THE POWER PLAY
In a season that fans faced frustration with more injuries than anyone can list off the top of their head, there was another aspect of the 2010-11 that may have had fans shattering television remotes against their walls. The Power Play. The two minutes where the Penguins legally have more players on the ice than the opposing team. When the referee's arm goes in the air it usually means that a favorable opportunity is forthcoming for the team that did not commit the infraction. In the Pens case over the past couple of seasons this has been the complete opposite mindset. Fans in the arena, and watching from home can take the time to get out of their seats, or off their couch to use the bathroom or get a refill on their beverage. Watching the Pens power play is kind of like watching that movie that is pretty entertaining, but has that annoying actress that you hope would die within in the first 20 minutes, but somehow survived and you are about an hour into the movie. But just how bad was the Pens power play the past few seasons.
In the 2008-09 season the Pens finished the regular season converting on 17.2% of their power plays, which was good enough for the 20th ranked power play unit in the league. The power play at home was a little better, clicking at a rate of 19.1%, which amounted to the 13th ranked power play at home. On the road, the power play was a mere 14.9% and ranked 24th in the league. The Penguins would finish the regular season in the Eastern Conference's fourth spot, meaning home ice advantage in the first round. In the playoffs, the Pens power play clicked at a respectable 20.6% pace, and was 6th best out of all playoffs teams. If you remember back to that year, the Pens power play was not lights out during their Cup Run, but it provided some big goals that helped them win four series and bring the Stanley Cup back to Pittsburgh.
In the 2009-10 season the Pens scored a power play goal 17.2% of the time on the man advantage, which was good enough for 19th in the league. They clicked at a 21% rate at home, good enough for 9th ranked home power play unit. On the road, the power play converted only 13.4% of the time, and was the 27th ranked power play unit away from the Igloo. The Penguins again finished the season having clinched the 4th seed with 101 points. The Penguins power play in the playoffs was exceedingly good, clicking at a 31.8%, but they were eliminated in 7 games against the Montreal Canadians. This season proved again, that a mediocre power play is all that the Penguins need to be successful in the regular season.
In the 2010-11 regular season the power play digressed and the Penguins scored on only 15.2% of their man advantages. At home the unit ranked 29th, only converting on 14% of their power play chances. On the road the unit ranked 11th and converted on 17.5% of their chances. Granted the Penguins were missing their superstar centers, but at times it looked as if the Pens should simply take a negating penalty and play 4 aside hockey. Then in the lone round of the playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Penguins scored only 1 goal in 35 chances. One goal, thats all the Penguins power play offered during a time when goals on the man advantage can change the whole dynamic of the series. Scoring one goal in 35 attempts is inexcusable, and that may be the major factor in why the Penguins were eliminated as a result of losing three straight games.
From these stats it seems that a middle of the range power play is good enough to get you into the top half of the conference standings at the end of the regular season. However, come playoff time, your power play better be scoring big goals during big situations ,or your team is facing an uphill battle in their goal to advance deep into the playoffs. The Penguins blew a 3-1 series lead to the Lightning and if they score two or three more goals on the man advantage they may be still playing hockey.
The power play has got to be priority number one for improvement in the eyes of the coaching staff of the Penguins. The Penguins will be entering the season possibly with one of the deepest lineups in the league. We saw in the series against Tampa Bay, as well as the past few seasons, that Dan Bylsma and the coaching staff refused to change the philosophy on the power play. The change needs to come this offseason, because there is no excuse for a team with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin taking the ice to be this mediocre on the power play. That power play that scored 31.8% of the time in the 2009-10 playoffs is a number that is unachievable, but there is no reason that this team cannot be over 20% on the man advantage with the talent they have on the ice.
A major difference is not having Gonchar out there on the point, but Kris Letang should be more than capable of quarterbacking a power play unit with the forwards he has in front of him. We have yet to see him step up and take responsibility in that position, but the power play is not solely his fault, as there has not been one defender on the power play to suceed in that position position. It is time for the Penguins to overhaul their power play methodology in order to get the 10 guys given the responsibility to be on the man advantage, on the same page. If the Penguins can have a top 5 power play, there is no reason why they can't take home the Atlantic Division Crown. If their power play percentage was a bit higher this year, we may have had another division championship banner to hang in the Consol Energy Center.
No comments:
Post a Comment