Fixing the power play

[dudacek]

They scored 43 goals total, and ran at an 18% clip, good for 24th in the league.

It was up from the 16.6% pace from the previous year (29th) when they only scored 37.

Those numbers seem inexcusable for a team that was 4th in the league with 185 goals at 5-on-5

How do they fix it?

[dudacek]

Power play ice time:

The Sabres first PP typically ran out these 4

• Dahlin (point) 3:09 per game
• Peterka (right halfwall) 2:55
• Thompson (left halfwall) 2: 54
• Zucker (netfront) 2: 52

These guys also got significant minutes

• Tuch 2:19
• Cozens 2:18
• Quinn 2:14

These guys got some looks, mostly 2nd unit

• Power 1:26
• Benson 1:25
• Kulich 1:25
• Byram 1:08

These guys got spot duty

• Krebs 0:30
• McLeod 0:29

Goals:

• Zucker 11
• Thompson 7
• Peterka 6
• Dahlin 5
• Tuch 3
• Quinn 3
• Benson 3

Points:

• Zucker 21
• Dahlin 21
• Peterka 18
• Thompson 16
• Quinn 13
• Tuch 11
• Power 6

[Porous Five Hole]

Not running Cozens out there because of his salary or because he felt he was paid to score goals will help a ton. He was out of place at the bumper or near the point. 
 

If PP1 is Dahlin and whomever, with Tage in his office and Zucker net front is the best option. Who is on the half wall driving the PP is unknown, but it can’t be worse than Cozens. Maybe it’s McLeod? I don’t see a natural playmaker in that spot and it is why I am concerned the unit will struggle this year.  Maybe Tuch will keep it simple and Dahlin can work miracles?

[dudacek]

31 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Not running Cozens out there because of his salary or because he felt he was paid to score goals will help a ton. He was out of place at the bumper or near the point. 
 

If PP1 is Dahlin and whomever, with Tage in his office and Zucker net front is the best option. Who is on the half wall driving the PP is unknown, but it can’t be worse than Cozens. Maybe it’s McLeod? I don’t see a natural playmaker in that spot and it is why I am concerned the unit will struggle this year.  Maybe Tuch will keep it simple and Dahlin can work miracles?

I think one thing that needs to be discussed first is exactly why the PP is as bad as it is.

I'm going to start with something I discovered that was a bit unexpected: Tage Thompson kinda sucked on the PP and has for some time.

I still had this picture in my head of the guy who bombed 20 PPGs three years ago, but that guy has disappeared.

Tage dipped to 9 PPG two years ago and just 7 last year, despite buckets of ice time.

60 players had more PP goals, 35 had more shot attempts, 91 had more PP goals per 60, 114 had better PP Shooting %.

This is a guy who is top 20 in the league in both shooting percentage and total shots and leads the entire league in ES goals.

How does this happen?

I think you're on to something with the playmaking issue: they aren't get the puck to Tage in optimal ways.

[dudacek]

I think another big issue is entries.

I don't have the stats to back this up (and don't know where to get them), but it feels that the Sabres waste a lot of time regrouping after their attempts to carry the puck in get blunted.

They don't like to dump it it in, and those times that they do, they aren't very good at getting the puck back.

[Taro T]

14 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Power play ice time:

The Sabres first PP typically ran out these 4

• Dahlin (point) 3:09 per game
• Peterka (right halfwall) 2:55
• Thompson (left halfwall) 2: 54
• Zucker (netfront) 2: 52

These guys also got significant minutes

• Tuch 2:19
• Cozens 2:18
• Quinn 2:14

These guys got some looks, mostly 2nd unit

• Power 1:26
• Benson 1:25
• Kulich 1:25
• Byram 1:08

These guys got spot duty

• Krebs 0:30
• McLeod 0:29

Goals:

• Zucker 11
• Thompson 7
• Peterka 6
• Dahlin 5
• Tuch 3
• Quinn 3
• Benson 3

Points:

• Zucker 21
• Dahlin 21
• Peterka 18
• Thompson 16
• Quinn 13
• Tuch 11
• Power 6

Some thoughts:

1.  Put Byram in Peterka's spot.

2.  Not sure who to put at the bumper.  Would expect they'll give Norris the 1st crack at it (maybe they'll flip him and Byram) but personally would look at Benson 1st.  Then Norris, Kulich, Quinn, Tuch in that order.

3.  Let Power or Power and his partner (but ideally just Power) run the 2nd unit.  Have Tuch down low, and the other 3 mentioned above that don't end up the 5th pice of the 1st unit working the 2nd unit.

4.  Lose the 100' drop pass.  We get it Seth, you have no idea WHY you have them do the drop pass.  Well, other teams run about a 40' drop pass (some of the time, not friggin' always) so they can have 2 guys flying and the other 3 coming with pace ahead of them initially to give the puck carrier 4 passing options (each of which could have that player now carry the puck in, pass it to another teammate, or work the good old give'n'go) plus a dump in and carrying it in all viable.  The only one on this roster that consistently can carry the puck in is Dahlin.  He should TYPICALLY, but not always, be the guy carrying the puck into the zone.  Improve the entries and you will necessarily improve the PP even without doing any of the fancier things they SHOULD be doing.

5.  If you do have both Dahlin and Byram on the ice, consider cheating both of them in a little lower into the zone to put more pressure on the D and make any point shots more dangerous.

6.  Add significantly more player movement to the PP.  They move the puck around the exterior a lot.  (Primarlily Dahlin to Thompson and Thompson to Dahlin.)  Adding movement to where the players are will open up passing lanes and will also put pressure on the D.  Let Thompson set up in the bumper more often than they currently do.

7.  Add movement below the goalline.  It puts pressure on the D, allows players to sneak into shooting lanes, and forces the goalie to be looking behind him and he likely won't move as cleanly when the puck comes back to a scoring area.

8.  Increase the sense of urgency.  They don't make quick passes.  They allow the D to reset their formation, or never break it in the 1st place, way too often.  

9.  When there is a board battle, you HAVE to outnumber the opponent.  Sooooooo many times, the Sabres who had the extra man would actually be outnumbered on the boards.  Which, should their 1 forechecker beat BOTH defenders, gives the other skaters all sorts of clean options.  Problem is, way more often than not, the one Sabre would lose the board battle and then we'd be about 8 seconds away from Power (or somebody else) dropping the puck back into one of his own face off circles while the other 3 skaters hung out at the opposing blueline relatively motionless.  Bring 2 or even 3 guys into the board battle and then once you win the battle get into a frenzy heading towards the net with ONE guy ready to break to the far side which now should be open.  Again, you give yourself options this way.  This one was listed 9th, but it really should be higher on the list.

10.  Figure out who will be your primary PKers and DON'T have them on the top PP unit.  Have your best going against your best in practice, and don't keep doing the same low intensity things that you clearly are doing in practice.  The PK is quite passive and as a result, the PP sure does seem to be comfortable working the perimeter because that works in practices.  And if you're afraid that your PK unit will run around too much if they're pressuring in practice; well then let the top PP unit work against some of the guys that aren't regular PKers or the 2nd unit and have them working the Canes PK (high pressure, high energy, doesn't give up many chances but the ones they give up are A-1 opportunities).

Sooooo many things they can and should do differently.  Absolutely hate watching them on the PP.  And it's worse being there in the building because you can see where they all are when that idiotic drop pass happens.

[Porous Five Hole]

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

I think one thing that needs to be discussed first is exactly why the PP is as bad as it is.

I'm going to start with something I discovered that was a bit unexpected: Tage Thompson kinda sucked on the PP and has for some time.

I still had this picture in my head of the guy who bombed 20 PPGs three years ago, but that guy has disappeared.

Tage dipped to 9 PPG two years ago and just 7 last year, despite buckets of ice time.

60 players had more PP goals, 35 had more shot attempts, 91 had more PP goals per 60, 114 had better PP Shooting %.

This is a guy who is top 20 in the league in both shooting percentage and total shots and leads the entire league in ES goals.

How does this happen?

I think you're on to something with the playmaking issue: they aren't get the puck to Tage in optimal ways.

WOW. To the bolded, the same.
 Those numbers are incredible for a guy who was (tied for) third in the league in goals scored. Appert needs to find a way to make it easier for the unit to work.  Fine if Tage’s office is the decoy. But if Tage is not working and the decoy is not working, then it is not working. I guess I’m back to the drawing board and would need to think about it from scratch again. 

[Porous Five Hole]

What is the poor man’s version of Patrick Kane on this team? The guy who makes quick decisions and moves the puck before he shoots? That’s the guy who needs to join Dahls, his D partner, Zucker & Tage on PP1. Like I said, almost anyone is better than Cozens. But that is also saying very little.  

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I think another big issue is entries.

I don't have the stats to back this up (and don't know where to get them), but it feels that the Sabres waste a lot of time regrouping after their attempts to carry the puck in get blunted.

They don't like to dump it it in, and those times that they do, they aren't very good at getting the puck back.

The BIGGEST issue is entries.  They have a lot of issues, but THAT is the big one.  Everybody in the entire building knows they're going to drop it back and then will either skate it in and stay near the blue line with the puck until guys get deeper; or they'll pass it to one of the nearly stationary guys near the boards who will carry it in a few feet waiting for his teammates to get deeper so they can start cycling it and eventually get it back to Dahlin to bounce it occassionally to the right half wall but almost always to the other half wall where Thompson waits with his skates in cement.

 

11 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I think one thing that needs to be discussed first is exactly why the PP is as bad as it is.

I'm going to start with something I discovered that was a bit unexpected: Tage Thompson kinda sucked on the PP and has for some time.

I still had this picture in my head of the guy who bombed 20 PPGs three years ago, but that guy has disappeared.

Tage dipped to 9 PPG two years ago and just 7 last year, despite buckets of ice time.

60 players had more PP goals, 35 had more shot attempts, 91 had more PP goals per 60, 114 had better PP Shooting %.

This is a guy who is top 20 in the league in both shooting percentage and total shots and leads the entire league in ES goals.

How does this happen?

I think you're on to something with the playmaking issue: they aren't get the puck to Tage in optimal ways.

Thompson barely moves.  He's set up nearly exclusively for that big boomer from the circle.  And the opposing team knows it's coming.  Let him spend a significant portion of the PP at the bumper and then slide back over to HIS spot when they aren't expecting him there.  With that reach of his, he can be creative and he can dish to others that can either shoot or get him the puck back.

As stated in another post.  Absolutely HATE watching the Sabres run their PP.  It is SOOOOOOOOO friggin' obvious exactly what they're trying to do.  And the few times they do get it jumbled around, typically because Dahlin carried it in rather than dropping it back to Tage or Cozens (at least that can't happen anymore) or due to a scramble they are significantly more effective (at least by the eye test).

[Porous Five Hole]

5 minutes ago, Taro T said:

The BIGGEST issue is entries.  They have a lot of issues, but THAT is the big one.  Everybody in the entire building knows they're going to drop it back and then will either skate it in and stay near the blue line with the puck until guys get deeper; or they'll pass it to one of the nearly stationary guys near the boards who will carry it in a few feet waiting for his teammates to get deeper so they can start cycling it and eventually get it back to Dahlin to bounce it occassionally to the right half wall but almost always to the other half wall where Thompson waits with his skates in cement.

 

Thompson barely moves.  He's set up nearly exclusively for that big boomer from the circle.  And the opposing team knows it's coming.  Let him spend a significant portion of the PP at the bumper and then slide back over to HIS spot when they aren't expecting him there.  With that reach of his, he can be creative and he can dish to others that can either shoot or get him the puck back.

As stated in another post.  Absolutely HATE watching the Sabres run their PP.  It is SOOOOOOOOO friggin' obvious exactly what they're trying to do.  And the few times they do get it jumbled around, typically because Dahlin carried it in rather than dropping it back to Tage or Cozens (at least that can't happen anymore) or due to a scramble they are significantly more effective (at least by the eye test).

I have no idea how to study zone time versus PP time (to understand how much of a problem zone entries were), but I’m focusing on PP zone time. They both matter, but gaining the zone with possession doesn’t help if they still cannot score. 
 

The drop back pass for a D to rush the 5 on 4 is an industry accepted practice.   It’s frustrating to watch, but it is also how most teams run their PP. I’m not going to defend it. 
 

So who is the PP1 unit you want out there? Maybe Norris can be a new shoot first option that frees Tage to bomb from his office? One thing we know is Norris isn’t going to be creative with the puck. He’s a guy who shoots 100% of the time. 

[dudacek]

43 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

What is the poor man’s version of Patrick Kane on this team? The guy who makes quick decisions and moves the puck before he shoots? That’s the guy who needs to join Dahls, his D partner, Zucker & Tage on PP1. Like I said, almost anyone is better than Cozens. But that is also saying very little.  

@Taro T mentions it above, but both he and I have said it before: try Byram in the Peterka spot.

The fact of the matter is that the three best passers on the team are probably Dahlin, Byram and Power.

Power might be able to do it too, but he tends to slow things down and I think the Sabres PP needs to speed things up. Bo moves his feet and the puck a little faster. (Might also help with entries)

Id be curious to see how many high danger shot assists the guys not named Rasmus made to Tage.

 

[PerreaultForever]

Lack of movement, predictability, losing puck battles, and too much perimeter play. Those are the main problems. Can you fix it? Sure, but the current personnel have to be willing to play differently. Are they? Will they? I doubt it. 

The last time we had a really good PP (if I remember correctly) we had ROR on the team. This was key. Now we can argue that "face offs don't matter" but winning that offensive zone draw and getting instantly set up will increase your PP percentages without a doubt. 

We need net front presence to actually screen the goalie. Thompson's big enough to be that guy but he won't be that guy, he'll want to be a sniper so somebody else has to do that. Benson? Willing but small. Tuch? A little, but not really all that willingly physical. idk who effectively takes that role. 

idk who can drive the play down the wall but maybe considering we have 3 PP D types maybe we break the current mold and use 2 D on the points. 

With the players we have we need speed and movement. They need to practice and practice it and play much better positionally so they can blind pass and be where the puck is going to be rather than just waiting for it. Maybe that's a confidence thing but it's also a young player thing and we just won't be better if they are still filled with Cozens type hesitation. 

[DarthEbriate]

Entries and faceoff/possession at the start of the power play are the first two issues. Resolve those and they can get up to 18%.

The second is Tage. Good shot, yes. Winning possession back on the wall. Helping with entries… Not really. He needs to begin to outwork the PK in addition to out-heighting them. Do that and a good PP is possible. And Ppwer needs to own PP2. 

[steveoath]

Step 1: identify who “crafted” the power play. 
Step 2: get them a new job

 Step 3: bring in someone with a proven track record. 

Edited 11 minutes ago by steveoath