Against any type of defense, loose/disorganized or tight/organized, we need to improve our puck movement and reduce our amounts of turnovers and attack killers. To do that we need to not only make smarter passes, but be innovative in regards of moving the puck around, because sometimes teammates just aren't going to be open (as noticed against decent CPU D AI pairings).
On top of that, we need to work with what we're getting and have to just shoot the puck on net although it's not off a pretty setup, because it could result in a scoring chance or even a goal. Goals off of deflections from point shots and rebounds due to crashing the net gets results up on the boards. So we also need to not overpass and just shoot, and a teammate(s) should support the puck carrier indirectly (get in front of net for screen/deflections, in position for a rebound). It's never a bad idea to pepper the goalie, especially if their line of sight is compromised. It also keeps the defense honest in coverage and worry about shots from the point at any time, and should lead to opening the ice more if they have to play off of our tendencies.
Getting back to the first paragraph, I posted a few scenario examples below to give an idea of what to do in those cases to continue possession in the attack zone.
Example 1: The puck carrier is down low, with the crease and half boards covered, as well the defenders; thus no passing option is available, and lane to the net is defended.
An option to continue puck possession in the attack zone is to dump the puck around the boards to the empty side of the zone. This removes the potential of immediate turnover and allows the teammate in the slot and/or at the point to retrieve the puck and continue the attack.
Example 2: The puck carrier is near the half boards, with the cross crease and slot covered, as well the defenders; thus no passing option is available. Driving the net is a potentially viable option since path to the net isn't completely defended.
If driving the net isn't available, then follow the same solution as example 1. Dump the puck to the other side of the rink along the boards and a teammate would be able to retrieve it.
Example 3: The puck carrier is down low. The player in the crease and the defenders aren't open, but the player at the top of the faceoff circle is.
This is obvious bad defense, but I illustrate this to make a point. Although the defenders may have the main spots of the ice covered, they're not always going to be perfect and will leave other spots in the zone with a teammate in it open. Lots of clubs online think of two main area's to defend passing lanes; the slot and the point since those are the most frequent recipients of passes from players down low or on the half boards. Keep your eyes open to all areas in the zone because although the cross crease may not be there (and shouldn't be that often anyway), the area around the high slot or faceoff circle might be, and that can lead to a prime scoring chance.
When making decisions, make sure you making the ones that they are efficient ones and have a high percentage chance of continuing puck possession or result in a great scoring opportunity.
Hopefully with the commitment from everyone working on improving puck possession and decisions in the attack zone, it'll lead to scoring more goals in those stronger opposing defense games.
