It’s near the end of the third period and you are down by one goal. How important is it to already have a plan in place when you pull your goalie and have an offensive zone faceoff?

I have watched parts of the last two seasons’ six-on-five goals and sorted them into seven categories. The biggest thing that I noticed is that teams take their time to set up, and they attack after. Everything was done within a short amount of time after winning the faceoff.

1. Around for a tip

You win the puck back, give it to your “QB” and then pass it to the wall. This is a faceoff that’s easy to do at every level. Notice the goalie presence during the play but more importantly, the shot coming from the player on the wall. It doesn’t need to be the hardest shot, but it’s precise and hits the net.

2. Around using the width

At a quick glance, you may think that this play is similar to the previous one. However, they make more passes. Puck starts with the QB, passing to the wall and getting it back. From there, you can use the width of the ice and look to see the defenders sliding, which will open up passing and shooting lanes.

3. Middle shot

What if I told you that this one had the most success when teams used it?

Getting the puck to your QB on the blue line, they then walk the blue line and send the puck towards the net. It seems pretty simple, right? But I want you to notice a few things in the video:

• Pick by the wingers
• The recovery with the sweeper
• The goalie presence/first on the rebound
• The shot from the QB (on-net)

4. The shooter

Whether this was on purpose or not, that’s not important. What is important is the goal.

On a 6v5, a lot of teams love to have a second forward close to the circle (sweeper) to help recover the puck after the faceoff. In this case, we can see that the puck is bouncing on his stick, and he is ready to fire it, creating a chance or a goal.

5. D to D

I think this one doesn’t need to be explained, because it’s pretty straightforward. It’s a D-to-D for the hardest shot they can take.

6. Work from the wall

For this one, it’s the player on the half-wall who’s doing the most important thing with the puck — holding the puck and waiting before making the right play. It allows time to get more players to the net — three of four players in some cases. From there, they can shoot, pass to the bumper, pass to the weak-side forward, or bring it back to the top.

7. Colorado special

I’ve seen this one only once before, but I have already fallen in love with it. Just watch the video, and you will understand why.