Film Study: The Anatomy of a Game Winning Goal

Saturday, the Kraken were in Pittsburgh for the final game of a three-game road trip hoping to get their fourth straight win for the first time in franchise history. But after a go-ahead goal by Yanni Gourde, the Penguins tied it at two halfway through the third period. The score was holding with a little less than four minutes to play when Gourde entered the offensive zone with the puck on his stick.
In the 12 seconds after that zone entry, the Kraken would stay in the attack zone and generate a game winning goal to seal the 3-2 victory. How?
Let's dig in.

After Gourde crossed the blue line, he fired a puck at Penguins netminder Tristan Jarry. That shot was turned away, but a juicy rebound sent the puck back in play. After a board battle on the left side of the ice, the puck went back up to the top of the zone where Jamie Oleksiak fired without hesitation when frozen rubber hit his stick. That shot would get caught in traffic.
The puck bounced off the back boards, Morgan Geekie anticipates the upcoming puck movement and follows play to the goal line on the other side of the net to gain possession.
Now play had shifted from low in the zone to high and back to low as well as from left to right - stretching Pittsburgh's coverage just a bit and creating an even three-on-three match below the circles.
Here's where things get interesting.
First, sustained pressure with multiple shot attempts is going to disrupt any defensive structure from the Penguins a bit. Second, everyone is watching the puck, (even Jarry), which means at this low angle it's difficult to shoulder check and see where your opposition is.

Meanwhile, someone else is looking at the puck, but they also see a bunch of unchallenged open ice in front of the net in prime scoring position and that person is Brandon Tanev.

Next, when you take play below the goal line, you're challenging the defense to make a choice. play happening so low in the zone challenges the amount of pressure a defense can provide. Look at Brian Dumoulin (PIT8, net front) and Kris Letang (PIT58, behind net). They need to read off each other to know who is going to take the puck. That responsibility ultimately goes to Letang but now Pittsburgh has another problem.

Gourde is all alone. Jake Guentzel (PIT59) doesn't want to come down too low to cover him just yet because what if Letang gets the puck? Then the Penguins forward needs to be in support of a breakout but if the puck gets on Geekie's stick, he can switch play back to the other side of the ice by passing to Gourde.
And that's what happens.

Now look where everyone focuses. (Yes, we could have had arrows on Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust too, but you get the point).

What's most important here is watch what this does to Jarry.
Before the pass he had sealed the post and was in position to completely cut off the shooting angle for Geekie. Now, he needs to at least account for the shift in position of the puck and to move quickly, he's deeper in net.

Now space is open between Jarry and the post AND he's low in the crease which doesn't cut off shooting angles as effectively.
By the time Gourde moves left to right behind the net, Jarry is sitting in the middle of the net. The goaltender is leaving a lot of space to target and just as important, he can't fully track the movement of the puck. Nor can he quickly scan the entire corps of Kraken skaters on the ice without moving his head an entire 180-degrees (or more!) This means it's more challenging for him as the last line of defense to anticipate the next shot that will come at him.

Something else important is happening, too.
We always hear details matter and to keep it simple. Here, Tanev does one of the most basic things you're taught as a skater but also most important. He's sure to put his stick down on the ice to give Gourde a target and to set himself up to receive a pass and (hopefully) quickly fire off a shot.
Oh yeah, at this point Guentzel has come below the goal line as well in support of Letang but now there's one less Penguin able to defend a shot from in front of the net. Which Rust realizes and reacts to just about the time that Gourde sends his pass to Tanev.

Dumoulin misses on his attempt to block the pass and Rust is collapsing down on Tanev but, as a left hander, Tanev has the extension of his stick to help evade Rust coming from the opposite side.
The puck bobbles a bit and Tanev lets momentum carry the play across the slot. All while gaining and maintaining possession which is important because Crosby is now collapsing to provide defensive support.
(Also, look at Jarry now. He's giving a shooter so many options!)

Here's another look. Rust valiantly closes his gap and is so close but also so far.

To his credit. Jarry is able to recover, (even with the challenge of lateral movement) he's just not able to get back enough and Tanev's shot redirects off Jarry's blocker side arm and becomes the game winning goal.
Not every score has to come off pinpoint passing or a choreographed play. It doesn't have to involve one major mistake or one major display of skill. Sometimes, a lot of good things can come together to become the best thing of all when it comes to winning a hockey game.
Watch the full video here to see everything come together.