The Power Play Struggle.
Oliver Johnston says that improving the power play is crucial to the Senators’ continued success in the upcoming season.
It was our Achilles Heel. The Ottawa Senators finished 2nd in the Atlantic Division, 6th in the Eastern Conference with 98 points, and went as deep as you can go in the playoffs without making the Cup Finals. They somehow did so with a negative goal differential in the regular season, which was largely a result of an anemic power play. The team ran at only 17% while on the man-advantage (23rd out of 30), a number which dropped even further in the playoffs, settling at a paltry 11.5% (14th out of 16).
Let’s put this in perspective. Pittsburgh, who finished 2nd in the Eastern Conference with 111 points and eliminated Ottawa in the Game 7 OT of the Eastern Conference Finals on their way to win the cup, had 58 regular season PPGs (power play goals), giving them a 23.1 PP% with 260 PPOs (power play opportunities), compared to Ottawa’s 43 PPGs, giving them a 17 PP% with 253 PPO. Fifteen goals does not seem like a huge difference, but on a team with a -4 goal differential and who played in 40 one goal games last season, 15 goals could mean 15–30 more points, or 15 less one goal games. Fewer nail-biting contests would mean they could rest their best players instead of double-shifting them for the last 10 minutes of the game and/or for the 3-on-3 OT. Not to mention the pressure these tight games put on the goalies.
Things got even worse in the playoffs. The Sens mustered a measly 7 PPG, giving them a 11.5 PP% in 61 PPO. Pittsburgh had 16 PPG, 20.5 PP% in 78 PPO, having more opportunities because they played in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Ottawa wants to go deep in the playoffs. Guy Boucher knows rest is a weapon. Boucher started to receive criticism when he chose to skip practices, have optional practices and give the top players in ice-time free passes to take maintenance days down the stretch and right through the playoffs. His plan worked pretty well, but perhaps at the sacrifice of a better weapon: a power play that creates momentum, scores big goals and wins games.
Easier said by me than done in the real world. Boucher worked with what he had, in the time he had. He chose to focus on setting up the defensive system that got a mess of a team from 2015–16 season to the most frustrating team to play against in the 2016–17 season and post-season.
So this training camp and pre-season, expect to see a lot of work on the power play. The assignment will probably be given to one of the associate or assistant coaches to focus on. I am sure if you ask him, Boucher will say he spent a lot of time this summer watching film on the power play. I am also sure that the pro scouts will be looking for a power play specialist to bring aboard if the solution is not found in house.
Oliver Johnston is a hockey and baseball contributor for TheOcho.ca.
