# How LAK Creates Offense - by Jack Han
# Excerpt
The ideas behind the Kings’ leap
Jack Han
Metadata:
2022 The Hockey Tactics Newsletter Original Link
# How LAK Creates Offense
# The ideas behind the Kings’ leap
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Jack Han @JhanHky
LAK is gonna be good this year…]( https://twitter.com/JhanHky/status/1441036676885778433?s=20&t=dKyh70tmSmXy1R4TAV3lwg)[
September 23rd 2021
6 Retweets84 Likes
]( https://twitter.com/JhanHky/status/1441036676885778433?s=20&t=dKyh70tmSmXy1R4TAV3lwg)
Heading into the 2021-22 NHL season, I was more optimistic than most about the Los Angeles Kings’ playoff chances.
Micah Blake McCurdy’s HockeyViz model had LAK as a bubble playoff team with mediocre play-driving. Dom Luszczyszyn was even less bullish in his pre-season breakdown.
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dom at the athletic @domluszczyszyn
Los Angeles Kings 2021-22 season preview A lot of potential is here for the Kings to take a massive leap, but the old guard will need to step up to get them there.]( https://twitter.com/domluszczyszyn/status/1442142928000933889?s=20&t=AlMXKa9c3NbAS2uU8oiEcg) theathletic.com/2826538/2021/0…
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September 26th 2021
3 Retweets22 Likes
]( https://twitter.com/domluszczyszyn/status/1442142928000933889?s=20&t=AlMXKa9c3NbAS2uU8oiEcg)
Still, I suspected that the team’s influx of young talent and evolving style of play would help it to a wildcard playoff spot, not unlike how the Toronto Maple Leafs went from last in the NHL in 2015-16 to the post-season in 2016-17.
Now, LAK is second in the Pacific Division, on pace for 96 points and a first playoff berth since 2017-18.
The driving force behind LAK’s revival is its ability to create offense in a multifaceted way.
# DZ Breakout: Get off the wall, change side
In the past two years, LAK has gone from feckless to elite off the rush.
Instead of using a dump-out to relieve pressure, defenseman LAK50 Sean Durzi cuts back to beat a Vegas forechecker.
LAK11 Anze Kopitar problem-solves three Golden Knights to find LAK9 Adrian Kempe on the dot lane.
Kempe changes sides to the wide speed of LAK22 Andreas Athanasiou for a scoring chance off the rush.
# OZ Forecheck: 2-1-2 Narrow
I did not digram LAK’s OZ forecheck in Hockey Tactics 2022: The Playbook because I needed more time to wrap my head around how it works.
Rather than continuing with the Darryl Sutter-era 1-2-2, LAK now employs a 2-1-2 when it is unable to gain the offensive blue line with control.
Off a dump-in, the first two forwards attack simultaneously, with F2 tight to F1 instead of sprinting the opposite side of the rink. F3 loiters high in the zone and shades toward the strong side.
The narrowness of LAK’s 2-1-2 deters against strong-side breakouts. It would be unwise to force a pass through three Kings forwards, plus a pinching defenseman.
However, as soon as the opposing team changes sides behind the net, F3 (LAK46) dives down to break up the play while F1 (LAK48) reloads on the backside and F2 (LAK34) pressures the new puck carrier.
This movement causes a turnover at the half-wall, leading to a scoring chance for the original high player.
# OZ Cycle: D Middle Activation
LAK’s Dmen are quick to pinch down the wall on 50/50 pucks.
With the Kings in full possession, they find other ways to short the zone and create valuable interior plays.
In the clip above, LAK55 Quinton Byfield wins a corner battle and bumps the puck toward LAK50 Durzi.
Instead of throwing the puck at net, Durzi (a top OHL playmaker drafted by TOR in my first year with the organization) steps off the wall, attacks the middle of the ice and sets up a 2v1 toward the Vegas net.