The stretch pass is the Chicago Blackhawks’ preferred tool for catching opponents on their heels. The Blackhawks use the stretch pass to accelerate the pace of a sequence and try to place the puck on the sticks of their most skilled players. In the Stanley Cup Final, however, the Tampa Bay Lightning have impressively defended against this maneuver.
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The stretch pass supplements and reinforces the Blackhawks’ rush game. But Tampa Bay’s defensemen and forwards have blanketed Chicago’s forwards and allowed them little separation. Their alignment is not especially ornate or unique: a garden-variety 1-2-2, or occasionally a 2-1-2. But passing lanes have been scarce for the Blackhawks when they look up ice on zone exits and on neutral-zone regroups because of how the Bolts’ skaters are reading the play and reacting.
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