There is a lot that goes in to successfully defending the goal. One important thing teams should have is redundancy, meaning that the player on the puck is not the last player between the puck and the goal. Backs generally want to cycle so that whenever a back surfaces, they immediately cycle behind the back that is engaged at the moment. This allows them to drop between the puck and the goal every dive.
Forwards don't need to focus as much on where to drop, they just need to go to the puck and try to steal it and block the opponent's passes. One of the best things a back can see when an opponent is driving the puck straight towards them and their goal is the forward coming in for a back pick.
Demo video coming soon!
Backs should cycle behind each other in all parts of the pool, although the details of who does this and how it is done varies greatly. When defending the goal though, the main objective of the backs is slightly different than in the center of the pool. In general, teams want to drive the puck outward towards the corner of the playing area when getting the puck away from the goal. This area is better protected and it is easier to defend. Driving the puck straight to the middle of the playing area is exposed and the attacking team can more easily disrupt the defenders.
That being said, driving the puck towards the middle can be used sometimes. If a team has been defending for a while and driving the puck into the corner, the attacking team may get pulled into the corner and can leave the center of the pool open, making it a good escape option for the defending team. The defending team must be aware that the attacking team may swing out into the center of the pool as well.
Here the white team forward does a great job of finding a spot on the bottom and pulling the puck out fo the scrum. This is an effective way for the forwards to help with defense.
DEFENDING THE GOAL