Breakout: Slash

The Slash attacks through the middle. The strong-side winger holds the wall, the weak-side winger slashes across the zone toward center ice, and the center comes through slow and low as the safety-valve option underneath.

Reading the diagram: the strong-side defenceman retrieves the puck and has the wall pass up to the strong-side winger, who stays tight to the boards and turns up ice with it. The red route is the slash — the weak-side winger leaves the far side and cuts diagonally through the zone toward center ice, arriving in the middle with speed. Under both of them, the center swings low and slow through the middle of the zone as a short support option, and the second defenceman sits behind the net as the reverse valve.

Why it works: the forechecker has to respect the wall, so the winger slashing across the middle arrives in open ice behind the pressure. The center coming low and slow means the defenceman is never stuck — if the slash is covered, there is always a short pass underneath.

When to use it: against a forecheck that pins the boards, and any time you want speed through the middle instead of a grind up the wall.