Anyone else struggling on defense? Goalie is giving up everything too

[Madwolf]

I actually got a shut out in my first game once I got home from work today. They didn't get a lot of shots on goal, probably around 15, thanks to keeping it in their zone nearly the entire game, but my defense was also much better. I concentrated on controlling the Wings and Center as opposed to my defensemen and got pretty good results.

[STRANGExBREW]

Defense is much harder if you were accustomed to playing very physically. I used to put alot of pressure on attacking players with my D. Lots of hits and etc. on rushing players. Not so much anymore. After being caught flat footed a lot, you end up having to learn how to navigate D men around like the posters suggested above. If not players will blow by you or simply dump it past you and then the other attacking player will blow by your other D or create a foot race.
Its actually more enjoyable than just blasting everyone coming into your zone. Creates more plays in your zone, and its harder to break out of your zone if you just try and hit players...big difference in years past.
Same goes for offense, this year dump and chase is a viable option that can create plays. If you can hold the zone for a bit and get the puck into the middle of the offensive zone there are tons of options to score. Shooting/onetimers from the boards no longer seem to be an option..imo

[bruinsftw2k]

Quote: Originally Posted by NashGabbyHenrik

try my slider set. i put shot accuracy on 0. you still score, but a majority of the time it is only goals that should go in and beat the goalie. not the little "what is he doing" goals. they still happen, but not ridiculous amount of the time.

Ill have to try this because jacking up goalie reaction time does nothing. There are still at least 5-8 goals per team each game on 10 min periods and most of the time I dont even get to finish the 3rd period because everything seems to just go in and i just reset and try to adjust the sliders

[skrody]

is it just me or does the CPU always shoot blocker side (and mostly score). i have not seen a goal that wasn't put in on blocker side. its REALLY ****ING ANNOYING.

skate to the slot, blocker shelf. every ****ing time.

[asr451]

My main problem so far is that my goalie can't stop anything short handed. After about 15 games, my PK is about 30%. 5 on 5 I am ok.

[Qb]

I lost 6-1 last night to the Senators on All-Star. So to answer your question... nope, I'm doing just fine.

[duffman]

Alright so i'll swallow my pride here and admit that I have a defensive problem this year.

The past years i've grown so accustomed to using vision control to face-up to the puck and use well timed pokes/lifts to get the puck off the other teams sticks.

In around 7 games of HUT online against other players, i'm getting destroyed. And it really boils down to I have no idea how to keep people from getting to the high percentage spots on the ice.

Do you guys not switch off to controlling D-men on rushes as much this year? I always did in previous years cause my d-men CPU controlled couldn't be trusted for anything.

Secondly, how do you get your d-man to face up to the puck carrier? My guys wind up twisted around and lost while they get blown by.

Third (which may really be subset of my first question), my defenseman seem to be getting caught ridiculously flat footed when i switch to them. Granted i'm using low rated dmen right now, but so are my human opponents and i'm not getting nearly the types of chances they are.

Thanks for any advice, i'm loving this game and so far just need to learn how to play D all over again it seems

[Vikes1]

Quote: Originally Posted by Madwolf

I concentrated on controlling the Wings and Center as opposed to my defensemen and got pretty good results.

I do this a lot too, Madwolf. And I'm also getting pretty good results.

For me anyway, I'm far more likely to just plain screw up compared to my AI defenseman. The AI d-men normally don't get completely out of position like I tend to. So that helps me quite a bit, too. Granted, sometimes my AI guys don't exactly do what I hoped they would have. But overall, I think it works in my favor.