I always see fans yelling at the player to shoot the puck when they’re on the power play or when they have a big lead in the attacking zone. However, I also see that if the player made the shot, he would not get the shot past the defense. They would just give up control and give the defense a chance to skate on the ice and score a goal. The reason the offense can’t shoot the puck is that they don’t have a decent shooting lane.

A line of fire is any straight path the puck can take towards the net. It’s pretty simple to understand that if the puck can’t go to the net, then it’s not worth throwing.

What the defenders will do is try to put everything they can in the way of the shot. A stick, a leg, or even the entire body can be used to block a line of fire. What the offense needs to do is identify where the current lines of fire are and where they will be in a few seconds. When the offense is able to accurately predict this, it will be unstoppable.

One of the ways to see a shooting line is to look at the net. If you can see the net with no one in front of it, it’s a shooting line. However, it doesn’t matter what your eyes see, it only matters what gets in the way of the puck. If you can pick a corner with a smack shot, then you should if you get the chance. However, you have to be smart because if the other team gets in the way of your shot, your chance to score is lost and the other team doesn’t have control of the puck.