Washington Capitals: Winning with Power I

Since we have a little time on our hands between now and the next time the Washington Capitals take the ice, we thought we would spend the time by taking a look at what we once referred to as “The National Mall Power Play.”  It has been efficient, to say the least, in the early going.  And, it is ruthless in taking advantage of openings in opponent’s penalty killing structure.  How much?  We will take a look at the successful power plays to date, starting with Game 1 in Chicago…

Here we pick things up 27 seconds into the Caps’ first power play of the season.  What you see is that the Blackhawks are in a perfect four-square defensive position with Mike Green (52) holding the puck at the top of the 1-3-1 formation…

In the second frame, Green moves the puck to Nicklas Backstrom (19) at the right wing wall.  Backstrom has his head up looking first through the horizontal axis of the formation – Troy Brouwer in the middle and Alex Ovechkin at the far side.  Duncan Keith (2) has his stick in a position to challenge a pass to Brouwer, while Joakim Nordstrom (42) has dropped down to challenge a through-pass to Ovechkin, who has moved below the face-off dot.  As innocuous as this looks from the defensive side, the breakdown is already in motion.  Why?  Because what is going on in the far side of the formation with Nordstrom and defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson (4).  And what is that?...

Backstrom moved the puck down to Mikhail Grabovski at the goal line extended to goalie Corey Crawford’s left.  And this is where the breakdown on the far side of the formation is now fatal.  Hjalmarsson has backed down almost to the goal line to Crawford’s right.  He cannot defend anything in front of him easily.  Nordstrom’s decision to collapse on Troy Brouwer in the middle proves even more problematic, especially since Marcus Kruger (16) is in a position to defend on Brouwer’s stick side.  Chicago is left with two defenders on Brouwer, Duncan Keith unable to pivot to Grabovski (remember, he had his stick in the lane for a pass to Brouwer; he has to bring his body and stick all the way around to defend Grabovski), and Hjalmarsson…well, he’s in a no-man’s land…

By the time Grabovski’s pass through the crease gets to Ovechkin (a lane having opened because of decisions made by Hjalmarsson and Nordstrom on the far side of the play).  Nordstrom has collapsed on Brouwer, and Hjalmarsson has too much space to cover to deny Ovechkin the open shooting angle…

The entire sequence took eight seconds.  Eight seconds to break down what was a solid four-square defense into two defenders out of position and two others helpless to cover up for that problem.

*****

Let’s go to the second Capitals power play scored in this game.  This sequence starts with a faceoff in the Chicago zone between Nicklas Backstrom and Jonathan Toews 54 seconds into the third period.  Backstrom wins the faceoff.  Not, perhaps, all that unusual, but it is what happens just after the faceoff that will pose a problem for the Blackhawks.  Toews (19 in black) cannot get past Backstrom (19 in red) to challenge Alex Ovechkin at the left point.  That task then falls to Marian Hossa (81), who is charging out from the hash marks at the edge of the left wing circle…

As Ovechkin winds to take a slap shot, Hossa is still trying to close the distance, Toews is still tangled up with Backstrom.  What this means is that defenseman Johnny Oduya (27) has the right side of the ice to himself to defend as Mikhail Grabovski spins into the slot and Mike Green slides over to the right point…

Hossa having bitten on Ovechkin showing “slap shot,” Ovechkin slides the puck over to Green on the right point.  Green has nothing but clean ice in front of him, three of the four defenders to the far side of the left wing hash marks and the other defender (Oduya) occupied by Grabovski in front…

Oduya has a choice to make.  Allow Green to take a free windup and shot at the Chicago net, tying up Grabovski should any rebound occur, or try to close the angle on Green to either block a shot or force Green to shoot wide.  Oduya chooses the latter, but Green had the advantage of so much space to receive and tee up a shot. What complicates the problem for the Blackhawks is that not one, but two Capitals have inside position on Blackhawk defenders, Grabovski on Brent Seabrook (7), who has tried to slip in behind Oduya to defend Grabovski, and Troy Brouwer (20) on Toews.  The Caps not only have an open shot from the point, they have two players in position to redirect the shot unless Oduya can block the drive…

It is Grabovski who manages to get just enough of Green’s drive to redirect it past goalie Corey Crawford.  The entire sequence took five seconds…

*****

The third power play goal for the Caps in this game took longer to unfold.  Play started with a faceoff at the 4:21 mark, the Capitals getting shot attempts from Alex Ovechkin (on goal) and Nicklas Backstrom (blocked) as part of the sequence.  The puck worked its way to Backstrom (19) on the right wing wall.  The Blackhawks are in solid defensive position.  Joakim Nordstrom has a stick in position to challenge Troy Brouwer (20) in the middle, Duncan Keith (2) has a stick in position to challenge a pass to Mikhail Grabovski (84) along the goal line extended.  Marcus Kruger (16) has backside coverage if Backstrom tries to slid a pass across ice to Alex Ovechkin (8).  So far, so good…

Even with the coverages, Backstrom had options.  He found Grabovski down low, but even here the Blackhawks look to be in decent shape.  Keith has Grabovski covered for anything but a pass back to Backstrom; Nordstrom is in position to tie up Brouwer’s stick, and there is no lane to thread a pass to Ovechkin at the left wing faceoff dot.  But things are not what they seem, either…

The puck comes back to Backstrom, and now Chicago has a problem.  All four defenders are at or below the hash marks, giving Backstrom a lot of free ice to survey or into which he can skate to force a response on his own...

Backstrom steps up into the open space at the top of the right wing circle.  Nordstrom inches out for the Blackhawks.  Kruger is defending a pass to Ovechkin, who has his stick cocked for a one-timer.  The Blackhawks cannot cover everyone, though, and there is Mike Green (52) at the top of the formation with all that clear white ice in front of him…

Mike Green has a clear shooting lane with the two defenders on top too deep and too wide to challenge a shot.  And everyone is looking at him…Backstrom, Ovechkin, Brouwer… Kruger, Nordstrom… and Duncan Keith (2).  It is Keith “peeking into the backfield” like a defensive back in football that allows Grabovski (84) to make a bee-line for the net and get inside position as Green is winding up and firing...

Keith has ceded inside position to Grabovski, who has an unencumbered opportunity to make use of his stick to redirect the puck past goalie Corey Crawford.  The whole sequence takes ten seconds…

The examples differ.  One sequence starts with Mike Green at the top of the 1-3-1 power play formation, another with a faceoff, and the last with Nicklas Backstrom set up along the right wing wall.  But they are similar in that they force the Blackhawks into making decisions that unwind their defensive structure.  In the first, the weak-side defenders end up making poor decisions – Joakim Nordstrom essentially double teaming Troy Brouwer, and Niklas Hjalmarsson getting caught deep giving Alex Ovechkin a clean shooting lane.  In the second, Johnny Oduya does not make a bad decision as much as he picks the lesser of two difficult ones.  In the third, Duncan Keith gets caught peeking to allow Mikhail Grabovski a lane to dart to the net and get inside position for a redirect.

In all three examples the decisions were made in the blink of an eye (the combined elapsed time of the three examples is 23 seconds of clock time), the Caps using the vision and hands of Niklas Backstrom, the shooting talent of Mike Green and Alex Ovechkin to direct pucks on net, and the opportunism of Mikhail Grabovski to put himself in a position to create havoc in front of the goaltender.  When it works, it forces and takes advantage of breakdowns that compel defenders to make a decision in a split-second.  If it is the wrong one, or one made hesitantly, the goalie is left in a difficult position. 

(images: screen captures from NBCSN broadcast/NHL.com)