In midst of 2-for-20 slump, Broberg moves to QB on the top unit, Faulk slides down to shooting position in left circle; second unit driving shooter's mentality
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- The St. Louis Blues had a different look and feel to their power play on Friday at practice.
On the heels of a 2-1 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, their third in a row to drop them to 5-6-0 on the season, there were different configurations to both units:
Philip Broberg was running the first unit, with Justin Faulk moved off the quarterback position and into the left circle with the one-time shooter slot, and Jordan Kyrou moved to the bumper and out of the left circle.
"I've certainly seen a lot of growth in his game on the power play," Blues coach Drew Bannister said of Broberg. "The lack of success that we've had on the power play, we felt like we have to make a few changes. As much as simplifying it a little bit more and getting our guys to shoot more pucks. Sometimes that's the easy way to get out of things and I think as a group, I think we can be more in the mindset of shooting pucks and not looking for the perfect play."
The Blues started the season 2-for-6 and have since gone 2-for-20, including 0-for-2 on Thursday. The No. 1 unit hasn't scored since Pavel Buchnevich scored in Vegas on Oct. 11.
"'Flack' has been somebody in the past that has shown the willingness to shoot pucks," Bannister said of Faulk. "I don't think it's a simple fix. If we start to shoot the puck more, I think good things will happen. Good things will come of shooting the puck a little bit more, and I think that's a mentality we have to have overall. Whether it's on the power play or 5-on-5, I think we can do a better job of getting pucks to the net and on net."
One thing that's lacked for the Blues, who are 23rd in the league at 15.4 percent, is generating more power plays per game. Of their 11 games, they've had two or fewer in a game eight times, which means they're not drawing them as often as they'd like.
"I think it stems from not getting enough sustained offense and not tilting the ice in our favor," forward Jake Neighbours said. "When you do that, you obviously put the other team in a tough position and usually leads to calls. In saying that, there's probably ... I can think of more than 10 calls over that road trip that should have been called that weren't (but) that's just the game. Right now we're not getting the calls and that's on us to continue to work and work harder so that refs are forced to call things."
And if they're not scoring, they need to create the necessary momentum.
"I think there's times where we are generating momentum and there's times when we're not," Neighbours said. "As a power play, that's something you don't want. You want consistency, right? It's a privilege to go over the boards in that situation. You have to do a job. You have to out-compete the kill, you have to put (pucks) towards the net and you have to be direct. I think make a couple tweaks, put some shooters in some positions where they can shoot, make the hands make a little more sense. I think come out with a mindset to be more direct and just create chaos."
Having better zone entries would help, but not having Robert Thomas, out with a fractured right ankle, hurts in that regard.
St. Louis Blues defenseman Philip Broberg (6) was quarterbacking the top power play unit on Friday at practice."It's an adjustment," Neighbours said. "We've had 'Tommer' carrying it in the past three years now, right? It's a bit of an adjustment. We haven't gotten a lot of reps together, especially on the breakout side of things. It's there. I think we get in and it's kind of like that next play. We get possession and then sometimes we look to attack too quick and sometimes we just need to make the easy play and just get it set up and get it moving around. There's nothing wrong with scoring off the rush and off entries, but sometimes you just need to get set and hem them in for a bit."
The second unit, which seemingly has been more direct with the limited time its getting, has been starting off power play opportunities and deservedly so. Colton Parayko was quarterbacking it at practice Friday.
Dylan Holloway has scored each of the Blues' last two goals on the man advantage.
"We know what kind of power play we want to be on the power play, shooting the puck from everywhere and I think everyone on the power play can shoot the puck," forward Zack Bolduc said. "That's one of our strength on the power play and we have to try to use it as much as we can.
"I think we've had some good looks, but at some point, you've got to score some goals. You also have got to get momentum on your side during those power plays. We do sometimes, but I think we've got to do a better job of this."
