Mitch Marner: Anticipating the Breakaway Pass
Mitch Marner was terrific last night in Game 1 vs Ottawa, where he was very active offensively and he was doing a great job all game of being active all across the offensive zone. Like the usual Mitch Marner does, he always shows his finesse and offensive creativity very effectively on a regular basis, and that is no major surprise to see whatsoever.
Marner is one of those players who needs to elevate his game to another level come playoff time, and. I think this year, we’re going to see a more well-rounded version of Mitch Marner in the playoffs.
While known for his offensive skill, his defensive routes and man-to-man coverage in D Zone has continued to improve and get better with time under Craig Berube. Marner has done a great job of being able to leverage his hands in tight, anticipate board side plays, anticipate rim arounds, and understand when to get off the wall and when to stay more around the wall area in certain situations.
His defensive positioning has allowed him to be more controlled and disciplined offensively as well, where his positioning and off-puck play in the O Zone have continued to get better as well.
Marner does a great job on this sequence anticipating the breakout and sprinting north to get behind Ottawa’s D coverage. Once there, Marner sprints to the neutral zone with speed, gets behind everyone, and then he is able to deliver a really nice finesse shot to beat Linus Ullmark top shelf.
It was a great display of skill and offensive creativity by Marner, where he was able to leverage his hands in tight to maneuver pressure, and then he was able to beat Ullmark clean in tight as well. Also an excellent pass from Auston Matthews behind the play, which allowed Marner to be in position and receive the pass with speed as well.