Hockey is a game of space. Defenders fight to reduce it, attackers to create it. Controlling space requires the coordination of all players, as scoring chances are a product of movement with and without the puck. But not all areas of the ice are as valuable to battle over.
It’s well known that shots from the slot are converted at a much higher rate. The analytical work of Ryan Stimson and Hockey Graphs (The Passing Project), and Steve Valiquette also adds another layer to the offensive dynamics.
Those analyses confirm what is also intuitive: a shot has more chance of beating the defence if the puck moves prior to it, especially in the direction opposite to which defenders are facing.