Line Combos: Everything Avalanche Power Play

[The Kingslayer]

They can run all the plays they want in the world but if you cant make fast, crisp passes and get defenders out of position your PP is gonna suck. Add to that the fact they dont move ever and have no threat from the point for a shot and its pretty easy to see why they go 0-5 in games. When the game was on the line they had 3 PPs and did nothing. Not only did they not score but they looked terrible trying to get zone entry.

 

[The Kingslayer]

They tried MacK at that bumper position, it was actually worse. MacK doesn't have the patience to be there. He was trying to shoot everything even when he was covered by bunch of Yotes players, he tried to shoot through their sticks and shin pads and everything. That's not gonna work

I said this during the OT. I feel the reason why the Avs record is what it is in OT is in large part because Mack is very impatient. No poise. Look at the yolo back hander he made tonight to give up possession. Little shit like that. Mackinnon is also not a great one touch passer on the PP and you often see him try to do it and fail.

 

[PAZ]

I said this during the OT. I feel the reason why the Avs record is what it is in OT is in large part because Mack is very impatient. No poise. Look at the yolo back hander he made tonight to give up possession. Little shit like that. Mackinnon is also not a great one touch passer on the PP and you often see him try to do it and fail.

I agree, but I believe a large part of that is still on Bennett. Good PPs know open up seams because it's not just the puck carrier that's moving. Our PP is more or less move a foot or two to create a perimeter pass option and hope that a seam pass or shot opens up.

For all the flack Barrie gets around here, he knew how to run our PP. People talked about all those gimme points he got from simply setting up Mack for a one-timer, but it's painfully clear it's a lot harder than it looks.

 

[Richard88]

I said this during the OT. I feel the reason why the Avs record is what it is in OT is in large part because Mack is very impatient. No poise. Look at the yolo back hander he made tonight to give up possession. Little shit like that. Mackinnon is also not a great one touch passer on the PP and you often see him try to do it and fail.

Yeah I don't think Mackinnon is all that great on the powerplay for the reasons you mentioned.

It will probably never happen but I'd be tempted to put him on the second PP unit. PP2 typically get around 40 seconds at the end of the 2 minutes, and with less time and the PP time expiring there's more urgency to get shots off which would suit Mackinnon's approach better. He'd also be on against secondary PK units or tired first-unit PK'ers, and would be fresh enough to extend the shift beyond the PP to get some more scoring chances.

The setup would basically have the first unit being good at getting properly set up and being extremely mobile with Girard's agility opening up shooting lanes for multiple good shooters (Burakovsky, Rantanen, and Toews) with Landeskog in front to screen:

----------------- Landeskog ----------------
Burakovsky -------------------- Rantanen
---------- Girard ---------- Toews ---------​

The second unit would effectively be the "yolo" unit that's more explosive and direct to maximise opportunities in the last 40 seconds of the PP, with Nichuskin and Saad crashing/screening the net when Mackinnon/Makar/Kadri let off quick shots.

------------------- Nichuskin ---------------
Mackinnon ------- Saad ------------ Kadri
--------------------- Makar ------------------​

 

[Spilot23]

0-5 tonight.

They went away from the MacK at the bumper idea pretty quickly. I wouldn’t mind seeing them try that out a little longer.

Same here. As I said yesterday it doesn't work that well because we don't have a PPQB that can shoot the puck. When we get Makar back I think this could be lethal. Kadri was basically there for the faceoff now you would have Makar and Bura's wristers, Mack's quick release/playmaking on the bumper spot, Rants one timer and that leaves Landy for the hard-nose work and rebound which he needs to do better though.

 

[ASmileyFace]

I know PP1 hasn't been clicking worth a damn recently and most of the discussion in here is about that, but I'd like to see the second unit spend more time trying to set up a Toews bomb from the point. He's got the best shot of any of our defenders and was nearly automatic on it early this year. The second unit very rarely gets set up with any time left on the PP but if they do, I just want to see Toews rip it like he can.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Yeah I don't think Mackinnon is all that great on the powerplay for the reasons you mentioned.

It will probably never happen but I'd be tempted to put him on the second PP unit. PP2 typically get around 40 seconds at the end of the 2 minutes, and with less time and the PP time expiring there's more urgency to get shots off which would suit Mackinnon's approach better. He'd also be on against secondary PK units or tired first-unit PK'ers, and would be fresh enough to extend the shift beyond the PP to get some more scoring chances.

The setup would basically have the first unit being good at getting properly set up and being extremely mobile with Girard's agility opening up shooting lanes for multiple good shooters (Burakovsky, Rantanen, and Toews) with Landeskog in front to screen:

----------------- Landeskog ----------------
Burakovsky -------------------- Rantanen
---------- Girard ---------- Toews ---------​

The second unit would effectively be the "yolo" unit that's more explosive and direct to maximise opportunities in the last 40 seconds of the PP, with Nichuskin and Saad crashing/screening the net when Mackinnon/Makar/Kadri let off quick shots.

------------------- Nichuskin ---------------
Mackinnon ------- Saad ------------ Kadri
--------------------- Makar ------------------​

MacKinnon might have flaws, but certainly not enough to move him off the first power play. His presence alone draws eyes from the defence.

Once they get the bodies back I would just go back to the normal PP units. They were hitting at a higher clip before the injuries.

What they need is a system overhaul.

 

[PAZ]

MacKinnon might have flaws, but certainly not enough to move him off the first power play. His presence alone draws eyes from the defence.

Once they get the bodies back I would just go back to the normal PP units. They were hitting at a higher clip before the injuries.

What they need is a system overhaul.

Yup, we have the same, if not better personnel from 2 years ago where we had a top 10 powerplay.

Bennett system worked initially and we saw some great results, but teams have figured out our PP and we haven't made any meaningful adjustments for 2 years now.

 

[The Abusement Park]

I do think the recent struggles do have to do with Makar being out. But I’m still of the belief that going from Barrie to Makar was a significant downgrade at the QB position. I believe Makar will eventually become an elite PPQB, but I still think he’s having problems of knowing when to take control as he still defers a lot. Add in that Mack may have the worst wheelhouse in the league and its a bad combo.

But that also shouldn’t take away from the fact that everyone(especially on PP1) literally stands in the same spot for 2 minutes. I mean no wonder you can’t create an openings when you don’t move.

 

[Belgican]

But that also shouldn’t take away from the fact that everyone(especially on PP1) literally stands in the same spot for 2 minutes. I mean no wonder you can’t create an openings when you don’t move.

This !

PP1 lacks mobility and creativity, other teams adapted to it a long time ago. I remember some complaints already from the start of the season, but our PP was getting good results thanks to PP2 scoring some big goals.

 

[Pokecheque]

Yeah, I didn't mind the move to try MacKinnon in the bumper spot (I think I heard that it was his suggestion?) but that ain't gonna work when he's the only one moving around. Rantanen continues to pass up shot opportunities and continually puts himself in awful positions relative to the net, and Burakovsky was f***ing awful in the "MacKinnon" spot. Just not acceptable. A complete system overhaul is needed.