Analyzing the Canucks’ power play and how it can improve

The Vancouver Canucks have one of the best power play units in the NHL. But at times, it doesn’t look nearly as threatening as it should. Is their room for improvement?

The Vancouver Canucks’ power play has been one of the biggest success stories for the organization so far this season. Last year, the club finished 22nd in the league in power play percentage at 17.1.

This year, their power play has skyrocketed to fifth in the NHL (24.1%) and second in total power play goals behind only the Boston Bruins. The Canucks are now known as one of the most dangerous teams on the man advantage, thanks in large part to their lethal top unit of Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat, J.T. Miller and rookie sensation Quinn Hughes.

Indeed, Vancouver’s ability at 5-on-4 has improved leaps and bounds over previous years. It’s easy to understand why the top power play unit should be performing at an extremely high, borderline elite level due to the supremely talented players on it.

But while their numbers look great in the 2019-2020 campaign, it still feels as though there’s a higher ceiling this team’s power play can reach. Throughout this season, Vancouver has relentlessly feasted on the penalty kills of teams that are either dwelling in the basement of the league or struggling in the middle of the pack, such as the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators.

This has caused their PP stats to become partially inflated and recently, the top unit has been noticeably struggling. Since the calendar switched to 2020, the team power play has gone 2-for-22 for a measly 9.1% in 33:55 of ice time, including four separate 5-on-3 opportunities they failed to convert on.

In Sunday’s afternoon clash with the Minnesota Wild, Vancouver went 1-for-8 with the man advantage and failed miserably to generate much of anything for the first five power plays before Pettersson’s tip-in goal midway through the second period. That goal broke a streak of 17 straight power plays without a goal.

The power play has truly become a polarizing topic because their impressive statistics don’t seem to consistently translate into what fans see on their TV screens. What can the team do to make their power play even more effective than it already is? Let’s talk about it.

A stronger sense of urgency & faster pace

It’s a simple concept, but it makes sense. When you have an extra man on the ice, your main focus is to capitalize on that opportunity, so it’s crucial for teams to enter the zone quickly and set up the umbrella as efficiently as possible to allow for more time in the offensive zone.

Yet, at times the power play units handle the puck lazily, with nonchalant zone entries that result in turnovers and cleared pucks back to the other end of the ice.

There were numerous times on Sunday vs. the Wild (and the Florida road trip, for that matter) where the Vancouver was sloppy with their puck handling around the blue line and didn’t make the most of their two minutes, because they had to continuously regroup and retrieve pucks that were dumped back into their zone.

More from The Canuck Way

• Which team won the Bo Horvat trade?
• What to expect from newcomers Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Räty
• Back to the future: How the skate uniforms became a regular Canucks’ feature night
• Canucks kick off 2023 with disappointing 6-2 loss to Islanders
• 2nd period penalty trouble sinks Canucks in 4-2 loss against Winnipeg

Additionally, once they access the zone, the power play unit sometimes operates without any urgency, as if they just woke up after a late night and were forced out of bed to attend a 6 a.m. special teams practice the following morning.

This causes the clock to wind down while they continuously pass it around the outside of the umbrella. It’s easy for teams to defend that, especially when the Canucks don’t tend to disguise their obvious intentions of setting up Pettersson for his patented one-timer at the top of the right circle, or as some fans like to label it, the “Petterzone”.

More urgency and rapid, strong passes across the zone could cause penalty killers to become flustered and lose track of their assignments, thus creating open lanes and more space to shoot. Speaking of shooting…

Shots, shots, shots!

Of course, it’s easy for us to say when we watch a Canucks game, but at the same time, the puck won’t go in unless it’s put towards the goal. Many fans can admit that they’ve yelled “shoot the puck!” at their televisions more than once before, and that’s because this top power play unit seems reluctant to take shots at times. It gives me flashbacks to the infamous Sedin power plays and their excruciatingly painful patience with the puck.

Whether it’s for the fear of those shots getting blocked and causing a turnover, or because the players are simply just hesitant, it looks as though they’re consistently trying to make an extra pass or two to set up for a predictable one-timer or find the best angle possible.

Where problems occur, however, is when there are no great angles available. Then what? Pettersson, Boeser and Hughes are all talented shooters, so as they sit at the top of the umbrella it’s important for them to attempt to get shots through at a high velocity and low angle if their options are limited, so someone like Horvat can bang home the rebound and chalk up a greasy one on the scoreboard.

That’s how they managed to score an unbelievable five power play goals in one game against the Predators back on Nov. 21. When Hughes decided to go back to the basics and fling a shot at the net against Minnesota on Sunday, it resulted in the Canucks’ first goal of the game after five failed power plays. Every hockey player has been taught that good things happen when you put it on net.

More movement and implementing the back door

With all the space that a power play provides in the offensive zone, it’s extremely important to move around and utilize the extra room. The Canucks’ top unit is stationary on occasion, and all five players tend to stick to their designated areas on the ice with the exception of Miller sliding from the net-front up to the top of the umbrella occasionally. Penalty killing units in the NHL can easily cover a power play that isn’t moving around because they can collapse use a box zone coverage to not allow any high danger scoring chances in the slot.

The Canucks had over a minute and a half of 5-on-3 power play time in the second period against Minnesota Wild, yet failed to really threaten at all. They were stuck and looked like they didn’t know what to do with the puck other than frantically pass it around the outside. When you out-man the opposing team by two players, there’s no excuse for rigid hockey.

Constantly moving your feet, switching places with other teammates, and pushing down on the defensive triangle will allow the power play unit to get closer looks at the net and open up more situations to exploit.

Whatever happened to having players flank on either side of the goal line and create puck movement behind the net? It causes confusion for defences, and that’s exactly what the Wild did on their ensuing 5-on-3 a couple minutes later. It created a good amount of scoring chances, even though they failed to capitalize.

Since teams have heavily scouted Pettersson and his decapitating one-timer by this point, plenty of penalty killing units are shadowing him throughout the top unit’s power play time. They stay extremely close to him and minimize the gap but Hughes, Boeser and Miller still force-feed him the puck in the hopes of EP40 making use of the “Petterzone”.

Since that area is usually covered up, back door options tend to be open, and the Canucks could really take advantage of this more often. There was an instance in the game against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday where Pettersson saw the opening on the right side.

Instead of restricting himself to the top of the right circle, he dropped down to the weak side in the blink of an eye and Boeser fed him a cross-crease pass that unfortunately hopped over his stick. It was a very good attempt though, and something that the dangerous top unit could look for more frequently than they do.