How do you stop an elite talent like Quinn Hughes? The Nashville Predators seem to think it's to let him have time and space with the puck.
It’s not quite that simple, of course, but there’s no denying that Hughes is the engine that propels the Canucks. As much as Thatcher Demko’s injury or Elias Pettersson’s struggles affect the Canucks’ chances in the playoffs, how Hughes performs is going to determine how far they’ll go.
When Hughes has the puck at the point, the Predators seem to be sagging off of him more than any teams did during the regular season. Honestly, they seem to be giving more space to all of the Canucks’ defencemen at the point but it has been particularly noticeable for Hughes. Beauvillier makes no attempt at winning the puck away from Hughes; all he’s aiming to do is take away his most dangerous option and force him to stay at the top of the zone.
Hughes has tremendous trust in his puckhandling and skating to evade pressure. When an opposing forward closes the gap, Hughes looks for the moment when their skates turn to follow him along the blue line, then cuts back to attack their heels, taking advantage of the space left in their wake. It’s an element of his game that he worked at developing and improving all summer.
First, Jason Zucker closed on Hughes looking for a chance to poke the puck out into the neutral zone, then Kiefer Sherwood and Zucker both tried to pinch him at the point.
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