Edmonton Oilers Continue to Suffer Power-Play Woes
By Bret Tasker
When Todd McLellan was hired he brought along Jay Woodcroft and the two of them were supposed to breathe life into a flaying Edmonton Oilers power play. In their time in San
In their time in San Jose they led the Sharks to the NHL’s second-best power play over a seven-year span. That success they had in San Jose has not transferred over to the Edmonton Oilers as of yet and the team is in the midst of an 0-26 stretch on the power play.
In their time in San Jose they led the Sharks to the NHL’s second-best power play over a 7 year span. That success they had in San Jose has not transferred over to the Edmonton Oilers as of yet and the team is in the midst of an 0-26 stretch on the power play.
Problems
Not enough clean entries into the offensive zone.
This team needs to find away to get into the zone with puck control. At times the Oilers don’t have any urgency to get the puck on the power play. When the Oilers have tried to dump and chase they aren’t strong enough with their puck pursuit. Against Toronto the Maple Leafs would pressure the defenseman when the Oilers went back for the puck and the Oilers seemed surprised by the pressure. When the Oilers try to skate it in they tend to lose it at the blue line as teams just clog up the line with bodies. Without a clean entry or puck retrieval there is no power play plain and simple.
Once they have control they pass way too much.
Wayne Gretzky once said “you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take” and it is very true of the Oilers power play right now. They are constantly moving the puck around which gets the defenders out of position but when a clear shooting lane opens up no one is shooting. Instead they pass it around some more until they pass themselves into bad position and either lose the puck or have to take a bad shot. The Oilers right now are wanting to score high-lite reel goals instead of getting garbage goals. Can’t score if you don’t shoot the puck on net.
Lack of a Heavy Right Hand Shot
Right now the only right handed Oilers who consistently get power play time are Jordan Eberle, Jesse Puljujarvi, Matthew Benning and Mark Letestu. Only Eberle (2) and Puljujarvi (1) have scored on the power play this year. None of those names have a heavy shot that the opposition needs to game plan for. That removes the threat of a dangerous one-time pass from Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl on the power play. The left hander to left hander pass requires extra time for the player to get their body moved to into a position to shoot. This extra time allows defenders to scramble back into position to block the shooting lane.
Live Feed
Puck Prose
Personnel Choices
The first power play unit is loaded with talent: McDavid, Draisaitl, Eberle, Milan Lucic, and Oscar Kelfbom. It is a great line on paper that tries to score based on an overload of talent as Draisaitl, Lucic and Eberle have combined for 9 goals or 3 quarters of the power play production.
The second power play unit is lacking talent but the mainstay on this line is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The other 4 spots are filled with whomever is playing well at the time. So Puljujarvi, Letestu, Benoit Pouliot, Patrick Maroon, Drake Caggiula, Benning, Sekera, Kris Russell, and Adam Larsson have had a chance on the power play. Only Nugent-Hopkins and Puljujarvi have scored out of this ground and they combine for 3 goals or 1 quarter of the power plays production. A few of the names would not be on a power play on other NHL teams. Letestu gets time because he’s one of the few right hand sticks on the bench. Pouliot gets time because he is veteran and the coaches hope to strike lightening in a bottle with him. I don’t understand why the Oilers always use 4 forwards on the power play because it’s not as though there is overwhelming amount of talent in the bottom 6 forwards as opposed to the top 4 defensemen.
Conclusion
The Oilers need to have a sense of urgency and selfishness on the power play because a passive power play doesn’t score. The coaching and management staff need to find the “right” personnel to equip this power play. There needs to be balance between right and left handed players as well as forwards and defencemen that give them the best chance to score.