[FanIn80]

Some observations on that PP goal:

1. Reinhart takes the faceoff, but Barkov wins it. Nothing else about this play happens without that. Best guess is Reinhart tries to wheel it to the opposite half wall. Barky is just an absolute beauty.

2. Tkachuk and Barkov will often cycle positions between the two of them. They really play so well together. Typical PP1 formation starts with Chucky down low and Barkov QBing from the near wall. This means the typical rotation off the draw is for Tkachuk to head to the net and then "get lost" behind the net, while Barkov plays catch with Montour from the wall to the point. Once Chucky's in position down low, Reinhart will move towards the bumper. Not this time, though. I can't tell if this is planned, or just smart players reacting to what needs to be done. I think if Reinhart wins it straight back to the point, it would have been a status-quo formation, as I described above, but I think Barky on his backhand sending it to the point opened up the door for a counter rotation, and I think Chucky saw that. Part of me also thinks they have an order of neccessity in terms of setting up, and they needed a QB on that wall turned around and facing the point. Tkachuck rotates high, pivots and establishes that important piece while Reinhart backs in to the bumper... because of the slight delay off the faceoff though, Montour and Verhaege are the ones distracting everyone, and Reinhart quickly moves over to establish a QB on that side. Barkov sees this and quickly moves to the middle to offer Verhaege a bumper target, but when Verhaehge moves it down to Reinhart, he cycles low to provide an outlet along the boards. It goes back up to Verhaege though, and over to Monty which allows Barkov to disapear behind the net (taking Tkachuk's usual route). Now they're set up and NYR has had to adapt to two different possible formations already, including an opposite side inverse formation... and now Monty sends it down to Tkachuk in the real QB position. This is where good, smart players are so valuable. Instead of trying to force it through the defender down low to Barkov, he uses his body to protect the puck and just gives it right back to the point. Montour sees the opening that created and just sends it right down to Barkov (bypassing the QB), who is now in a 2-on-1 with his bumper vs an incoming (early/panicked) block attempt. From there, it's just "aim for the bottom of the bar" to make sure it clears the block.

This PP1 unit has been together now for 2 seasons and 2 playoffs. The entire strong side is like a who's who of hockey IQ titans in Barkov, Tkachuk and Montour... and Verhaege/Reinhart are just both clutch and super low-maintenance. They can read and respond to anything the big three are doing out there. Some PPs just have a McDavid who can make anything out of anything, and they just need a helper or two and the rest are just told not to screw anything up. Personally, though, the beauty of a 5-man unit like Florida's... just inject that right into my blood please.


Edit: Excuse the wall of text in my second point. I meant to break it up, but just didn't stop typing lol.