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