Ovechkin, Stamkos add wrinkle to power play

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2018-19 NHL season by one of four former NHL coaches and assistants who will turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher. David Marcoux, Paul MacLean, Daniel Lacroix and Curt Fraser will take turns providing insight.
In this week's edition, MacLean, former coach of the Ottawa Senators, looks at how power-play setups have changed in the past decade or so, allowing players like Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos and Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin to feast with the man-advantage.

One of the teams enjoying lucrative times entering the holiday season is the Tampa Bay Lightning. They've won seven consecutive games entering their matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
It's easy to see why.
When you take penalties against this star-studded roster, it's an elixir for disaster. The New York Rangers found that out the hard way.
The Rangers were on the wrong end of a 6-3 decision to the Lightning on Monday, partially due to a hat trick from Stamkos. Two of his three goals came on the power play when he was perched in his so-called office -- the left face-off circle -- poised to unleash his one-timer.
Stamkos has been doing that for years. He loves being anywhere near the dot and blasting away. It's become his trademark, much in the same way it has for Ovechkin, who also loves to fire away from that same spot.
I know seeing that drives fans of opposing teams nuts. They want to know how opponents can let him get away with that if they know that's what he's going to do.

In the case of Stamkos and the Lightning, the key is Nikita Kucherov.
Most teams employ a 1-3-1 structure on the power play. There are a number of variations to it, of course, but the basic premise is simple.
There is one quarterback, usually a defenseman, at the blue line.
There is a fluid line of three players even with the mid- to high-slot. The two on the flanks at the half-wall are on their off-wings, making them consistently available for one-time releases, whether they be shots or passes. The player in the middle is looked to shoot or feed the flanks, depending on the penalty-killing structure of the opponent.
The fifth player is down low and is normally relied upon to do the grunt work, usually getting the greasy goals, hacking in rebounds and screening the goalie.
When you have a polished finisher like Stamkos or Ovechkin on the prime flank, the goal is to move the puck quick enough that it ends up going to them in open space at or near the circle. It's tough to defend, even when penalty-killers start shifting in that direction.
It's almost impossible to stop the Tampa Bay power play when it's clicking because of Kucherov.
You want to focus your defensive system on Stamkos, who has six power-play goals this season? Go ahead. That creates more open space for Kucherov, who has 18 power-play points (five goals, 13 assists) this season and can shoot with the best of them.
When defenses try to anticipate a shot from the flank and go down early in an attempt to block it, that's when you see the player poised to shoot -- whether it be Kucherov or Stamkos -- pull back and try to go cross ice to the player on the other flank who will be open. There usually is an open seam there, and you can always be effective by going against the flow.
When I played in the 1980s, the most common power play structure was a 2-2-1: two defensemen at the point, two wings and a center down low.
Where it really seemed to morph into a 1-3-1 was in 2005 courtesy of the Capitals. Combining an elite shooter on one side in Ovechkin with an elite passer like Nicklas Backstrom on the other proved to be a lethal combination.

The emergence of defenseman John Carlson in the role of the quarterback at the blue line was the coup de grace. He's become an artist in his talent of feeding pucks in the perfect spot for Ovechkin to uncoil without hesitating, much in the same way that defenseman Victor Hedman can serve them up for Stamkos and Kucherov in Tampa.
The best way to stop these power plays? Don't give them uncontested entries into the defensive zone.
That is easier said than done.
What has made it difficult to stop entries was the emergence of the drop pass in the neutral zone. When defenders focus on the puck-carrier, a drop pass to a teammate at full speed often leaves opponents flat-footed as they attempt to change their angles of pursuit.
The Lightning and Capitals have become experts at that. It's that type of power-play prowess that has made them two of the more successful teams in the first third of the season.