The New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks are putting up eye-catching power-play results, while three other NHL clubs have been noticeably struggling.
Earlier this week, I wrote about how we're seeing some record-setting penalty-killing in the NHL this season — of both the good and the bad variety.
It may seem logical that those numbers would also cause some extreme power-play stats. That's not necessarily true since every team brings its own unique special-teams profile.
But as we roll into the second month of the 2023-24 season, some power-play numbers do jump off the page.
Better Than The Best?
Last season, the Edmonton Oilers set an all-time record for power-play efficiency at 32.4 percent — beating the Montreal Canadiens' mark of 31.9 percent, which had stood since the first year that the NHL collected power-play data in 1997-98.
That was a huge deal and fuelled by an incredible season from Connor McDavid. His 71 power-play points were the most ever by any player other than Mario Lemieux, who hit 79 points twice and 80 once during his heyday between 1987 and 1996.
But this season brought us five teams who were killing penalties above the Bruins' new historical benchmark of 87.3 percent, which was reduced to three by the end of Saturday night.
At the other end of the spectrum, there were also three teams with early power plays ahead of the Oilers' 32.4 percent mark when Saturday's games concluded.
The New Jersey Devils lead the way at 38.5 percent and lead the league with 20 power-play goals in just 13 games — and that was after they went 0-for-4 in their 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on Friday.
But let's face it — with Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier on the sidelines due to injury, it would be a big surprise if the Devils could continue to be so threatening with the man advantage.
In second place, we find the New York Rangers, at 35.7 percent. They're 10-2-1 and have 15 power-play goals in 13 games. Adam Fox had points on nine of those goals before he was injured on Nov. 2, but that hasn't slowed the Blueshirts' rate of production. They've drawn just five power plays in their last three games but have scored on three of them.
With weapons like red-hot Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider up front, it's not inconceivable the Rangers could sustain their current pace.
In third place — even though the Vancouver Canucks suffered the most lopsided defeat of their season to date in Toronto on Saturday night, both their goals in the 5-2 loss came with the man advantage.
The Canucks are now 18-for-55 through 14 games, or 32.7 percent, and that keeps them above the record pace for now.
So far this season, the hockey gods have been very generous with the Canucks, and in a back-to-back situation on Sunday, they may have a chance to enhance their numbers further against the Montreal Canadiens. But after the 7-5-2 Habs took down the Boston Bruins in overtime on Saturday, they're a confident group that must not be taken lightly — and is operating with a very respectable 22-percent power play themselves.
The Worst of the Worst?
Which teams have had the most ineffective power plays? Only three have finished in single digits since the NHL started collecting the stats.
The 2020-21 Anaheim Ducks hold the record for futility from that all-divisional 56-game season: just 11 power-play goals all year, or an 8.9 percent success rate.
Over an 82-game season, the worst marks were the 1997-98 Tampa Bay Lightning with 33 power-play goals. That was a 9.4-percent conversion rate as the Dead Puck Era started to take hold, and league-wide power-play success fell to an all-time low of 15.08 percent.
It wasn't much better in the 2000-01 season, 16.64 percent, when the brand-new Minnesota Wild scored 36 power-play goals in their inaugural season for a success rate of 9.6 percent.
By the time the Vegas Golden Knights came along 18 years later, the new expansion rules gave them a chance to be a power-play threat right from Day 1. They scored 52 goals with the man advantage in their incredible debut season, for a conversation rate of 21.0 percent.
In 2021-22, the Seattle Kraken managed a respectable power-play rate of 14.6 percent. But because the number of man-advantage opportunities has been consistently diminishing before starting to tick back up in the last couple of years, the Kraken actually scored just 32 power-play goals in their first year — four fewer than the 2000-01 Wild.
This year, with nearly 17 percent of the 2023-24 schedule completed, three teams are still at single digits in power-play success rates. All are flirting with record lows but showing signs that there could be hope on the horizon.
First up, the Philadelphia Flyers. They've gone seven games without a power-play goal. And while they draw a decent number of penalties, at 4-for-52 so far this year, they're clicking at a grim 7.7 percent.
The Flyers are certainly a team in transition at the moment. They're actually in the middle of the pack in scoring overall. Six players are into double digits in points, led by a resurgent Travis Sanheim with 14. Travis Konecny is up to nine goals, and thirtysomethings Cam Atkinson and Sean Couturier have returned to be useful offensive contributors after missing all of the 2022-23 season. It would be remarkable if one could get back to his old form; it's incredible that both players have.
Consistency is still an issue, but finishing out a western road trip with multi-goal wins over the Ducks and Kings should be something to build off. The Flyers have some solid offensive talent. Once the power play clicks, it should start having success.
Also nursing a 7.7-percent power play: the St. Louis Blues. But things took a turn for the better in Colorado on Saturday when St. Louis snapped a seven-game power-play drought with a pair of third-period tallies on their way to an 8-2 dusting of the Avalanche.
Now with a 7-5-1 record, the Blues are in a wild-card spot and keeping pace in the very tight Central Division — even though their special teams have been a disaster.
St. Louis is 23rd on the penalty kill, at 75 percent. And before getting those two goals in Colorado, they'd scored just once on the power play all season.
They came into Saturday's action with an unfathomable success rate of 2.9 percent. Now, at 3-for-39, they're up to merely awful, matching the Flyers at 7.7 percent.
Saturday's eight goals, and especially the power-play tallies from Pavel Buchnevich and Brayden Schenn, should give the Blues some offensive confidence, which will lead to more pucks finding the back of the net.
Finally, there's another team with cause for hope: the Washington Capitals. But even as they've started to get their season on track, they're 3-for-38 after their 4-1 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday and have gone six games without a power-play goal.
Again, this seems unsustainable. Since coming into the NHL in 2005, Alex Ovechkin has been in a class of his own with the man advantage, and it's not close. He has 300 power-play goals in his career — and Steven Stamkos is second over the same timeframe, at 196.
Ovechkin has had slow starts to seasons before and doubled his output for the year with a two-goal night against the Islanders on Saturday. That seems promising.
The Caps still sit 31st in overall offense, averaging just 2.31 goals per game. But they seem to be trending back to the norm, with 24 in their last eight games, an even 3.00.
Before too long, the power play should also get cooking.
