Lots of room, lots of options.

Would you take a timeout if you have a 4v3 man advantage? Would you have a play drawn up in the locker room about your 4v3 before the game? Would you practice the 4v3?

What if this 4v3 could be a game changer, you are down by one goal or, you are in overtime and need the two points?

It’s always good to have a plan, and when you have a 4-on-3 power play, there’s plenty of space to work with, and lots of options.

Let’s look at some setups.

1. The traditional

The box is probably the most used set up for the 4v3 at a younger age levels. You can have a shooting mentality from the top, or move the puck around the defenders and wait until someone commits outside the diamond, then you attack right away.

Look at the opposite forward. He is always an option either with his stick, or skating towards the net for the rebound.

2. Double one-timer

Having a shooter on both sides on the power play can be dangerous.

In this first clip below, we will see a normal double one-timer set up. It’s one thing to shoot the puck as hard as you can. But on top, the QB has to make a great pass right in the wheel house. In practice, make sure you work on that connection between the QB and the shooters.

Lastly, if you know that Shea Weber will shoot the puck at roughly 100 mph, it’s probably not a great idea to be right in front of the goalie. In the same video, take a look at the player in front of the net, most of the time, he is giving an option on the far post instead.

3. Double one-timer variation

What happens when the defenders are doing a heck of a job defending your two one-timer options? What can you do?

Try to establish your one-timer so you will be able to see what the defenders want to shut down. If they are shutting down one side only, you can always, instead of a one-timer, make a seam pass to the other side.

The other option is moving around the defenders. Taking the puck from the wall, carrying it to the top and now, you still have two options for a one-timer. The defenders will have to make a decision while you are switching with the player at the top, to take away the one-timer pass or to take away the shooting option from the top.

4. The high roll

I love this one. It’s like working the 5v4 with the flankers going downhill, except you only have four players.

We can see three top end players on their strong side receiving a pass and skating toward the net. In the video, we can see them all skating until the blue line and going downhill after. With this, you can create plenty of options, passing to the opposite side, passing to the goal line, and if you don’t like what you see, turn back and set up again.