The Tape: Sam got his swagger back

The Avs beat is riding shotgun with the Nuggets and to pair it with The List, we are rolling out The Tape, showcasing and breaking down some of the more interesting plays from previous games.

1. The spin move. Girard’s tornade had been a rare sight for the majority of December but we have now seen it a few times in the past few games. He seems to be trusting his feet to do the work for him again, something that is critical to his success. His feet help him protect the puck and create space allowing him to get cleaner shots away as in the clip below.

2. Fire away. After registering just seven shots on goal in ten games from December 5th to December 23rd, Girard has 11 shots in his last four games. This is not only keeping teams honest, but he is finding a knack for getting the puck through and creating rebounds. When forwards can trust the shot to get through those rebounds turn into goals.

3. Full buy-in on the PP. How many times have we seen the Avs point man watch a puck sail by him just out of reach? Sometimes there isn’t much to be done about it but others you just have to full send to keep the play alive. The safe play would be to back off at the blue line, let the puck come out and reset. Safe is the death of the PP and Sam takes a calculated risk here.

4. Jumping up. If you want to be a successful offensive defenseman you need to thrive on the rush. That means reading the play in the defensive zone and being willing to take the risk of stepping on the gas at times. Girard is too good a skater to sit back when an opportunity presents itself. He will always be more of a distributor and when he is feeding passes like this with an odd-man advantage, that’s filth.

5. Breaking out. Leading the rush is going to be a rarity for Girard but the point holds that skating the puck cleanly through the neutral zone is a weapon in Girard’s arsenal that needs to be used more regularly. Sam’s clean transitions put teams back on their heels. When a defenseman can enter the zone it frees up forwards to not only enter the zone with speed but find open ice and work around the defense.

6. Execute. When Sam trusts himself to make the pass it is usually on the tape money even at long range. Confidence goes a long way for him; keep him riding high and create a positive feedback loop. As with the play below, not every pass needs to be a 100-foot gem, just keep it crisp and consistent.