The Inept Power Play

[HCH]

Mods.. please feel free to merge with a previous thread.

The PP failed once again in the Pittsburgh game and I think the PP needs to be looked at from every angle including strategy and personnel.

Everyone, including me, loves the way Brendan Gallagher plays the game but the question is does he belong on the power play. Despite having the 3rd most PP ice time among forwards, Gallagher has only 2 points.

Last year he was also 3rd in PP time among forwards by a significant margin over the players in 4th and 5th, yet he still had fewer points than either of those players.

He doesn't quite have the puck handling skills to be a setup guy, he is a little too small to provide an effective screen and his shot isn't in the elite category. He does work hard and is a complete pest but sooner or later those attributes have to translate into results.

I am not saying that Gallagher is the reason that the PP is failing but if you look at the results, he isn't adding to its success either.

I would think that by now the team would be looking seriously at all of the options available to them. It makes me wonder if Gallagher's position on the PP isn't in jeopardy

Click to read more...

 

[Habsfan2731]

Clement Jodoin & Dan Lacroix needs to go? They're trying the same thing over & over again, like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, our PP sucks, no creativity, can barely enter the zone.

 

[Sterling Archer]

PP needs more DD

 

[Garnet]

Max needs to get back into the high slot. Our best scoring and standing with if ass against the board. Opens up the down low play

 

[ZUKI]

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1754643

 

[Baruch]

1st PP problem: No main half-wall guy (Galchenyuk isn't yet set to do it, he'll be in 1-2 years).
2nd PP problem: DD+Pleks doesn't work on PP. It does work in 5vs5, but not on the PP where you need to win dump ins / board battles.

Eller/Sekac need PP time. They are possession forwards. Successful PP = Offensive possession. Eller/Sekac are 6'2'' and have physical ability to impose themselves on the PP.

Subban needs to be on the left point. Period.

 

[shawdowmaker]

Key players make too many turnovers at key moments of the PP. Patches can t complete a past. Plekanec can t and won t fight to keep a puck alive or win a battle along the boards. Markov and Subban are ok need a big forward in front of the goalie.

 

[CHwest]

PP needs more DD

X2 Two years of nothing, he is due. No he's over due, best thing to do when something is not working is to keep doing it. Sooner or later your luck will change.

 

[Bob b smith]

Power Play 101

Line 1: Big Guy is the Screen (Not Gallagher, Plekanec, DD, etc...)
Line 2: Big Guy is the Screen (Not Gallagher, Plekanec, DD, etc...)

Choices
1. Sekac
2. Eller
3. Prust
4. Trade for another 6'2+

PS: Don't use Max or Galchenyuk as screen or you're just displacing the problem elsewhere...

 

[AntonCH]

PP started failing before Gallant's departure last year
There are other forces at play here........................

Can it actually be too much DD on the PP?

 

[Bob b smith]

PP started failing before Gallant's departure last year
There are other forces at play here........................

Can it actually be too much DD on the PP?

It's not too much DD only... It's too much smallness down low (DD, Gallagher, Plekanec, etc...) . Too small to screen the goalie, too small to have a long stick to pick up rebounds, too small to fight and win battles for the puck behind the net...

Ideally we need someone like Wayne Simmonds there, if not anyone else over 6'2 will do... PPs with Andrighetto, DD and Plex are pure folly. We're not playing Pee Wee...

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

1st PP
Pacs Chucky Sekac
Markov Subban

2nd PP
Eller Pleks PAP
Beaulieu Gonchar

DD is too small to screen and can't shoot
Gally is too small to screen and can't pass

Get size to the front that doesn't have to be on top of the goalie to screen, work more plays down low to make the PKers move off the points

Stop being fancy and get pucks on net with traffic - you're banned from the PP for 5 games if you try a blind behind the back pass or go offsides on the zonal entry

Any questions??

 

[Rosso Scuderia]

Anyone who is in charge should be in charge of our PP should be fired.

At the beginning of the season, there was already a problem, MT said back then it wasn't a concern. Now, nothing much has changed. I can't understand how a PP is so bad when you have Subban who has a letal shot and Markov who is general on the PP at the point. Not only we don't score on the PP but we are actually losing momentum because of it.

Desharnais and Gallagher should make room for Eller and Sekac. It's ridiculous that MT kept the same 6 players for half a season where the PP was a disaster.

Sekac has as many goals as DD on the PP despite "never" playing on the PP. Same goes with Eller and Gallagher.. with 0.

 

[Andy]

1. The strategy and system is horrible, but apparently the coaching staff is irreproachable because of the team's record, so let's continue closing our eyes and blocking our ears.

2a. The first wave should be Plekanec-Pacioretty-Galchenyuk as the forward group.

or
2b. Eller and Sekac should each be on diff waves in order to battles for loose pucks in front of the net and the corners, as well as to screen the goalie.


Why the team doesn't have set powerplay lines in the last 3 years is beyond me. I don't understand the obsession of using the ES lines.

 

[crystal ball]

You know who's tall and has a big ass? Malhotra. Added bonus: he can also win the crucial o-zone draws the Habs almost always lose when starting the PP. How about MM wins the draw and goes to the net as a screen? Then you have possession forwards like Eller, Sekac, Galchenyuk and Pacioretty mixing and matching up front. Subban and Markov on the points for the first wave and you shouldn't need a second one.

 

[Odelein24]

1st PP
Pacs Chucky Sekac
Markov Subban

2nd PP
Eller Pleks PAP
Beaulieu Gonchar

DD is too small to screen and can't shoot
Gally is too small to screen and can't pass

Get size to the front that doesn't have to be on top of the goalie to screen, work more plays down low to make the PKers move off the points

Stop being fancy and get pucks on net with traffic - you're banned from the PP for 5 games if you try a blind behind the back pass or go offsides on the zonal entry

Any questions??

I like seeing Eller/Sekac on each wave. They're both big guys who are strong along the boards. I'm
not too sure about Eller's deflection talents but Sekac looks like a natural for the net presence position.

 

[thewall]

zone entry id the biggest problem.. say what u want but guys like Kovalev and Vanek were good at it.. i agree about the faceoff wins.. or lack of. we seem to always lose the draw to start the pp.. then we ha e trouble establishing zone time... we are missing a lefty one timer presence (kovalev and cammalleri were great)

let pk shoot away and jump on the rebounds.. we play too much on the perimeter

 

[HabsDieHard*]

Anyone else have to just laugh at Therriens' "changes" on the power play last night?

Which were to just swap Pacioretty and Andrighetto.

Yup, that's the problem, Andrighetto and Pacioretty are on the wrong lines!

Definitely promote Desharnais to #1 PP duties! Great coaching.

What a joke this team would be without Price saving their ***** night after night.

Joke coaching staff derailing a great season with the best goalie in the league in his prime.

 

[HabsDieHard*]

Eller is great on faceoffs, has good size, speed and skill.

Makes sense to give him the last 15-20 seconds of every PP right?

What a joke.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

zone entry id the biggest problem.. say what u want but guys like Kovalev and Vanek were good at it.. i agree about the faceoff wins.. or lack of. we seem to always lose the draw to start the pp.. then we ha e trouble establishing zone time... we are missing a lefty one timer presence (kovalev and cammalleri were great)

let pk shoot away and jump on the rebounds.. we play too much on the perimeter

This is the correct assessment of the problems afflicting this power play. We spend more than half of each power play just trying to gain entry into the offensive zone. Since Kovalev's decline, and except for a brief period when Gomez was fulfilling this function, the team has lacked an elite puck transporter who could consistently establish possession in the offensive zone. Many thought Subban was the answer, but it must be clear to everybody by now that he lacks the skating speed to effect this vital role. Until the team drafts or acquires a player possessing this skill set, talk about net presence, etc., will remain irrelevant.

 

[FireBurningBin]

Eller should play a holmstrom role on the first wave, Sekac on the second.

Plekanec, Galchenyuk, PA, and Pacioretty are our best puck moving forwards.

 

[JLP]

1. The Inept Power play
2. The Anemic Power Play
3. The Feckless Power Play

 

[plodder]

the Bruins won a Stanley Cup without a powerplay. All they had was a relentless team with Outstanding goaltending. sound familiar

 

[Non Player Canadiens]

the PP is a disaster.

1. they have trouble entering the zone. half the time dumping it in ends in a quick clear going the other way

2. when they do enter the zone, they don't shoot. they just pass it around until someone bobbles it.

very frustrating!

 

[Brainiac]

Max needs to get back into the high slot. Our best scoring and standing with if ass against the board. Opens up the down low play

That made me laugh way more than reasonable.