The nuances of a slumping power play that’s getting shots through

So, that Kings power play. Since Jake Muzzin’s goal in the second period of a 3-2 overtime win over Nashville on October 27, they’ve been shut out on their last 20 attempts.

Even more halting: Los Angeles’ top unit hasn’t scored since Tyler Toffoli’s goal in San Jose 82 seconds into the season. To be fair, there’s been some mixing and matching of personnel on the top two units. But if Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty have been on the ice with the man advantage, they’ve been o-fer since San Jose.

“Yeah, we’ve got to turn it around,” Doughty said. “The power play can win you hockey games and it obviously hasn’t this year. It’s probably cost us a few games. All of us on the power play we take a lot of pride in being good on it and we’re obviously pretty disappointed with how it’s going so far, so we’re looking to change that right away.”

There’s no real cause for panic at this point. The power play is improving, according to Darryl Sutter, and the team has outscored its opponents 15-2 over the last three games while going 0-10 with the man advantage over that span.

The numbers depict a power play that gets shots through, though several key forwards aren’t necessarily taking them. The team has a SF/60 rate of 51.8 in five-on-four play, which ranks ninth in the league. But their 8.3% shooting percentage, which is tied for 21st, has been weighted down by several key forwards’ sub-optimal rates. Among Kings skaters with at least 10 minutes of power play time this season, Jeff Carter ranks eighth on the team with 8.71 SF/60 in five-on-four play, followed by Dustin Brown at 5.41. The players with the most shots on goal in five-on-four play are all defensemen: Jake Muzzin has 11, followed by Drew Doughty and Alec Martinez, both of whom have nine.

“There are always things that you can improve,” Doughty said. “I think the number one thing is putting the puck in the net, obviously. Like you said, we’ve had a lot of shots. We can improve on our net presence and our quality of shots you know, not just throwing them from the blue line every time but trying to get in the dirty areas and getting a rebound shot or something like that.”

That need to get to the tougher areas is probably the biggest factor in a power play that generates shots, but has been stuck on four goals for the last six games.

“Yeah, I think we’re starting to create more chances and getting shots through which I think is key for us,” Tanner Pearson said. “We’ve got a shooting mentality power play and the mentality’s there, but we’ve just got to finish on the second chances.”

Special teams shot rates
LA and WSH generating lots, surrendering few.
CGY, ARI struggling.
Quiet special teams in VAN, MTL, FLA.
Fun in SJ pic.twitter.com/9A0VdRbA89

— Sean Tierney (@SeanTierneyTss) November 10, 2016

Tanner Pearson, on whether he makes any adjustments when on the power play:
No, I’m usually a net front guy anyways, net or slot guy, but you just got to be a good net presence or a presence in the middle for a shot tip or you look at the goal I scored. That power play goal was just kind of a rebound just lying there and being the middle guy, it’s just clapped on the net and it’s sitting right there. So yeah, I don’t think you got to shoot as much but you definitely got to be aware of what’s going on.

Pearson, on whether the power play is adjusted when shots aren’t going in:
I think yes and no, I think our power play is pretty set, on structure, anyways. We know what we want to create. We’ve been doing that, we just haven’t been able to pot one.

Pearson, on the team’s mentality going in to tonight’s game against Montreal:
I think we’ve just got to stick to our game plan and we’ve been getting lots of shots-for past couple games and we’ve been capitalizing on those and finishing those chances we just got to keep on doing that. We know we’re up against one of the undefeated-at-home teams too, so we’ve got a good challenge ahead of us but we got to stick to our game plan and hopefully come out on top.

Pearson, on whether the Bell Centre is one of his favorite places to play:
Yeah, it’s definitely one of the coolest too. Just the atmosphere and how much they love their hockey here, it’s definitely pretty cool.

Pearson, on whether he gets heckled at the Bell Centre more than other arenas:
No I really don’t pay attention to any of it, I don’t even notice it to be honest. The glass is pretty good with a sound barrier type thing, but if anything I think they’ll start heckling their own team before ours, anyway.

Drew Doughty, on what makes the Bell Centre a difficult place to play:
Their fans are just crazy you know, they ride off the emotions of their fans. They’re great, they’re loud, and you can see when the fans get in to it Montreal’s level of play just rises so that’s what makes it tough. This arena’s a tough one to play in.

Doughty, on whether he gets heckled by the fans in Montreal:
I don’t usually get heckled, no. I do at some other arenas but here not really because the fans can’t really get to you on the bench with the glass there. But some of the arenas where we walk out to the ice from the bench side there’s hecklers at those arenas, definitely.

Doughty, on what Shea Weber brings to the Canadiens as compared to PK Subban:
They’re different players. PK’s more high-risk, he’s going to take some high risks offensively, he’s just a solid player. Shea is going to bring a lot more leadership, he’s going to bring a more physical game, he’s going to bring a more defensive game and then offensively he doesn’t take too many risks he’s just got that big shot. You’re not going to see him go end to end with the puck too often he’s just going to make that good first pass and then get up in the offensive zone and take his shot. That’s kind of the differences I see.

Advanced stats via Corsica Hockey, Puckalytics