Mason McTavish: Inside Positioning in the Crease
Mason McTavish has been one of Anaheim’s most consistent young players the past few seasons ever since entering the league, bringing both a power forward game and a skill game that allows him to control pressure and be able to manage the game very effectively. Along with that, McTavish has great strength in his lower body and core area to manage contact and be able to brush off opponents by staying strong on his feet.
With McTavish, he does a real effective job at driving the hard areas and areas which many skilled players don’t want to go to. That’s part of what separates McTavish as a skill player, since he brings that tenacity and compete level to go after second and third pucks, and some players don’t want to do that at all. It gives him a nice blend of power, skill, speed, and competitiveness, allowing McTavish to be effective as an all 3 zone player.
Last night against the Rangers, McTavish scored a really nice tap in goal and was able to drive the crease really effectively in this situation. McTavish was able to find space on the back side, detach from his check near the post to set himself free and to lurk away from the play to make himself an option, and then he timed when he wanted to cut across the crease to time his tap in.
McTavish Goal
This play starts with Cutter Gauthier and nearly ended with Jackson LaCombe initially, where LaCombe had the option to shoot directly off the feed from Gauthier and opted to pass instead. LaCombe, realizing he has McTavish driving out front, is able to manage the puck with poise to wait for McTavish to open up and jump to the crease.
Once McTavish gets to the crease, he does a great job reading when to open the pass lane for LaCombe, and then all he needs to do is tip the puck into the back of the net.