For the first time in Golden Knights history, their players are watching the first round of the playoffs from home. One of the biggest reasons for that is the team’s inability to convert on the power play. And while injuries certainly played a part in 2021-22, Vegas’ power-play woes stretch back much further.
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This season, the Golden Knights’ power play ranked 25th in the league with a dismal conversion rate of 18.4 percent. Going back to when coach Pete DeBoer took over on Jan. 15, 2020, Vegas ranks 21st with a 18.6 percent conversion rate. That’s a 160-game sample size with 441 chances with a man advantage over that span, so it’s plenty of data to say the Golden Knights’ power play must be improved.
Vegas’ last playoff run came to an end largely due to the power play’s 0-for-15 drought against Montreal in the semifinals. Now, the Golden Knights are watching the playoffs from home. What can they glean from the power plays of the remaining 15 teams?
The first lesson is that it’s absolutely crucial to have a serviceable power play in order to win a Stanley Cup. General manager Kelly McCrimmon mentioned during his end-of-season press conference that he felt adding Alex Pietrangelo and Jack Eichel were big moves to winning it all, because all Cup winners have a top defenseman and true No. 1 center. Another piece Vegas is missing when compared to the most recent Cup winners is a dangerous power play.
The last five Cup champions have all had power plays that ranked in the top 10 and converted at 21 percent or higher in the regular season. Those are marks that Vegas hasn’t come close to in some time. Not only did those teams have solid power plays all season long the year they won the Stanley Cup, but they also produced when they needed it most in the postseason.
Several recent teams have ridden an exceptional power play to a title. Last year’s Tampa Bay Lightning converted at the highest rate for a team with at least 20 playoff games in a single season in league history. The Capitals won in 2018 with a red-hot power play that finished with the third-highest conversion rate ever. Of the last five winners, only the Blues in 2019 did it with a power play scoring at lower than 20 percent.
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Vegas’ postseason power-play numbers have been even worse than in the regular season. In 39 playoff games under DeBoer, the Golden Knights have converted at only 14.7 percent, which ranks 19th of the 25 teams to play in the postseason during that span.
In an attempt to help explain Vegas’ power-play woes, I watched every power-play goal scored in this year’s NHL playoffs. There were 63 prior to Wednesday’s games, and I’ve categorized each goal based on the shot type, shot location, whether or not there was a screen on the goalie and the key factor that directly led to the goal. Let’s begin by analyzing shot type.
| Shot Type | Goals |
|---|---|
Rebound | 20 |
One timer | 19 |
Wrist shot | 14 |
Deflection | 8 |
Backhand | 1 |
Empty Net | 1 |
It’s no surprise that most power-play goals have come on rebounds and one-timers, but it is telling that nearly one-third of the power-play goals scored this postseason have been on second-chance opportunities. The Golden Knights have struggled to own the front of the net on both ends of the ice for some time, and it’s clear that is their biggest room for improvement on the power play.
“One area that we wanted to expose was kind of getting inside a little bit more,” Pacioretty said following the season. “I think the last couple games, (Chandler) Stephenson went in there and did a really good job of cleaning up the trash and being really good around the net. It’s not always going to be pretty on the power play, but you have to score ugly ones as well. I thought a guy like Stephenson kind of brought our power play to a new level there at the end.”
Late in the season, Stephenson was inserted as the middleman on the power play. It’s a role near the goal mouth, and one filled by Evgenii Dadonov for most of the year. Stephenson took over down the stretch and scored three power-play goals in the final five games, most of which came on rebounds. That helped the team to a 4-for-10 ending to the year on the power play, giving a reason for hope.
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“I thought at the end of the year, we found some steady roles within the power play,” Pacioretty said. “I think the last three or four games, we started to look dangerous again.”
But Vegas has had plenty of hot stretches in which power-play goals were flowing, only to fall into a long drought. Looking at the shot location on the 63 power-play goals scored this postseason, it’s yet another indicator that the Golden Knights must get inside more consistently.
| Shot Location | Goals |
|---|---|
Doorstep | 21 |
Left Circle | 13 |
Right Circle | 11 |
Low Slot | 10 |
Middle Point | 4 |
High Slot | 2 |
Goal line | 1 |
Long distance (EN) | 1 |
The doorstep is the place to go for power-play goals, with the vast majority coming by way of rebound, deflection or backdoor one-timer. NHL goalies are too good to beat consistently with shots from the outside, and creating scrambles in front is crucial. Another option is to take away the goalie’s vision of the puck. If they can’t see it, they can’t stop it. And on the occasions when the puck does hit the goalie due to positioning, it usually offers a juicy second chance.
| Goalie Screened? | Goals |
|---|---|
Yes | 45 |
No | 18 |
The goalie’s vision was obstructed on 28.6 percent of the power-play goals scored this postseason. It’s something Vegas doesn’t do nearly enough.
Lastly, and perhaps most telling, is a breakdown of what I felt was the most important factor to each goal. I essentially asked the question: Why did they ultimately score this goal? Was it because of a great cross-seam pass that broke down the structure of the penalty kill, a great screen in front or excellent puck-recovery skills after a shot? This is subjective, but in most instances, it’s pretty obvious what caused the goal.
| Biggest factor/cause | Goals |
|---|---|
Puck recovery | 13 |
Cross-seam pass | 13 |
Screen | 13 |
Low-to-high pass | 10 |
Attacking with feet | 7 |
Deflection | 6 |
Multiple players in front | 4 |
Movement away from puck | 4 |
Egregious goalie mistake | 2 |
The numbers don’t add up to exactly 63 because there were several goals in which I felt two different factors played a major role. For example, this goal by Ryan O’Reilly on May 6 was made possible by O’Reilly’s aggressive move to attack the slot with his skates, but wouldn’t have happened without an excellent screen by Brayden Schenn to hide the release from Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
This data continues to point to the fact that the Golden Knights must own the area in front of the opposing crease, both in terms of generating screens on the netminder and winning physical battles that afford them rebound chances. Several Vegas players mentioned being “one-and-done” far too often this season. They lost those puck battles in front, resulting in a clearing opportunity for the penalty killers rather than sustained pressure from the most dangerous area of the ice.
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But generating rebounds is about more than just sending bodies to the front of the net. Creating unpredictable shots is one of the most important factors. If a goalie isn’t perfectly set and square to the shooter, it’s much more difficult for him to direct the rebound out of harm’s way. And the most common way to generate rebounds thus far in the playoffs is by attacking with movement and speed. Some of the goals I credited to “attacking with feet,” which essentially means the player took the space given to him by the penalty killers by skating into the slot for a better shot. Others I credited to “movement away from the puck,” which means the team was cycling its players around the zone, and ultimately heading downhill toward the net when the shot was taken.
One of Vegas’ biggest issues on the power play has been a lack of movement. Players are often sitting still in their positions rather than skating toward the net. Take one look at Toronto’s power play, the best in the NHL during the regular season, and the difference is evident.
The Maple Leafs don’t score on this clip but look at all the momentum heading toward the net on each one of these chances. Auston Matthews (No. 34 near the bottom of the screen) is constantly reloading near the point only to skate back toward the net. Even when he’s not a passing target, his momentum carries him toward the net to allow for easier puck retrieval. William Nylander (No. 88 in the middle of the ice) is also not standing stagnant in the low slot but is looping to the top of the circles so that when the next shot attempt happens, he’s gliding toward the net.
A shot from a moving skater is always more difficult to handle than one from a stationary skater, because the angle is ever-changing. As a puck-handler skates toward the net, the angle the goalie must be on to stay square is constantly moving, making it much harder to be set for the shot.
The best power play this postseason has been the Colorado Avalanche, who converted at an incredible 43.8 percent clip in the first round. They use very similar principles to Toronto, using plenty of motion off the puck and getting momentum going toward the net prior to shots.
This video clip shows the idea in the simplest way. Colorado isn’t running anything groundbreaking here. It’s just feeding its most dangerous forward (Nathan MacKinnon, No. 29 at the top of the screen) the puck and letting him attack the slot with his legs, while other forwards also head to the net for potential passes or rebound opportunities. Watch Gabriel Landeskog (No. 92 at the bottom of the screen) constantly reloading for another run at the net, timing it with MacKinnon’s runs so he’s in perfect position for a rebound on the backside.
This movement also opens up passing lanes. The Golden Knights struggle to complete passes through the heart of the ice because the penalty killers’ biggest focus is on preventing exactly that. But keeping a stick in the passing lane is a much greater challenge when the puck handler threatens to attack the net with his feet and the passing target is moving as well.
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That shows up in this play by the Edmonton Oilers. There’s plenty of movement from Connor McDavid, who initially enters the zone on the right side, then skates behind the net, reloads to attack the net and eventually finds Leon Draisaitl on the backside of the play for a one-timer. The Kings’ penalty killers become fixated on McDavid once he drives the net, leaving a passing lane open.
The Golden Knights don’t have McDavid, but Eichel was brought in as a solution to the struggling power play, and he has both the puck-handling skills and on-ice vision to make similar plays. At times this season, Eichel attacked with his feet, but in order for it to work, everyone needs to be moving together. It’s a cohesion Vegas lacked all season and must be addressed if the Golden Knights are to return to being contenders.
“I think you saw glimpses of it,” DeBoer said of the power play’s potential. “In the exit meetings, when we were talking to the players, we saw the potential of it. It started to feel good the last couple games.”
Identifying areas for improvement and actually executing them are two very different things. Vegas has an entire summer and training camp to overhaul its power play. Considering the salary cap situation, any major changes will likely have to be with the system and not the personnel. DeBoer believes Vegas has the correct players to build a potent power play.
“I think the personnel was addressed,” he said, referring to the trades for Dadonov and Eichel. “We never got that personnel all out there together, in my mind, for long enough. But I’m not absolving responsibility of us as coaches. We’re going to look at everything. We’re going to keep working at this until we get it right, and I’m confident we will.”
(Photo: Jeff Bottari / NHLI via Getty Images)