"Why would he do that?"

Decision-making on Colton & Kyrou's big goals

The Florida Panthers and the Colorado Avalanche lose Game Two off back-breaking goals against.

With under 10 seconds left in a tied game against Tampa, FLA turns the puck over and TBL moves ahead with a quick behind-the-net play.

Midway through a scoreless game against St. Louis, COL concedes on a harmless-looking 1v3 rush.

It is easy to blame FLA52 MacKenzie Weegar for running at the puck carrier on the first clip. Same with COL49 Sam Girard getting his stick in the way on the second.

But let’s look at both goals from a different angle, because the players on offense do something noteworthy, too.

Kucherov’s Pre-Scans

As I explain in an earlier article, the ability to forecast is our sport’s most important meta-skill.

The best way to be an accurate forecaster on the ice: look around to understand your environment before you have to make a play.

You need to pre-scan.

On the 2-1 TBL goal, Nikita Kucherov pre-scans four times before making a back-wall retrieval and then threading the eventual game-winning pass through Weegar.