Please .. Get us a REAL Power-Play !!!

[Shinoix]

Obviously Therrien and Yeo know more about hockey than anyone on here.....

....yet I still scratch my head at this PP!! I don't get it.

[ron_duguays_hair]

How many deflection goals do we have this year? Hardly any. Its pathetic.

The passes around the exterior umbrella need to get quicker. The shoot decision making needs to get better. Whitney needs to be the shooter once in a while.

We are really missing Crosby but what really frustrates me is the way we can't get the puck to the net from the point.

[jmh470]

The problem is the pointmen. Whitney is more or less useless because all he does is set up Gonchar. Gonchar's shot couldn't tear a wet paper bag....because his shot would go well wide. I want:

Malkin Gonchar
Crosby Staal Recchi

Malkin's shot is the focus, because it is clearly the best on the team. This unit can rotate well because all skaters except Staal are able to play point. This will give the PKers different looks/setups instead of the current predictable system.

[BJL]

When Whitney rotates down the left wing he can't shoot - especially a one-timer as you want so badly. The biggest problem with our PP - it's wayyyy to predictable. They're forcing the puck to Gonchar and the other teams are just keying on that

[The U]

It doesnt matter which forwards are on the ice for the PP....they never touch the puck. It's point-to-point and the forwards rest their butts along the glass and watch.

[midd]

Does anyone here think the PP is too predictable?? This one reminds me of the 2001 Pens when they stuck to perimeter and no one wanted to shoot. I like the fact Leclair is in front of the net. The problem is no one is working the puck down low. No one down low cycles, so the points are forced to play tennis with each other.

[eastonpensfan]

One of the bigger problems that no one has pointed out is SHOT SELECTION!

There have been some one-timers from the half-boards, which is poor!

The reason this is bad, as you've seen the past few games, is that if/when it misses the net, the shot will clear out of the zone on its own.

This leads to a free clear for the PK and kills 15-20 seconds on the PP.

I counted this happening 3 times at least, although it could have been more.

[CKA24]

I don't think the system is the problem. It's the friggin' breakout. When the Pens have the puck in the opposing zone for more than 20 seconds at a time, we score. If we can't setup in the zone because friggin' Gonchar brings the puck up or Johnny L. dumps it in. Goalies are too good for the dump-and-suck routine that the Pens are trying. Have someone (other than the dmen) bring it deep into the zone. Lemme see... who's good at puck handling? A certain DOMINIC MOORE is good at that. So is our injured buddy Sid. Malkin could probably do it. Hell, Recchi can handle the puck and get his feet moving enough to setup the zone. Do we need to make quicker passes? Yea... Do we need more shots so as to get deflections? Yea... But the first priority is to get more than :20 out of a powerplay and not be outshooting the opponent 5-4 on our own powerplays. That's disgusting.

[HomerPenguin]

And Staal has to be involved in this on the first unit, along with Crosby and Malkin. Staal is superb at skating with the puck in traffic in 'close quarters' or in the offensive zone on the PP .. probably already the best on the team at that.

Staal got some power play time against the Islanders and looked pretty bad from what I could tell. Maybe he just had a bad game.

[TheHammer24]

What about switching sides?

Crosby in the corner can take it to the point, feed Malkin for the one-timer he beat Philadelphia with, or cycle to Staal or someone else.

Whitney now plays Left/Center Point and Gonchar is in position for the one-timer.

Crosby, being left handed, hurts this set pretty severely, but it should greatly help our one time opportunities. Just a thought

[opie22002]

Not to overlook the predictability and breakout problems with the powerplay, but I think we desperately need a right handed defenseman in the lineup to take feeds from Gonchar at the point. At least this would give the defense something they had to defend and maybe open up some room for other guys.

But the absolute most important ingredient to any powerplay is work. You have to be willing to dig the puck out of the corners and get in on the forecheck to retrieve dump-ins. I don't think this is happening consistently enough.

Finally, I'd like to see Malkin lug the puck up the ice on the powerplay rather than Gonchar. He is much quicker than Gonch and he is a much better passer. We need to establish the zone and dump-ins, again, don't work nearly enough. Anybody know if Kovalev wants to come back?

[MKRA]

My Turn. There have been many good points made.

The biggest issue with the power play. IMO, is the absence of a righthand stick. With all left-handed sticks, puck movement won't be as fast or crisp as it otherwise might be - especially passes from point to point or corner to point and vice versa. An extra split second or two allows the defensive team to be aggressive and also to get their sticks in the passing lanes. When was the power play clicking? When Letang was part of it. It hasn't been the same since his demotion.

(At times Oullete is out there. But he's a finisher, clear and simple, not a puck mover.)

Last night the Pens had a late 5-3 and then 6-4. At times they had a puck in the right corner and two left handed sticks in the crease area waiting for a pass. The goaltender will obstruct those passes. (This is where Oullete would help.)

But, mainly, having left and right sticks at the points, respectively, is conducive to good puck movement.

In the absence of a righthanded stick, player movement is going to be the answer.

[kirk]

My Turn. There have been many good points made.

The biggest issue with the power play. IMO, is the absence of a righthand stick. With all left-handed sticks, puck movement won't be as fast or crisp as it otherwise might be - especially passes from point to point or corner to point and vice versa. An extra split second or two allows the defensive team to be aggressive and also to get their sticks in the passing lanes. When was the power play clicking? When Letang was part of it. It hasn't been the same since his demotion.

(At times Oullete is out there. But he's a finisher, clear and simple, not a puck mover.)

Last night the Pens had a late 5-3 and then 6-4. At times they had a puck in the right corner and two left handed sticks in the crease area waiting for a pass. The goaltender will obstruct those passes. (This is where Oullete would help.)

But, mainly, having left and right sticks at the points, respectively, is conducive to good puck movement.

In the absence of a righthanded stick, player movement is going to be the answer.

Ouellet helps in theory, but the problem with the PP is the lack of rapid player and puck movement and the absence of a right handed shot. Ouellet helps with the latter but he is part of the issue when it comes to the former problem.

[netwolf]

I agree about the lack of a RH shot being a problem, but to me the biggest issue is the breakout. How ofter do they gain the zone with control of the puck? A majority of the time, here's what happens:

Gonchar goes back and gets the puck. As he begins to bring it up, two forwards will be at the offensive blueline, one on each side of the boards standing still. The third forward circles in the neutral zone, waiting on Gonchar. The other point main will usually be waiting at the defensive blueline, watching Gonchar skate. Once Gonchar crosses his blueline, the other defenseman follows a step or two behind him and 5-10' to Gonchar's right or left. The forward that had been circling the neutral zone will slide to one side or the other and when Gonchar hits the offensive blue line, he's the only one with any forward momentum, because the three forwards are essentially standing still. Since no one is moving, Gonchar has no passing options, so he dumps it in. And again, since no one is moving, the dump-in is easily picked up by the penalty killers or the goaltender and they get a good look at a clear.

If they're going to continue with that mess of a breakout, they'd almost be better off letting Orpik bring the puck up. At least he's got a chance of retrieving his own dump-ins. I've seen him do it at even strength.

Even with Crosby and Malkin out, there's no excuse for this team's power play to have this much trouble setting up. If they want to go dump and chase, then the dump in has to occur right after they cross center red and the forwards have to be hitting the blueline with speed instead of standing still.

[kirk]

I agree about the lack of a RH shot being a problem, but to me the biggest issue is the breakout. How ofter do they gain the zone with control of the puck? A majority of the time, here's what happens:

Gonchar goes back and gets the puck. As he begins to bring it up, two forwards will be at the offensive blueline, one on each side of the boards standing still. The third forward circles in the neutral zone, waiting on Gonchar. The other point main will usually be waiting at the defensive blueline, watching Gonchar skate. Once Gonchar crosses his blueline, the other defenseman follows a step or two behind him and 5-10' to Gonchar's right or left. The forward that had been circling the neutral zone will slide to one side or the other and when Gonchar hits the offensive blue line, he's the only one with any forward momentum, because the three forwards are essentially standing still. Since no one is moving, Gonchar has no passing options, so he dumps it in. And again, since no one is moving, the dump-in is easily picked up by the penalty killers or the goaltender and they get a good look at a clear.

If they're going to continue with that mess of a breakout, they'd almost be better off letting Orpik bring the puck up. At least he's got a chance of retrieving his own dump-ins. I've seen him do it at even strength.

Even with Crosby and Malkin out, there's no excuse for this team's power play to have this much trouble setting up. If they want to go dump and chase, then the dump in has to occur right after they cross center red and the forwards have to be hitting the blueline with speed instead of standing still.

Well stated, netwolf. For all of my complaints about the Pens PP, my focus has been on the Pens work inside the offensive zone. Your point completes the idea that the Pens PP is completely devoid of significant player movement and speed.

The breakout isn't there (a) because there's no speed through the neutral zone and (b) because it's either Gonch skating in and dishing back, Gonch dumping the puck off wing (with a slow guy like Ouellet going after it), or Gonch giving the puck to Recchi to carry through the neutral zone so he can be stood up at the blueline because he has no support (since the other forwards are standing still) for a pass or to help get a dump in.

But, that only tells why the Pens waste half of the PP. The other half is because the PP is completely predicated upon feeding Gonch for a shot from the point. There is no in zone player movement. You get guys like Ouellet and LeClair on the PP when a guy like Ekman or even Moore would help a lot more in terms of crisp passing and more rapid player movement.

When you add it all together, the fact is that the hardest working players on a Pens PP are the Pens defensemen going back to their zone to retrieve cleared pucks.

Especially with Sid and Malkin (but even with one of them), I wonder why nobody has tried predicating the PP on those two. Why not let them be the focus of the breakout? Why not let them be the focus of the Pens work in zone? I am tired of seeing a PP that is so predictable and so easily defended in its breakout. And, I am sick and tired of seeing Sid and Malkin play stationary games when the Pens finally manage to control the puck in the offensive zone.

[netwolf]

Once they actually get set up, I've seen improvement over the past few games, particularly against Boston. There was a lot more movement and guys like Malkin and Christensen were getting a lot more touches. It hasn't materialized into production yet, but I think the more attack time they have, the more productive they can be.

[eastonpensfan]

Once they actually get set up, I've seen improvement over the past few games, particularly against Boston. There was a lot more movement and guys like Malkin and Christensen were getting a lot more touches. It hasn't materialized into production yet, but I think the more attack time they have, the more productive they can be.

One thing you will enjoy about Christensen is that he is a very good player off of the half-boards on the PP. That was his "spot" in WBS, just like Ouellet has his spot. He makes a lot happen from there. If he can control from this point, it will let Malkin get open without the puck. That would be a good thing, since Crosby won't be there.

[kirk]

Once they actually get set up, I've seen improvement over the past few games, particularly against Boston. There was a lot more movement and guys like Malkin and Christensen were getting a lot more touches. It hasn't materialized into production yet, but I think the more attack time they have, the more productive they can be.

Agreed about Malkin and Christensen against Boston. After Ouellet missed a few one timers from the slot, I haven't seen much work from them since. Have they been together?

[MKRA]

I agree as far as gaining the offensive zone goes. It's been a problem. But it's not the problem it had been for a couple of years post-Kovalev. Last year, they'd dump and nobody would work hard enough to win the ensuing battle. This year, they are winning some of those battles. But let's face it, the dump, chase and possess method is only going to succeed 60% of the time at best.

Remember Kovy? About 90% success rate gaining the offensive zone all by himself. He's the best I've ever seen. Crosby/Malking would have good success -- about 75% I'd say.

But also, remember the good old days when Lemieux and company ate up about 1:30 of the power play? Crosby and Malkin basically get their minute and then they're off the ice. I want them out a bit longer.