Blackhawks goalie Spencer Knight’s terrific October aided by defensive system that plays into his strengths

Blackhawks goalie Spencer Knight isn’t required to understand the nitty-gritty details of coach Jeff Blashill’s systems, so he intentionally doesn’t learn them.

“Even in practices, I couldn’t tell you what drill we’re doing,” Knight said. “Personally, I don’t like knowing where everything’s coming from and what’s going on. I feel like it’s too predictable.”

But little does Knight know that Blashill actually kept him in mind when deciding what systems to implement.

The aggressive, higher-pressure defensive tactics the Hawks now employ urge their forwards and especially their defensemen to get out toward the perimeter of the zone to break up passes and kill plays. That helps them limit marathon-length shifts stuck in their own end.

When they fail to break up passes or kill plays, however, that leaves them more vulnerable in front of the net, because their defensemen aren’t conservatively holding down the house like in previous seasons.

The end result is that Hawks goalies should face fewer shots, but a higher percentage of the shots they face will be of a high-danger variety. And when they spit out rebounds, they’ll be more responsible for reacting to and stopping any rebound shots, because it’s less likely a teammate will be in the crease to clear the puck out. So far, the data bears out all of these inferences.

“If you constantly have two ‘D’ at home, you might be in better position [for rebounds],” Blashill granted. “I think when you get good at this system that we’re playing, you beat your guys back to the net. But you might have bigger breakdowns. You might end up with an opportunity for the goalie where he needs to make a huge save.”

It’s not a coincidence that Knight, due to his elite athleticism and quick lateral movement, happens to be exceptionally good at making saves on rebounds and other high-danger shots.

His high-danger save percentage of .859 last season was the best in the NHL, ranking just ahead of Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck. On the other hand, Knight has historically been shakier against low-danger shots than most goalies; his .945 low-danger save percentage last season ranked third-to-last in the league.

The Hawks are playing into his strengths and minimizing the relevance of his weaknesses with this defensive system.

“I think a pressure-type system does fit him well,” Blashill added. “Because the reverse is, you’re in your own end and there’s a lot of traffic. And every goalie probably struggles with traffic.”

Knight said he believes Blashill and his coaching staff have done a good job teaching the system to the Hawks, although that’s where insight into this topic ends.

“Coaches [and] players will ask me, ‘How do you like to play this situation?'” Knight said. “Frankly, I always say, ‘My job is not to really tell you what I like. I just make reads off whatever everyone else is doing.'”

Knight’s reads and everything else have been nearly perfect through the first few weeks of the season.

He’s the primary reason why the Hawks are 3-2-2, with zero losses by more than one goal, despite getting outshot in five of seven games. (It’s worth noting backup Arvid Soderblom has also been solid.)

Knight’s overall .937 save percentage ranks fourth in the league. His plus-5.8 GSAA — meaning he has allowed 5.8 fewer goals than an average goalie would against the same shots — ranks second. His high-danger save percentage is a sparkling .882, even better than last year.

The sample size is small, but the Hawks are pushing all the right buttons so far with their new franchise goalie, and he is rewarding them handsomely.

“Every time he’s in net, you just know he’s going to be good, like something you can count on,” Frank Nazar said recently. “He’s a brick house. He saves everything.”