It’s not difficult to predict that special-teams play will play a big part in this first-round series between the Kings and the San Jose Sharks. In the regular season, the Kings ranked 21st in power-play efficiency and fourth in penalty-kill efficiency, while the Sharks ranked second in power-play efficiency and 24th in penalty-kill efficiency. The [...]
Archive of posts tagged power play
Power-play personnel changes only minor
The Kings went 0-for-4 on the power play Tuesday against Edmonton, but they did generate nine shots on goal. It’s a power-play unit that is now without Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams, but the Kings haven’t made significant personnel changes. In the previous game, Oscar Moller stepped into Williams’ power-play role, and last night Ryan [...]
Strength vs. strength in special-teams battle
The Kings’ recent penalty-kill success will certainly be put to the test tonight. The Kings have not allowed a power-play goal in 10 consecutive games, but tonight they face a San Jose Sharks team that ranks third in the NHL in power-play efficiency and has been even better than that of late. The Sharks have [...]
Still in search of some power
Special teams continues to be a mixed bag for the Kings. They have not allowed a power-play goal in 10 consecutive games — and have moved up to second in the NHL in penalty-kill efficiency — which is outstanding, but they have also failed to score a power-play goal in four consecutive games and went [...]
Power-play time not plentiful of late
It will be interesting to see how the special-teams game plays out tonight. Anaheim enters the game with the NHL’s fourth-best power-play, in terms of success rate, and is ranked 22nd in penalty-kill percentage, but the Kings have had only one power play in each of their last two games. Of course, power-play chances are [...]
If it’s not one thing…
The Kings are 3-for-11 on the power play in their last three games, a good success percentage and a clear improvement over their previous 0-for-10 skid. A change was made to player positioning in the offensive zone, but it hasn’t been a complete panacea. The Kings look more effective once they get set up in [...]
No goals, but also few power-play chances
Following on the power-play/penalty-kill discussion, it’s worth noting that while the Kings aren’t scoring power-play goals, they’re also not getting a lot of chances to score them. In their last three games, the Kings have had three, one and two power-play chances, respectively. For the season, the Kings are essentially average — they rank 18th [...]
Nothing `special’ about Kings games lately
Kings games: where power-play goals go to die. That could be the motto of late, given that there hasn’t been a power-play goal scored in three consecutive Kings games. They’re 0-for-6 on the power play and 10-for-10 on the penalty kill. I asked Anze Kopitar today which statistic he thought was more significant. Should there [...]
So far, so good on power-play look
It’s impossible to know that the future holds, but for at least one game, the Kings’ change in power-play personnel worked exactly the way they hoped it would. The Kings consolidated their power-play personnel, putting Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson together at the blue line with Anze Kopitar, Michal Handzus and Ryan Smyth up front. [...]
Kings going `all-in’ on power play
In the previous post, we talked about possible changes to the shootout lineup. Well, tonight there will definitely be changes to the power-play unit. Rather than spread out what he perceives to be his top power-play performers over two units, Terry Murray will push them together into one group that, likely, would play the bulk [...]
More plentiful power-play chances?
The Kings’ power-play struggles for long stretches of this season have been well-documented, but part of the issue of late has been the number of chances the Kings have had to score. For instance, in their last three games, the Kings have had a total of only seven power-play chances, as opposed to 12 chances [...]
Standing pat with power-play personnel
Once again, tonight, the Kings will look to break out of their power-play funk. They’re 0-for-22 with the man advantage in their last seven games and have fallen to 19th in the NHL in power-play efficiency, after climbing to a high of 12th just more than two weeks ago. Jack Johnson leads the Kings in [...]
Power-play improvement? A familiar theme
In non-high-stick news, the power-play slump marches on for the Kings. They’re now 0-for-19 with the man advantage in their last six games, and while their first couple power plays in Thursday night’s game looked solid, things seemed to break down as the game went on. Today, Terry Murray talked about the biggest area of [...]
Kings try to get power play going again
The Kings’ power play is back on a downswing. In a six-game span from Dec. 29-Jan. 8, the Kings were 7-for-20 on the power play — an outstanding success rate, but in their last five games, they are 0-for-13 with the man advantage and have fallen to 19th in the NHL in power-play efficiency, after [...]
Changes coming on power play?
By the numbers, at least, the Kings’ power play is showing improvement. After their 1-for-9 effort in the Dec. 11 game against Minnesota, the Kings ranked 27th in the league in power-play efficiency, at 14.4 percent. In the 12 games since then, the Kings are 11-for-40 — a 27.5-percent success rate — and climbed to [...]
The best five seconds of the game?
It was the type of power-play goal that the Kings — or any team, for that matter — would like to put in a bottle and use at every opportunity. The Kings already led Colorado 4-0 when they went on the power play late in the third period. Jarret Stoll won the faceoff back to [...]
Smyth, Brown boost power play
Following its 1-for-9 effort against Minnesota on Dec. 11, the Kings’ power play ranked 27th in the NHL in efficiency, at 14.4 percent. In the three games since, the Kings have gone 4-for-11 on the power play, a success rate of 36.4 percent. Three of the Kings’ last five power-play goals have come from the [...]
Getting back to power-play basics
In case you haven’t noticed, the Kings’ power play is struggling mightily. Coming off a 1-for-9 effort in Saturday’s overtime loss to Minnesota, the Kings are 2-for-22 with the man “advantage” in their last five games and enter tonight ranked 27th in the NHL in power-play efficiency. Detroit’s penalty-kill efficiency is seventh in the league [...]
Positive reinforcement for Johnson
When a coach talks to a player on the ice, during practice, it can mean one of two things. It’s either a scolding or encouragement, and in the case of Terry Murray and Jack Johnson today, it was the latter. For a third consecutive day, the Kings spent significant practice time working on special teams [...]
Doughty’s `power’ numbers
Drew Doughty’s play has been discussed at great length, and for a defenseman, it’s often not about the statistics. But sometimes it is. Doughty has one goal and six assists in 19 games, putting him on pace for a three-goal, 20-assist season. That would be a steep reduction from last season’s 16 goals and 43 [...]
