Getting to those spots is one thing. But from there, it's about shooting and, more importantly, getting those shots on goal. Hamilton has been equally effective in all the above areas, as evidenced by his team-leading 47 shots - six ahead of second-place Pavel Zacha.
"There's a message there. He's throwing pucks on the net," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "The fact that he got it on net, he didn't miss the net. It wasn't high. It wasn't in the glass. It found a way to go in. That's a good message for almost everybody. He gets his shot through. He gets it on net."
There's an art to getting pucks on net in the NHL, finding the proper lane, evading bodies in front, using accuracy to pick your spot and even adjusting velocity on occasion.
"A lot of times, he'll take a little bit off," Ruff said. "The power-play goal he scored the other night (at NY Rangers) he put everything he had into it."
So, what has Hamilton done to be so good at it hitting the net?
"That's a secret," he said with a smirk.
Fair enough. Whatever the formula, it didn't materialize overnight. It's taken years of fine tuning the craft.
"I put a lot of work into it my whole career, taking pride in that going back to when I was younger," Hamilton said. "It's something I was good at and tried to get even better at and always working on. I hate when I get them blocked. You're always focused on how to get them through. Watching different guys around the league, learning and trying to get better."
Hamilton has five goals through the opening 12 games of the season. Only Nashville's Roman Josi has more at six. Those five goals for Hamilton are already half as many (10) that he scored with Carolina during the entire 2020-21 campaign.
With the Devils missing the production of star center Jack Hughes and Miles Wood, the team needs help from their defensemen with the offense.
"Pucks are going in for Dougie, which is great," said forward Tomas Tatar. "Dougie is playing a very simple game, shooting a lot of pucks. He's always in the right spot, reading the game pretty well. To have him in the lineup is obviously helpful."
Hamilton has been very active both on the rush and in the offensive zone. He's always looking for chances to pinch deep into the zone to create. His most recent goal against Florida Thursday night came from a shot in the bottom of the near circle. That aggressive mentality has always been a part of his repertoire.
"That's how I play. It's just kind of what I do," he said. "I'm just trying to play my game and help the team in that way."
