What is wrong with Pittsburgh's power play?

Unless you have been living in a cave for the past few weeks, then two things will have been incredibly clear and obvious. One is that Sidney Crosby is struggling right now, with 0 points through the first five games. He isn't the player he was a few years ago and there are some concerns over how long it could continue. The second is that the Penguins power play has been awful since Tocchet took over and little has been done to fix it.

Starting with the Penguins power play issues, there are three things that need to be in place for a good power play. The first is that you have good personnel, i.e. players in place. With the Penguins that is fairly straight forward. The Penguins have an abundance of offensive talent right now which should indicate a lethal power play. Throughout their history that has been true as well with guys like Jaromir Jagr, Mario Lemieux and Ron Francis to name a few.

The Penguins cannot complain about a lack of talent to run on the power play with the likes of Crosby, Malkin and Kessel on the team. Such talent in the team means that the Penguins can have the luxury of playing two units, both of which could be considered top units elsewhere. In the most recent game against Toronto saw the Penguins utilize Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Hornqvist and Letang all on one unit.

The power play is currently 0-for-17 on the season, which is nothing short of an abomination. Mike Johnston was quoted in the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette as saying;

“For me, the power play, you’re talking about your top scorers. If your top scorers are on a roll and your power play is not working, obviously you have some concerns,”  Johnston said. “But I think right now, once those guys start to get going, feeling comfortable with each other, we’re going to be fine.”  

Personally I don't believe that is something that should be expected from them. Of the five players three of them, Letang, Crosby and Malkin, have played together since the 2006-2007 season. If they haven't gotten comfortable in that time with each other's playing style then something is wrong. I could understand them taking time to get used to Kessel's game, but it shouldn't be that build chemistry when Crosby and Letang are on the ice at the same time during regular play.

The second thing you need for a good power play is a good system and setup. In the past the Penguins used a shoot first, pass later policy and this is generally one used by teams as it is more effective. Especially with someone in front of the net tipping shots in. Lately the Penguins appear to be more content with passing the puck around the zone, cycling it, which gives the opposition a greater chance to clear it through poke checks.

The Penguins need to go back to this original system as it worked greater. I think they also need to explore perhaps splitting the power play at times to keep the opposition on their toes. Right now the second line is showing signs of chemistry and is clicking. Would it not make sense to have them heading up one power play unit and the top line another?

Splitting the power play units is something used against Dallas this season and whilst the Penguins went scoreless they had 7 shots across three power plays and as yet they have yet to match that in a game since. One of the biggest problems with the Penguins is the entry zone plays which has resulted in a lot of offsides. A structured entry allows for a better setup and a sustained zone presence improving the chances of scoring.

So far I have mentioned two things required for a good power play, the last is a good back room team. The Penguins currently have Rick Tocchet as their power play coach and he has had underwhelming results. Last season the Penguins finished with a 19.29% which was 10th in the league and only just above the league average. The league average was 18.66% and of the top 16 teams the Penguins had the fourth lowest number of goals with 49 on 254 attempts.

So far this season the Penguins are 0-17 through five games and they are currently the joint bottom team alongside the Anaheim Ducks. These are the only two teams remaining that are still yet to score on the power play. It might seem early to attack the setup behind the bench after just 5 games but when you have a line-up as star studded as the Penguins then it is a worry.