What’s causing the Leafs’ power play struggles?
The Toronto Maple Leafs would be in a Stanley Cup Playoff spot if the season ended today, but after 13 games, there’s plenty for head coach Craig Berube’s team to work on.
While there have been bright spots, and a formidable comeback from 3–0 after two periods to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier in the week, there have also been hiccups, in particular, on the man advantage, which ranks 30th in the NHL at 12.1%
Ahead of their Wednesday night clash against the Utah Mammoth, video coach Steve Peters joined Daily Faceoff Live with Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton to break down the power-play issues.
Hutton: When I talk about execution, I talk about their power play, which really isn’t making up any ground for a team that is known for scoring. Obviously, they’ve lost a player with Mitch Marner, who is a 100-point guy, but their power play ranks 30th in the NHL right now. So, whatever ground they’re losing five on five, how do they make it back up on the power play here?
Peters: This is an area they have to be better at, and unfortunately for them, William Nylander missed three games, and Morgan Rielly missed one, so you’re missing the core of your top unit. But there are a lot of things going wrong with this power play as well. They are good enough that they should be able to make up the play five-on-five on their power play, and this team is just too good on the power play to let that happen.
Mitch Marner got 33 power-play points last year and 61% of the power-play goals. He was in on shots from the points, and he was able to make those quick plays at the net.
Execution has been horrific. They’re not making the plays they should. They’re trying to make plays through sticks, and they’re not connecting on those. And again, you’re looking for plays trying to get through three sticks, looking for that perfect play. They’ve got to get more shots on net than they’re getting right now, and again, more shots into sticks, not getting pucks through.
They’re going to get better. The shooting percentage is poor. Matthew Knies is down, John Tavares is down, and Auston Matthews is down. All of them are down on their power play, shooting, and it’s going to get better. They’re getting opportunities… It’s going to get better for Toronto; the players are just too good. When everybody is healthy and used to each other, it will improve. Now, will it be as good as it was with Marner on the top? Gosh, I don’t know, and he’s absolutely elite at delivering the puck from the top of the zone. So it’s going to get better. How much better is the question?
You can catch the full film breakdown and discussion here…