a d, there's no creativity in playing off each other ie carrying the puck as if theyre actually on the attack and knowing ways they plan to create a shot they want. instead, if we carry the puck into the zone its something like: pull up for a trailer who fumbles or misses the pass, throw the heels out and get closed on while gliding towards the boards before throwing a hopeless cross ice pass, or throw the heels out and glide further outside until closed out on the boards harmlessly. if we get possession off a dump in, any shot has some variation of pass around corner/perimeter until point shot with no traffic or get traffic but point shot miss way wide - with the occasional shot from the goal line or limp wristed muffin from the half wall. the only look we do have, that absolutely no one doesnt see coming a mile away, is the dot to dot cross ice turnover, or at best a whiff on the one timer. they never force teams out of position with what they're doing in a way that isn't wildly telegraphed. they make hockey look so gd hard, especially whenever they have the puck
