Alec Martinez knows the secret sauce behind Chicago Blackhawks teammate Tyler Bertuzzi’s expertise with scoring tip-ins, snappers and other net-front goals.
“Probably his long hair,” Martinez told the Tribune. “It just gets in your face too much. No, I’m kidding.
“He just clearly has a knack for it. There’s certain guys in the league that are really good at that stuff, and he’s certainly one of them. He’s just got good hand-eye, he works on it a lot. He’s a hard guy to move.
“He’s not overly huge, but he’s strong on his skates.”
That has always been Bertuzzi’s game.
As he returns to where it all started Friday when the Hawks visit the Detroit Red Wings (6 p.m., CHSN), Bertuzzi is still bullying his way around the crease in his ninth season. But now it has taken on greater significance for the Hawks.
They spent half the season scouring the lineup for at least one reliable linemate for Connor Bedard, but it appears the franchise center has found harmony with Bertuzzi at left wing.
“He’s super easy to play with,” Bedard said. “He’s in front of the net, in the corners all game, taking a beating. And that’s not an easy job.
“It gives me a lot of space, and I always know where he’s going to be. I know that I can trust him to be in the right spots. And when he is in front of the net, he wins all those battles, so I just throw that (puck) into an area, and it seems like he’s been able to find a way to put it in or create a chance or just cause havoc.”
And it works both ways.
Bedard’s “hockey sense is obviously something else,” interim coach Anders Sorensen said. “He’s maturing, too, in his game and understanding different areas. But I thought Bert was really good (Wednesday against the Colorado Avalanche) overall.
“They’ve found something there, so let’s keep riding that.”
Bedard and Bertuzzi struggled to make a connection in the first two months of the season. But of Bedard’s most recent 11 points, Bertuzzi has scored the goal or had an assist in eight of them.
In fact, Bedard has assisted on nine of Bertuzzi’s team-leading 14 goals, but seven of them have come since the Dec. 12 game at the New York Islanders.
“He kind of knows where I’ll be, so we don’t need to talk as much,” Bertuzzi told the Tribune. “But we’ve talked about little plays here and there, and what time to send it back, even if it’s just blind, just knowing that I’m going to be there.”
Because where else would he be?
“That’s just where I always was,” Bertuzzi, 29, said. “If I had the puck on the half-wall, that’s where I feel uncomfortable. I don’t want to be there.
“I like it in front of the net. I know my teammates and my linemates know I’m going to be in front of the net. … It’s easier for me.”
Bertuzzi’s shot on goal from high-danger areas (in and around the crease), ranks in the 84th percentile among league forwards, according to NHL EDGE stats.
But his high-danger goals (12) and shooting percentage (38.7%) both rank in the 97th percentile.
The goals come in various forms, not just tip-ins, which, as defined by NHL statisticians, involves the stick but with no shooting motion.
One of his two goals in that game against the Islanders was a one-timer on a pass from Taylor Hall. The other was a deflection, an Alex Vlasic point shot that bounced in off Bertuzzi’s chest.
His two most recent goals — against the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers — were backdoor snappers.
Bertuzzi suggested there isn’t much of an art to it.
“I don’t know if there’s ever really a right time or pick a spot where to be,” he said. “If (the puck is) at the top, the very top, I’m in front. And then if I see someone walking up the wall or just in the corner or whatever, I’ll slide off, especially on the power play.
“If Bedsy’s crawling up the wall, and I’m back post — whatever opposite side it is — you’ve just kind of got to pick your spots, because if he (Bedard) goes to the top, you want to cover his (the goalie’s) eyes and be in front.
“You’ve just got to sneak around, try to find some open areas.”
Despite what Bertuzzi says, his teammates contend it’s not as simple as camping out by the crease and waiting for the puck to come your way.
“Honestly, it’s the willingness to be there,” Martinez said. “It’s not a fun spot to be. You’re getting cross-checked in the back, you’re getting hit. And then if we’re doing our job (as defensemen shooting from the point), you’re sending pucks 80, 90, 100 mph that way, and it’s not going to not hit him every time.
“It’s not going to be perfect for a tip — he’s going to take a few (to the body).”
Other teammates say Bertuzzi is skilled and knows when to drop in. It involves more strategy than it appears.
“He does a really good job of finding a way to kind of get lost backdoor,” said Colton Dach, who, as a power forward, has been studying Bertuzzi’s moves. “The last two games (Canadiens and Rangers) we’ve seen where he scored off of it, so it’s just watching him and seeing how he kind of slips away.”
Bedard agreed: “He’s probably the best guy in the league just being kind of slippery in front of the net. It’s not easy. I think people talk about tap-in or whatever, but those goals are hard to put in.
“He’s just so smart and elusive in front of the net. It would not be a fun job having to deal with another defenseman.”
Goalie Arvid Söderblom said it’s tough for defensemen to outbattle Bertuzzi, and “he’s smart around the net.”
“He knows where to be and where to put a stick, and he’s strong on the stick,” Söderblom said. “And then he’s got good chemistry with whoever passes (to him), and that’s usually Bedsy, so they’ve got a good connection there. …
“He’s been huge for us lately.”
It’s poetic that Bertuzzi, a Red Wings second-round pick in 2013, scored his first NHL goal against the Hawks. Of course it was from net-front.
Bertuzzi settled in front of the crease and flicked it by then-Hawks goalie Jeff Glass to cap off a 4-0 win on Jan. 14, 2018, at the United Center.
Over in the Red Wings net? Current Hawks teammate Petr Mrázek.
“It was such a great memory,” Bertuzzi said. “Scoring your first goal, it’s a great feeling to kind of get that one off your shoulders. It’s one that you’ll never forget. Obviously, now playing here and being on the same ice, it’s pretty cool.”
After practice Thursday at Fifth Third Arena, he said he was looking forward to playing against his former team.
“I was there for eight years,” Bertuzzi said. “My kids grew up there. I started a life there. I live there in the summers now in Michigan.
“So, yeah, it’s definitely an important place to me, so it’s always exciting to go back and see all the people who helped me along the way.”
