The Vancouver Canucks power play is broken and it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
They have one of the league’s best power-play defencemen in Quinn Hughes, along with a number of skilled forwards who have excelled on the power play in the past, like J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson, and Brock Boeser.
There’s also familiarity — this is the sixth season that foursome has been together.
And yet, it’s costing them games.
The Canucks rank 20th in power-play percentage (17.2%) so far this season, but that stat actually flatters them.
With five goals-for and two against on the power play, the Canucks actually have the fourth-worst power play goal differential in the NHL this season.
Vancouver generated just three shots on goal in eight minutes of power play time on Wednesday. Not only did they not score, they gave up a shorthanded goal after a J.T. Miller giveaway at the New Jersey blue line.
“It’s a game you flush down the toilet,” head coach Rick Tocchet said about the Canucks’ 6-0 loss, but he could have described his team’s power play the same way.
So what on Earth is going on?
“We’re not shooting when we’re supposed to shoot. And we’re shooting when we [shouldn’t]. We’re slowing the power play down… It’s a frustrating thing for us right now,” said Tocchet. “And it’s a mental aspect right now. We have to keep working at it. We’re going to have to work with the mind more than the physical.”
While the Canucks are just nine games into the season, this isn’t just a blip anymore.
Vancouver had the 24th-ranked power play in the NHL after February 1 last regular season. They then ranked 12th out of 16 playoff teams in the postseason.
Tocchet hinted that changes would be coming to the power play after Monday’s game, but he kept to the status quo for Wednesday. Bet on some more drastic moves to be made before Saturday’s game in San Jose.
At best, the Canucks have become predictable with the man advantage. But lately, they’ve even had trouble setting up in the offensive zone.
Once the focal point of PP1, Elias Pettersson is now a non-factor. Can you remember the last time he connected on a one-timer from his spot on the right side? Pettersson has just three power-play shots in 33:11 of power-play ice time.
They haven’t had anyone truly excel in the bumper spot since Bo Horvat left town.
We’ll see what Tocchet and the coaching staff have up their sleeves for Friday’s practice, but they’ll surely look to simplify things.
Will that come with personnel changes, too? Stay tuned.