The Ottawa Senators powerplay, in a word: unimaginative. In a sentence: a frustrating exercise in futile repetition and static formation. It’s the league’s second worst powerplay – barely outpacing the Calgary Flames by 0.8% (Oh, hi Dave Cameron!) – notching just 5 goals in 51 attempts. By anyone standards it’s bad, but to perform this poorly under a coach known for his ingenuity with the man advantage is particularly concerning. That said, there are a couple solutions that would be fairly easy to implement and would result in a better powerplay.
Gain the zone
If there was one thing that could be fixed about the Ottawa Senators it would be their ability to gain the zone with speed. Consistently the Senators initiate their breakout with Erik Karlsson, Cody Ceci, or Mike Hoffman carrying the puck through the neutral zone before dishing it off to a stationary forward waiting at the blue line.
The problem is that more often than not that forward is closed down quickly by the defence, and the puck is knocked out of the zone and the Sens either find themselves offside or regrouping 200 feet from the opposition’s goal. Neither is ideal.
So what’s the solution? Well the Sens have had some success with the drop pass to Karlsson in the past, but that has also been the cause of more than one Jason Spezza induced nightmare. The best suggestion would be to continue to use the width of the ice, but bring the receiving forwards back. The powerplay is not short on speed, Hoffman, Ryan Dzingel, Karlsson, and even Zack Smith are capable skaters who can attack the blue line and drive back defenders. Passing to players in stride forces the defence to respect their pace, and forces them to keep a bigger gap. At the end of the day it’s about entering the zone with speed, with you’re dumping and chasing, or carrying it over the line, the Sens can’t continue to stand on the blue line waiting a telegraphed pass.
Give Chris Wideman the point
In the game against the Nashville Predators there were very, very few positives to take. One that could be noted was how effective Chris Wideman was on the powerplay. He was strong on the point, allowed Ottawa to settle into a 1-3-1 formation, and was effective at getting pucks through traffic. All things you want from you point player in a 1-3-1 system, albeit at sub-Erik Karlsson level, so why give Wideman the point? So you can optimize how best to use Karlsson.
When Wideman was playing the point on those powerplays, Karlsson was in the slot. I think Guy Boucher and Marc Crawford are on the right track when it comes to moving Karlsson. I don’t think the slot is the place to play to him.
The best powerplays in the league have one thing in common: their best playmaker is on the wall. Think of Nicklas Backstrom, and Joe Thornton.
When their teams are on the powerplays they dominate the right wall. They look to set up across-crease pass, or a lethal one-timer. The Senators may not have Alex Ovechkin, but they do have Mike Hoffman, and Kyle Turris. Those two have proven themselves capable of hitting one-timers from the top of the left circle. By playing Wideman at the point, you allow you’re most creative player to make creative plays.
Volume, volume, volume
The final issue I have with the Senators powerplay is that it is struggles to get shots through. The reason this formation is so effective on the man advantage is because it always provides a shooting lane. To some degree that is true for the Senators. Their 93.94 CF/60 on the powerplay ranks 9th in the league, however their 65.69 FF/60 ranks 17th. It’s a large part of the reason their powerplay boasts one of the worst corsi shooting percentages in the league. Until the Senators find a way to get attempts through traffic, they’ will struggle on the man advantage.
Currently watching an Ottawa Senators powerplay seems like a viable torture technique for paramilitary groups around the world. It’s excruciating to watch, but there is hope. This team has the personnel to deploy a dangerous special teams unit. Now they just need to adjust their systems to turn that vision into reality.
Stats from Corsica.Hockey
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