Kevin Fiala: Playing off the Heels
Kevin Fiala has quickly become one of the league’s better goal scorers at even strength over the course of the last 5-6 years. Fiala, now once again over 20 goals this season, has continued to get better at using his shot and using it in timely situations. Early in his career, Fiala was more prone to shooting off the rush and shooting with less deceptive routes, making him a bit more predictable to defenders as a shooter and being able to find space effectively.
Now, we see how Fiala has really evolved at managing the puck and managing the pace on his shots. In addition, Fiala has continued to add deceptive layers to his shot, which has really helped him problem solve situations and maneuver in small area 1v1 battles more efficiently. He’s always had the puck handling skill and the ability to weave through traffic with his smaller, more agile stature, so that has always helped him a lot.
Last night against Dallas, Fiala did an excellent job dangling Lian Bichsel and maneuvering around the big 6’7 defender 1v1 near the goal line.
Fiala Goal
Here Bichsel doesn’t have his stick to defend, so automatically Fiala has an advantage offensively in this situation. Danault passes the puck down low to Fiala, with Fiala playing up against Bichsel and looking to eventually find a way to get around him.
Fiala problem solves this situation by forcing Bichsel to turn his feet by selling him that he was going to go the opposite direction, and Bichsel turns his feet to the near side post. By doing that, Fiala pivots the opposite direction and creates a ton of space for himself, and with Bichsel trying to recover and widen his stance to defend against Fiala, Fiala shoots through his legs for a highlight reel goal.
An excellent display of puck skill, maneuvering, 1v1 awareness, forcing Bichsel to turn his feet to create space the opposite way, and also being able to escape the pressure very effectively here.
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