Power-play woes

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.”