The controls in NHL 22 can be kind of confusing for new players. The many ways of controlling skating and shot types offers a lot of offensive options for players. In the real sport, one of the more widely-used shots is the Wrist Shot, and it’s scarily effective. Slap shots are something that even non-fans know about. The wrist variety is a bit more complicated.
The developer often rolls shot types and other offensive milestones into HUT challenges as well. You could see a goal in HUT Rush challenges like “Take 20 Wrist Shots”. This guide can help with that.
Tips for doing the Wrist Shot in NHL 22
One of the big things to keep in mind is that the HUT Rush challenges are prone to being finicky. You cannot always count on the game to count a Wrist Shot as valid sometimes. You will have to do more than you expect, and it seems this is just a fact of life in the NHL games.
The setup for your shot is also important. The release time for the Wrist Shot is faster than a standard slap shot. If you plan to use the wrist approach, know when to deploy it. Being surrounded by defenders is usually a good time to rely on it. Being in a high-traffic area or by the enemy goal is a good time to get the shot out faster than normal. The slap shot just takes too long to set up if you’re surrounded. It packs much more power though, so it can be fired off from farther away.
Aiming is vital when using the wrist shot. Knowing what side your skater is strong on will help you determine this. If you’re running a left-handed player, aim for the side of the net in line with your direction of travel. If your left-handed player is skating towards the goal from the right wing, you can aim your shot into the left side.
Angle is also important. By using your direction of travel to throw the goalie off, you can fire a shot past them if you time it right. Coming around the goal from the back side and firing past the goalie is much easier with a faster shot that’s aimed toward the side of the goal they’re not covering.
How to do the Wrist Shot
The key thing with doing a wrist shot is to lead with your strong hand. A skater who is left-handed would skate from right to left to do a wrist shot. To engage the shot hold the Right Stick in your direction of travel. So in the above case, hold the stick to the left. Doing this right will cause the player model to lean into the shot. Once that happens pull back on the Right Stick and flick it back up. The idea is to hold the stick back at an angle, not straight back, and then flick it up to fire the shot.
When on Hybrid controls, you need to press X on your Xbox One controller and Square on your PS4 controller to trigger a Wrist Shot.
