Teams use a variety of them.

What kind of forecheck are you using on the penalty kill? Do you adjust your forecheck based on the opponent, or do you use the same system every game and try to get better over the course of the season? Watching the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs, I’ve noticed that you can have success regardless of what kind of forecheck you are using.

Here are six different penalty-killing up-ice systems, with some variations.

1. The 1-1-2

With the 1-1-2, F1 is usually holding the middle ice and waiting for the puck carrier to make a pass to one side. When the puck carrier makes the pass, F2 jumps and tries to create a turnover. Notice the gap of the D and how F2 retrieves the puck that gets chipped down the wall. If you want to force the opponent to stay on one side of the ice, you can send your F2 to hold the middle. Another variation is to let the puck carrier hold onto the puck and play man-on-man on the blue line.

2. The 1-2-1

What I like about the 1-2-1 is how aggressive you can be on the red line. F1 will try to dictate the puck carrier to the defensive d-man’s side. When they make the first pass, F1 and the player on the same side, attack the new puck carrier. Everyone tries to slide to one side after overloading half the ice.

A variation with the 1-2-1 is to have your two d-men in the middle instead of one forward and one defenceman. The purpose behind this is a defenceman will do a better job of controlling their gap and angling to the wall than most forwards will, and they won’t cheat.

3. The 1-3

Is there anyone who hasn’t seen the 1-3? It’s the most used system against the single/double drop. If you triple stack the defensive blue line, it’s hard to get inside with possession, it forces a dump and chase style of game.

Most teams will post their F1 on the same side as their F2. They force the opponent to go to the d-man’s side. Sometimes the F2 can skate forwards instead, making it harder to beat them with speed. In the last part of the video, if the opponent doesn’t have a D who can carry the puck and be a playmaker, send your F1 behind and shut down the drop pass (Tampa Bay Lightning example).

4. The 2-2 box

Easy to use and easy to teach, but the 2-2 box is not so easy to execute.

Both forwards skate backwards and wait until the puck carrier makes a pass. We can see the 2-2 box against a 5/4 back power-play breakout. By giving up the outside lane only, it’s easier to attack with F1 and D1 after the first pass and it allows everyone to be tighter together.

5. The 2-2 lock wings

This was our forecheck this season, and when everyone does their job, it’s tough to enter the zone. Your F1 and F2 will curl on each side, while your D will gap up in the neutral zone.

The puck carrier doesn’t have a lot of options to make a pass to start. If the player decides to carry the puck, have your D stand up in the neutral zone making it hard to gain the zone. With no options and no support, you can shut down the opponent this way.

6. The 3-1

What happens if you flip the 1-3? You have three players waiting on the offensive blue line instead of the defensive blue line.

If they want to spot the puck behind those players, they need to come up with a lot of speed because D2 is there, ready to retrieve any puck placed behind. If they try to carry the puck, they might see three players close in on them, the wall guy, D2 and the middle lane player are all in a position to attack the puck carrier.

I hope this article will help you decide what kind of forecheck you want to use on the penalty kill next season. I don’t think one is necessarily better than the other. It’s a matter of what your philosophy is and if you want to pressure hard or not. Having a great forecheck will allow you to spend less time in your own zone, but make sure you have a plan to retrieve the puck if the opponent dumps it into the corner.