As for getting the puck back on Kraken sticks, Lambert will keep specifics to himself for now, but he does mention different philosophies -- including swarming and outnumbering -- saying the pieces the Kraken use will be “critical.”
Transition Play
And what about just not letting the other team into their attack zone in the first place? In terms of defending entries, Lambert says “we want to stay on our toes, pressuring through the neutral zone and above our blue line.” The coach says this sets up a better opportunity to transition the puck back the other way.
He found success using a 1-2-2 forecheck in Toronto last season, putting the team in the top five in the league in zone entry denials.
“If you're just sagging and backing in, you're allowing the other team to potentially enter the zone,” Lambert said.
And what comes after you either stop an opponent’s transition or take the puck away in the defensive zone? Lambert says his team will rely on a breakout structure that provides support coming out of the zone.
“Is there a time to take off? Sure. Is it maybe opponent based? Potentially,” Lambert said. “But getting available for the person who has the puck with the strategy and with some routes that we know that are predictable to us is key in terms of coming out of the zone and entering the zone. Players can use their skill, but they have to understand the game (situation). Do we need to get the puck in deep? Is this a potential turnover situation? It's always a risk-reward factor that has to be managed.”
Offense
The old adage in hockey is that offensive generation is more about creativity than structure. When asked if he agrees, Lambert says it’s a little bit of both.
“It’s interesting because (opponents’) defensive structure, for the most part, is so good that you have to use your instincts, but you have to have that offensive structure,” Lambert said. “If you look at five-on-five play, scoring goals is very difficult. There's not a lot of room out there.
“One thing that has to happen is you have to have somebody in front of the other team's goalie. They're too good these days. And if you don't have players ‘taking their eyes away’ your percentage to score goals decreases a lot. There's an offensive zone structure that we'll work on, and we'll talk about…(but) a lot of times, it's not necessarily so much the structure as it is the will.”
Lambert also says there will be an emphasis on getting net front and recovering loose pucks and winning puck battles to extend possession if a shot doesn’t find the back of the net.
And does Lambert want the Kraken to be a volume shooting team or one that fights for high quality chances? He’s been able to maximize both strategies. His team posted the second-best shot-quality rate (3.3 expected goals per 60, all situations) of any Islanders team in the last 18 years. They also generated the fourth highest shot rate (30.42) over the same span.
Utilizing both approaches is something Lambert wants the Kraken to do, as well.
“There's the mindset or the philosophy that, potentially, the more pucks you put on net, the more chance it has to go in. There's also the mindset, (like what we did) in Washington when we won the Cup, we didn't shoot the puck a lot. We had high percentage shots.
“I think there's got to be a balance of both. I really do. I think you can shoot the puck... (when you have) opportunities to shoot to create other opportunities. Those are important. Shooting to score potentially from the corner, that's not a good shot or the goalie can cover it up, but you can shoot to create and increase your opportunities on the next shot. So that's where some of that shot volume comes in. For me, I think there's a balance between the two.”
Power Play
In recent years, evolution in power play strategy has been more about player and puck movement than about formations. And puck movement is the big area of focus for Lambert. It’s the key to pulling apart an opponent’s penalty kill and creating what he calls “chaos.”
“You've got to move the puck and then you have to strike while the iron is hot,” Lambert said. “The iron is hot on a rebound, on a puck where the penalty killing team is not in structure…when there's chaos. Therein lie the challenges. You've got to move the puck quickly in terms of that…off of those situations. Because if you look at the power play goals, you don't see a lot of perfect plays. There's a lot of chaos goals. You see a lot of shots, tips, net presence, taking the goalies eyes away, …people banging away at rebounds.”
Penalty Kill
On the other side of special teams, penalty kills have been changing things up systematically. More teams utilized a diamond formation last year and some choose a more aggressive system altogether that isn’t just boxing out net front and blocking shots it’s also trying to take the puck from an opponent’s power play.
Lambert has led penalty kills throughout his NHL tenure including the fourth best unit in last year’s playoffs (Toronto). He says his strategy has evolved over the years based on what you see in the game and what personnel you have, and he does mix a balance of defensive responsibility and opportunistic reads backed by solid goaltending.
“You're going to need shots blocked when you need shots blocked,” Lambert said. “But there's no point in putting players in positions to have to do that over and over again.
“Penalty killing is about stick position. It's about angles, it's about body positioning, and it's about four guys that absolutely 100-percent have to be on the same page. Power plays are getting better every year…it's a continuing trend. The skill level is so great now that you can't be two or three feet out of position.”
When your penalty killing unit is on the same page, and maintaining its structure, that’s when opportunity can present itself and players will need to have the right instincts of when to be aggressive and when to not. Lambert says, “everything about the penalty kill has to be four guys.” If one guy goes, everybody goes – that’s the key to applying pressure the right way.
And what does Lambert want his team to do if they wrestle away possession from a power play? Reading the play to know if you should just hold onto the puck and knock time off the clock is important, but if opportunity presents itself, you can go for a scoring chance, particularly if you create an odd-man rush.
In fact, Lambert thinks a little differently about how penalty kills should be evaluated. He points to a stat tracked by the NHL, called ‘Net PK%,’ that factors in short-handed goals. You take the total power play goals against, subtract the total number of short-handed scores and divide that by the number of penalty kill opportunities.
“I think it's important,” Lambert said.
Spoken like someone who’s led a top ten penalty kill with the Predators (10th overall, 2011-12), Capitals (2nd, 2015-16, 7th; 2016-17) and Islanders (6th, 2020-21; 4th, 2021-22; 9th, 2022-23).
