Bolts By The Bay Round Table: Power Play Edition

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It’s that time again. Bolts By The Bay is pleased to present another edition of our Writers Round Table. This week’s topic centers around the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s much-maligned power play.

Each and every week, the Bolts By The Bay Staff is asked a question–some interesting, some serious–and the writers submit their answers for you all to read.

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Tasha Meares

The biggest problem that has been plaguing the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Power Play unit has been offensive pressure. Unfortunately, there are no two ways about it; you will fail to score on every single shot you refuse to take.

While I will digress that we have always been a proponent of quality over quantity, taking zero shots on goal during a man advantage is simply unacceptable and something that seriously needs to be addressed.

In the Lightning’s 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens last Tuesday night, we saw a flicker of the Power Play squad that we started out the season with. While this is a great improvement over what we have seen in the past month or so, there is still some work to be done.

The biggest impact on the Power Play has hands down been the “Triplet Line.” Then again, what can’t in some fashion be attributed to their amazing play this season? Both Lightning power play goals against the Canadiens on Tuesday were awarded to center Tyler Johnson with the assists to his linemates Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov.

In my honest opinion, if the Lightning can continue to produce on the Power Play the way they did on Tuesday night and give those three more ice time during the man advantage, then they may have everything they need in order to get the job done already in place.

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Dan Herrejon

I think that one of the biggest problems with the power play is Steven Stamkos.

Before anyone takes my head off, let me explain.

Stamkos is such an elite talent that when he is on the ice, the tendency at times by his teammates is to stand around waiting for him to do something.

In the Montreal game, despite not practicing, Jon Cooper put Stamkos out on the Power Play with Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat.

Those three continually move when they are on the Power Play and having their Captain join them didn’t change their ways. The result was two PP goals in five chances.

Movement is critical on the Power Play and this new unit does that well.

The other issue with the Power Play is getting the puck in the opponent’s zone. Tampa Bay has struggled with this for the last few seasons.

Again, the issue is standing around. It seems to me that regardless of who is bringing the puck into the offensive zone, at least three of the other guys are already standing at the blue line which allows the opponent’s penalty killing unit to block the entry more easily.

There should only be one teammate at the blue line when the entry is made and the others should be behind the puck ready to be outlets once the puck is brought in.

Lastly, there is no doubt the Lightning have tremendous team speed but that is limited to the forwards.

On defense, our speed is almost non-existent. We can’t have Matt Carle or Andrej Sustr on the PP. They are too slow and mishandle the puck too often.

I’d like to see Coop go with four forwards and one defenseman but limit that defenseman to Victor Hedman, Jason Garrison, Mark Barberio or Nikita Nesterov.

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Gage Reisinger

It’s clear the Lightning do have an issue with the power play, however it is much less serious then many people think. The power play is currently sitting at 15th in the league for the season.

Although they have been struggling these last few months, that is not a terrible position to be in. They’ve been able to score 18.7 percent of the time which, generally speaking, is a power play goal every two games or so.

Similar to the rest of the league, the Bolts are currently using two power play units with a single defenseman and a player in front of the net.

The first unit has been shuffled a ton, but the second unit has stayed together for the most part over the last month. That second unit has consisted of Anton Stralman, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Nikita Kucherov, and Ryan Callahan.

It’s no coincidence that they put the “triplet line” together with Callahan who can screen the goalie and Stralman who is fantastic at maintaining possession. That line is starting to click and they will have no problem getting the power play going again. They should continue to do exactly what they are doing.

As for the first power play unit, there is one major change that should be made.

They should consider putting a second defenseman on the unit in lieu of a fourth forward. Instead of wasting time chasing the puck back every time a defender pokes it out, the second defenseman would greatly improve their ability to maintain possession. They’ll also be able to cycle the puck more fluidly throughout the offensive zone until a clear shot opens up.

Although there are not many teams that still use two defenseman on the power play, I feel it is a strategy that the Bolts should seriously consider bringing back.

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Lauren Burg

The biggest issue with the Tampa Bay Lightning power play is lack of shooting.

Part of it might be a result of having an elite goal scorer in Steven Stamkos on the ice. Teammates tend to pass it his way, assuming he’ll fire a shot and all of a sudden there’s a goal.

The problem with this is that often times, Stammer’s double covered or the goalie’s committed to him. Seeing this, Stamkos will elect to pass it back. At that point, the power play essentially becomes a passing drill, with nobody testing the opposing netminder.

I don’t know how many times I’ve sat in the stands, or even on my couch at home, screaming “SHOOT IT!!! SHOOT…THE….PUCK!!!!” As the legendary Wayne Gretzky once said, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”

Last Tuesday night against the Montreal Canadiens, head coach Jon Cooper decided to experiment with his first power play unit. Instead of the usual Valtteri Filppula alongside Stamkos, he put out the red-hot triplet line of Ondrej Palat, Nikita Kucherov and Tyler Johnson. Defenseman Anton Stralman rounded out the unit.

Despite not practicing, that unit clicked. Stralman’s elite puck retrieval skills hemmed the Canadiens in for long stretches of time, Stamkos acted as a decoy and the triplets went to work, burning Carey Price for two goals in a 4-2 win.

Personally, I’d stick with that unit for awhile longer. The second unit, to me, should include Jonathan Drouin, Valtteri Filppula, Ryan Callahan, Alex Killorn and Jason Garrison.

Another idea would be to keep the first unit as is, then add an extra defenseman (Victor Hedman possibly?) to the second unit instead of using four forwards. You could then mix and match the forwards, making certain the ones you use earn that opportunity with their play in practice and during games.

What the Lightning need, more than anything else on the power play is to continue applying pressure. That can only happen when you’re quick to pucks and shooting it on net. You never know when a deflection might occur, or a teammate pounces on a rebound and WA-LA! There’s a goal.

Basically, the Lightning need to find what works and stick with it, remembering that the key is to shoot enough pucks on net because that greatly increases your chances of scoring.

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