Is the Coyotes PP actually good (or passable) ?

[RemoAZ]

Adding Kessel to the PP HAD to increase the % at least a little bit right? If not you'd have to fire everyone in the damn organization.

 

[Murf]

Many of the goals the coyotes score on the PP are not designed plays. They are opportunistic goals, unexplainable break aways and odd man rushes. Those goals juice the stats to fool you into thinking that something is working.

The design isn’t working. Once they get the zone and settle in, they all stand still and wait until they lose the puck one way or another. Then they regroup, regain the zone, drive the to the net and score. The coaching staff does not deserve credit for this.

 

[rt]

Many of the goals the coyotes score on the PP are not designed plays. They are opportunistic goals, unexplainable break aways and odd man rushes. Those goals juice the stats to fool you into thinking that something is working.

The design isn’t working. Once they get the zone and settle in, they all stand still and wait until they lose the puck one way or another. Then they regroup, regain the zone, drive the to the net and score. The coaching staff does not deserve credit for this.

Yes!

 

[cobra427]

OEL has to be better, OEL/Kessel/Keller need to carry the PP. It’s looked better lately. Above average based on stats now, could still improve more. Talent wise we aren’t top 10, many teams struggle in the PP, it’s just not easy.

 

[Vinny Boombatz]

I think rather than focusing on our # out of 31 teams, we need to look at the PP % which is 19.6

Anything over 20% is a good PP, anything over 25% is a great PP

We're neither...we're 3% better than our average over the last 5 years. It's an improvement, but nothing to write home about. The PP needs more movement and quick crisp passes. Best teams with high %'s use the cross seam pass to set up the 1-timer, apparently the only one on our team who can pull it off is Schmaltz and he isn't on the #1 PP

 

[tucknroll]

It's so cringy when they do a drop pass to a player who is still 100ft behind them.

I just shake my head when i see them do that, luckily they have Schmaltz who is very talented and able to gain the zone.

I cringe more at the possession once the offensive zone is gained. Watching OEL never want to use to back door when he has an opening to slide down and him firing the puck while standing still right from the blue line drives me crazy when he has room to walk in. Mix that with Kessel and Keller both not skating the puck towards the net because they are unable to protect it due to their sticks being on the inside (Schmaltz is almost always pushing towards the net because he's able to protect the puck and when the defenders force him he's able to curl back or get a shot/ make a move still). Just watching Keller and Kessel both constantly hanging back and pivoting because they cant take it to the net is frustrating.
I also don't think the team works the puck from low to high enough... but when they have Stepan as the net front guy who'd be sliding down to receive the pass most of the time i'm glad they don't. Plenty of other options to do it still though.

 

[AZviaNJ]

Power Play under John MacLean:
2018-2019 - 26th
2017-2018 - 29th

Power Play under Phil Housley
2019-2020 - 11th

I see a pattern.

 

[TheLegend]

Power Play under John MacLean:
2018-2019 - 26th
2017-2018 - 29th

Power Play under Phil Housley
2019-2020 - 11th

I see a pattern.

I don’t....

At least not in how we’re getting there. The PP is a Chinese fire drill right now. We’re getting success in the most obscure ways and I’m not convinced it’s sustainable.

 

[rt]

I don’t....

At least not in how we’re getting there. The PP is a Chinese fire drill right now. We’re getting success in the most obscure ways and I’m not convinced it’s sustainable.

Exactly. Perfectly said.

 

[BUX7PHX]

There were two issues that I have seen:

1. This was probably most evident in the Philadelphia game - only 2 or 3 out of the 5 players look like they are actually involved in the play to bring the puck into the zone. What I mean by that was Philly did the exact same sort of drop pass back to the trailing D, however, upon receiving the pass, every one of the players on the Flyers looked like they were capable of getting the puck on their stick. The players stayed off the blue line just a bit to allow a stride or two into the zone. I feel like when we do the drop pass, we look like only the guy with the puck and 1, maybe 2 other players are our outlets. It's like a QB that doesn't sell the pass fake after handing off - at least look like you are heavily involved, otherwise you make it easy on the opposition.

2. We alternate between just kind of going through the motions of moving the puck around, vs certain times when we look entirely locked in.

I think these probably say the same thing, but once you are in the zone, there is space to where you can lull some people too deep or pull them out to you to create that space to work with. Getting it into the zone with the 2 or 3 obvious players to bring it in is what is crushing us.

 

[Fuhrious]

The design isn’t working. Once they get the zone and settle in, they all stand still and wait until they lose the puck one way or another. Then they regroup, regain the zone, drive the to the net and score. The coaching staff does not deserve credit for this.

2. We alternate between just kind of going through the motions of moving the puck around, vs certain times when we look entirely locked in.

These perfectly describe Coyotes powerplays purely based on the eye test. Watching other teams' PP, you absolutely see and feel the cross-seam pressure and can see our PK physically exhaust as that intensity wears on for 30 seconds to a minute at a time (usually because of an immediately lost face-off to begin the PK). Once the Coyotes unit gains the zone, you see them settle in and go through the motions of somewhat lazily passing around the edges while the opponent PK hovers in their box essentially waiting for the Coyotes to actually DO something. You can visibly see this in the opponent, as they clearly appear to be expending little to no energy trying to defend.

I realize that a significant part of our problem is that the calibre of player they are targetting for those cross-seam one-timers is not even in the same universe as an Ovechkin or Laine, but you'd think Kessel would be the natural candidate given what we've got and Keller or Schmaltz would be the ones trying to set him up. That rarely seems the case, however, as the unit only appears to settle down once Kessel gets the puck on the half-board and tries to QB from there.

Until late in the 3rd and OT (when our PP just seemed out of gas and/or ideas, IMO), Keller definitely seemed to energize both the unit and himself shifting out to the point. Felt like that was an experiment worth more of a look. Regardless, unless Housley can unlock more dynamic and aggressive puck movement from his system, I think they essentially are what they are.

 

[justin323032]

Can someone explain to me what Kessel is trying to do on the PP. Unlike schmaltz, he's never looking for a shot. He gets the puck and immediately drifts down towards to corner trying to free up OEL at the point to hopefully set Keller up with a shot??? I can't remember the last time he ripped a writer from a decent angle on the PP.

 

[Vinny Boombatz]

Can someone explain to me what Kessel is trying to do on the PP. Unlike schmaltz, he's never looking for a shot. He gets the puck and immediately drifts down towards to corner trying to free up OEL at the point to hopefully set Keller up with a shot??? I can't remember the last time he ripped a writer from a decent angle on the PP.

agreed and it seems like they're waiting for the perfect shot, rather than generating shots for rebounds, which is what I'd prefer. We don't have a Laine or Ovie, and we certainly don't like to do the cross seam pass, so I think it would benefit us to create more rebound chances.

 

[Fuhrious]

My impression has been that he's wheeling the corner/half-board looking for someone to cut for a cross-seam one-timer. Unfortunately, none of his linemates appear skilled or savvy enough to make that play, and he ends up either a) getting dispossessed of the puck or b) cycling it out to the point on his side.

EDIT-Thinking on it more, invariably when Kessel starts his wheeling with the puck, a wider view of the o-zone reveals the other 4 Coyotes standing around in their "assigned" positions, ie. Two at the points, one behind the net, and one on the opposite half board. Completely static, no cutting or movement beyond subtle shifting towards Kessel's side of the ice.

 

[justin323032]

Right, but did we bring Kessel in to be the new Ribeiro? How does Keller have priority for shots on PP1? It's very clear what they do on PP2. Schmaltz either cross crease or a hard writer with Soda in front. Unfortunately PP2 only gets one opportunity since they hit the ice with <40 secs left on the clock. I honestly can't tell you what our best scoring option is on PP1 aside from Keller/Kessel rush.

 

[Fuhrious]

Right, but did we bring Kessel in to be the new Ribeiro? How does Keller have priority for shots on PP1? It's very clear what they do on PP2. Schmaltz either cross crease or a hard writer with Soda in front. Unfortunately PP2 only gets one opportunity since they hit the ice with <40 secs left on the clock. I honestly can't tell you what our best scoring option is on PP1 aside from Keller/Kessel rush.

I agree, and I think it's a problem with scheme rather than personnel. IMO, Keller would seem to be the ideal QB rotating behind the net or on the half-board looking for those cross-seam chances for Kessel. Throw in a C who can win a faceoff and clog the front of the net (Dvo?) and it would seem to be a pretty straightforward endeavor. Instead, we seem to be doing the reverse or even moving Keller out to the point to presumably QB from there...to pretty lousy effect, last night notwithstanding.

 

[XX]

They moved away from the garbage, chaotic umbrella setup and went to a true 1-3-1 like Newell (and a lot of teams) used the last few games. It has looked noticeably better, mainly because it creates more space by drawing defenders to the center player and it also allows for more consistent chances at wide rebounds.

Since Keller refuses to shoot, they moved him to the back center #1 position, the spot least likely to shoot, but the spot that handles the most passes.

The real problem is that Derek Stepan is anywhere near the PP. He contributes nothing. Garland needs more time. The coaches are slowly catching on to this.

Also, OEL lost his spot. Whether that was temporary or not, we'll see.

Worth reading again: Unique Team Traits: The Coyotes' power play used heavy rotation to keep penalty kills spinning

How the 1-3-1 Power Play Works

 

[Canis Latrans]

To be fair, since November closed out and they've gotten a bit more rest and practice time, they definitely have made improvements to the power play. Hopefully that bodes well for more improvement, and you can see it's also not so hopelessly far away from a real power play that they can't conceivably clean it up some more. One concern might be that the recent improvement, aside from some of the puck luck, is more due to defending teams not knowing what's coming because the changes are so recent, and that in a few more games it'll be figured out and we'll be back to struggling to create anything without a great individual effort.

So in general, I agree that it's trending up, but we need a larger sample size and see how they react down the line.