The Kings’ raw numbers on the power play over the last four games have been pretty brutal. They’re 0 for 13 with the man advantage, while opponents are 3 for 20. That’s a strong kill percentage, but the Kings aren’t drawing many power plays, and they’re not doing much with the ones they get. Here’s the last four games, in terms of power plays and shots…
vs. Chicago: 3 power plays, 3 shots on goal.
vs. Vancouver: 4 power plays, 4 shots on goal.
vs. Edmonton: 3 power plays, 4 shots on goal.
vs. Calgary: 3 power plays, 3 shots on goal.
Of course, not every power play is going to generate a lot of chances, but the Kings have had a couple problems: getting the puck in, and then getting it on net. Drew Doughty talked today about both issues…
Question: On the power play, what are you looking at in terms of areas of improvement?
DOUGHTY: “Just always shooting. I know one of our big things is shooting mentality, so we could get more shots. The more shots you get, it makes the other team back off, and when they do back off, they’ll be expecting a shot, and that opens up seams and opens things up down low. I think we’ve been struggling to get set up a couple times, too, and I think if we can get in quick and get a couple early shots, we can kind of set them back and get things opened up.”
Question: And that often starts in your own end, right?
DOUGHTY: “It starts with our entry. A couple times, we’ll go in and dump in the puck and we’re not getting the puck there, then the other team is getting it and clearing it down the whole ice again, and we’re having to regroup and regroup. I think that’s one of our killers so far. But when we do get set up, we’re doing the right things, but I think if we shoot more and more, it will work out for us.”
Question: Justin Williams talked the other day about getting some momentum on the power play, even if you don’t score. Are you in agreement with him there?
DOUGHTY: “Yeah, just getting the chances, even if you don’t capitalize. If you’re hitting the post or you’re getting a scramble in front of the net and the other team’s goalie has to make a big save, the guys on the bench are getting excited for the chance, and when they get out there for the next shift they know that the other team is kind of sitting back because we did have those chances. That’s our chance to jump on them and hopefully get a goal.”
It seems like the Kings don’t have any set plays or formations on the PP. Other teams seem to find open spots based on what the defense gives them, but we seem to be 1 dimensional and there is very little movement once we get in the offensive zone. I’d like to see more set formations with the point guys moving down and the forwards moving to the point to keep the defense guessing. The Sharks do a nice job there.
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Why can’t we run some set plays – like they do in basketball. When the point has the puck have somebody cut thru the middle, have another go behind the net. Have both points crash the net at once while a forward goes bck to defend. Do something – anything – different.
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Enough of the experiment…..
The first line is hurting without Ryan Smyth as everyone knows. Simmer is just playing his ass off. I watched the Blackhawks game again; there is no question about his work ethic and his attitude towards the game. There have been few Kings over the past few years that have shown the heart and desire that Wayne Simmonds has shown this year to win. The Kings have a truly good team that is getting better and better every day as our kids come into their own.
We just had this poll and unfortunately I voted for the wrong guy on the first line like many did. I made a mistake, please forgive me. It’s time, he’s earned it, he should be on the first line and the power play.
Put Simmer with Williams and Kopi on the first line….he deserves it!
Go Kings!
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Gene-O, really well put. I absolutely agree w you. Living on the east coast I see the other teams play a lot and everyone (even D first teams like NJ) seem to have way more movement. On one hand yes they do need to shoot more, but even on the occasions when they do, what bothers me is that the other teams seem to have players ‘in movement’ while the Kings seem to keep their basic positions so it’s not surprising that they don’t have seams cause they aren’t creating them (as DD alluded to).
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Simmer cant because he is RW, if it was williams hurt he would be there.
LW is our problem not RW, some players cant just switch because we want them to.
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The Kings point men are more adept at shooting than passing. There is no true powerplay quarterback currently on the team. Other teams pressure the point as well as cutting off Kopiter’s shooting and passing lanes to the net. If we could work the puck down low better we might have a lot more success.
It might be interesting to move Kopi off the half boards on the right side and let him set up behind the net which was where Gretzky’s office was located. It would give him more opportunity to make plays as it’s quite difficult to defend playing a convential box.
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…Ilya Kovalchuk still isn’t signed. I’m just puttin that out there…
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Then don’t dump the puck Drew! Everyone see the same problem ie No set plays with movement like all other teams. The easiest solution ….replace the PP coach.
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Alot of problems are coming from breaking out of the zone clean.Too much time is being spent regrouping,and trying to enter the zone at all let alone with any kind of speed.
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The coach can only put the systems in place.. and up until the last 4 games the PP has been just fine. I think it is just a matter of the players not producing and missing Smyth. Is it coincidence that we started struggling after we lost one of our key PP contributors? (Smyth). Same as in Pittsburg when they lost Gonchar, our PP is still WAY better than Pittsburgs
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This has been a very big problem for this season and all of last season.
5 on 3 for the Kings is a JOKE! Me and my friends joke that we wish the Kings could “decline a penalty” like they can do in football. It’s a joke, but it’s also kind of sad because we know they can’t score two men up on a team.
This is a coaching issue and needs to addressed ASAP if you want a chance at a playoff run.
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My kids peewee team could kill a penaly against the Kings lately, put 2 on Kopitar and 2 on Doughty and the Kings are lost, they’ll have no idea what to do.
I think I have only seen them try a cross ice pass a handfull of times all season, other than that everything is against the boards, passing in circles. Make a cross ice pass and open up the defenders, MAKE THEM MOVE!!!
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We haven’t had that many 5 on 3′s so far,but yeah that last one was lame.
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The problem with this PP is that we are not getting any point shots through. We need more of our d-man to shoot from the point, and the other three forwards to crash the net. One forward should ALWAYS be infront of the net screening the goalie and making things difficult for him. But we have NO ONE doing that, after Smyth went down with the injury. Keep it basic fellas, get point shots through and crash the net. Good things will happen if you stick with the basics. Ohh, and for god sake enter the zone with speed and control of the puck.. thats what was working for us when we were scoring on the power play.
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I like the idea of moving Kopi behind the net.Problem is if Kopi walks out there’s nobody on the other side of the crease,and Kings defenseman aren’t getting any backdoor plays.
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For those asking for “set plays”…that will never happen, unless it’s off of a faceoff.
This isn’t the NBA…set plays will never happen in the NHL, because the game is simply too fast, and far too unpredictable.
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I think Fox alluded to a pseudo-set play on the PP, where the PP unit at least went in with a plan to get a particular player the shot. At least then they would all be on the same page, if they know Kopitar, for instance, was going just shoot the puck, regardless of whether the shot was ‘there’ or not. It just seems that everybody is static and waiting for the pass to come to them and they are afraid to move, because then they would not be in the ‘expected’ spot for their teammate to pass to them. It’s all to static and set, with not fluidity. Movement away from the puck can open seams for passing lanes that are usually not there when everybody is static. Give and go, drive the net, etc.
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mrbrett7, I beg to differ. You’d be surprised how many of the little and often chaotic looking plays are things that are rehearsed over and over again in practice. On the PP especially.
In my opinion, the bulk of the problem goes back to faceoffs and puck recovery. After a shot is taken, or after a lost draw, the Kings aren’t winning enough 50/50 pucks. The strategy for the Kings isn’t the issue. Its completely the level of effort and desire to win the puck back. In the beginning of the year, the Kings would find success on the PP by maintaining puck posession and keeping the defending team from changing lines. By losing faceoffs, and not recovering the puck often enough, the opposition stays fresh and only compounds the issue. In my eyes, thats the real problem. 50/50 pucks.
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Stillkingly….Ah yes, I believe you can. It’s called “playing the off wing” and players make that switch all the time. I believe Williams has played LW in his career and I’m certain Simmer has as well. You find out at a very young age that if you want to play hockey you will play any position just to be out there getting ice time.
Simmer is scoring, he has eight goals so far and has been on fire. While this topic is certainly about the PP, he should be playing 2nd unit PP at least because he is contributing. Simmer has been all over the ice this year and now his numbers are improving to give him recognition league wide. Isn’t it time the Kings promoted him, particularly with the difficulties the 1st line has had putting the puck in the net recently? On the PP??
Yes, it can be done…….Simmer needs to be seeing more time on the first unit…..now.
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First, fire Kompon.
Second, get better defensemen.
The PP goes best if the defensemen can move the puck and find the “killer” pass.
Stoll off the point, down to the “Hull”-spot.
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Smart hockey fans in LA. We’ve mostly all said the same thing. OH, I’M REALLY HAPPY. I’VE FOUND THE WORD TO DESCRIBE IT, JUST CAME TO ME…….. STATIC!!!
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When all the players stand around and getting a shot from the point is your first objective, you can’t be surprised that the PP sucks.
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Blah Blah Blah Blah……
We talk, the team does not change a thing, so we are left with what we see on the ice. Every Team crosses and moves the puck quickly …but we send the puck all the way around to Doughty who is playing out of position (stick wise) so he has to handle the puck backhand and then move to his forehand this taking some time to do we lose time on this exchange. Nobody in the front of the crease and no one in the slot..This recipe is for a disaster cake…Have a slice
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Put Brown in front of the net and Simmonds on the side of the net and start firing away with Johnson, Kopi, DD and Stoll…Rebounds will fall in your lap and then bang zoom we are on the board…..How about dropping the weak side Defenseman down for the cross ice pass and one timer?
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I sure miss Kyle Quincey…
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Movement.
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Quincy’s solid.Hated to see him go.Every trade pays somewhere.
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Just remember, Ryan Smyth was traded for Quincy.
Kings with Smyth = much better than last season
Kings w/o Smyth = pretty much the same as last season, with Quincy.
‘nuf said.
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Definitely miss Quincey as well especially on the PP… you knew 99% of the time he was going to shoot(and get it on net).
Moving Simmonds to the 1st line is definitely a good idea, but I would like to keep him and Parse together since they seem to have developed some chemistry. It’s also nice to have secondary scoring from a different line.
For the PP problems, I definitely agree with DD and other posters here that we should go back to basics and look to shoot first from the point and crash the net for deflections/rebounds. This tends to create havok for the PK which tends to divert them from their game plan and expend energy running around. It’s usually when the PK is tired that you will see consistent grade A scoring chances. But just as important is to get the puck on net! With the exception of DD, I don’t think any of the other point men can consistently get the puck on net. I know that it’s not always possible to get a shot through since good shot blocking is a given with almost every team, but we should look at adding an option to shoot the puck off the back board to have it ricochet out in front. Detroit used to do this a lot(not sure about this season) which seemed to be an effective play. At least if you miss the net in this case, the puck won’t rim around the boards and out of the zone. It also keeps the PK guessing which is always a good thing. Lastly, we need to consistently out work the PK which I don’t think we have been doing during the recent PP slump. It’s not a coincidence that our slump started at around the same time Smyth was injured. He was the one guy you knew would always out battle the other team for loose pucks and getting to the front of the net. If the PK out works you then most likely they will kill the penalty.
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I also agree with Moondoggie that Simmonds should be moved to either the 1st/2nd PP unit… he’s earned it with his recent play.
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Simmonds does deserve to be on the PP, I agree.
I just have to think he isnt comfortable on the LW, why else would they not put him there?
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This is just for the PP which is a different situation since you should be spending most of the time setup in the offensive zone… I know not lately
. Anyway it’s alway good to learn how to be a versatile player(both personally and for the team).
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Harrold is a good defenseman on the PP.
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Cristobal -
Agreed. Harrold is a decent option on the point. I personally would take Brown off. Just use the Parse/Handzus/Simmonds line as the second unit.
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