The forecheck is an ice hockey defensive coverage play made (primarily) in the offensive zone with the objective of applying pressure to the opposing team to regain control of the puck.
Forechecking is generally executed in one of three situations: recovery of the puck after a dump in, after the rebound following a scoring attempt, or immediately after a turnover to regain possession.
[2] Forechecking can be aggressive or conservative depending on the coaching style [3] and on the skating skills of the players.
These two forwards are positioned on the ice so as to break up passes, grab loose pucks, and assist along the side boards.
This tactic allows the two forechecking forwards to go really high and aggressive, though it demands a lot of the defensemen who have to be agile enough to adjust to the play.