PITTSBURGH — When the dust finally settled on the Penguins' 2021-22 season, after a frustrating batch of injuries contributed to another first-round loss and questions persisted about whether the core of the team would remain intact, assistant coach Todd Reirden popped open the hood of Pittsburgh's power play to take an extensive look.
What Reirden found was something of a mystery. Like most teams, the Penguins were helped plenty by the success of scoring on the power play, producing a 24-8-7 record when getting at least one man-advantage goal and going 22-17-4 when they did not.
But the diagnosis got complicated when Reirden essentially encountered a sound process ... but one that did not yield regular results, the Penguins going 0 for 25, 1 for 22 and 2 for 31 during various stretches of futility. A year after finishing fourth in the NHL with a conversion rate of 23.7% in 2020-21, the Penguins dropped to 19th at 20.2%.
Reirden's findings did not net an overhaul of the group. In fact, the entire top unit remains intact, along with four of five on the second grouping. The only new face is Jeff Petry. The impetus became nips and tucks to more consistently convert the scoring chances the Penguins were creating.
"For us, it was changing a few things scheme-wise, then being able to convert in those situations a little bit more consistently than we had," Reirden said. "But we still accomplished a lot of good things last year with that number being that high."
The productivity of the power play matters on every NHL team, but especially in Pittsburgh, where the Penguins have long been built on star power. This group is obviously capable of creating some dazzling sequences, but they're also well-served sometimes to stop screwing around and just shoot the darned thing.
Finding beauty in simplicity was an answer Sidney Crosby gave when I asked what he thought the Penguins power play should look like when it's at its best. It's certainly different than a couple years ago, when Phil Kessel manned the left circle and Patric Hornqvist agitated opposing goaltenders, but it's no less effective.
Or shouldn't be, anyway.
"When we're going, we're usually shooting the puck," Crosby said. "It's not something that you're doing recklessly, but we're attacking. We're moving our feet. You'll see guys in different spots; it won't be static or stagnant. It's gonna be more free-flowing, putting constant pressure [on the opposing team] and seeing us work hard to get pucks back when we turn 'em over."
Taking our own look under the hood, the Penguins really did do a decent job on the power play last season. While finishing low in conversion rate, Pittsburgh was third in scoring chances (64.4) generated per 60 minutes of ice time, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Penguins were fourth in high-danger chances (26.36) and third in expected goals for at 56.91.
Those numbers crushed what the Penguins produced over the previous three years combined, when Pittsburgh finished fourth, 16th and fifth in power-play success. Most notable might be the Penguins' number of shot attempts (103.49) per 60 minutes in 2021-22 (ranking ninth) versus what that unit achieved over the previous three (91.1, 20th).
"A lot of puck movement," Kris Letang said when I asked him to describe the power play's identity. "Fast puck movement. Shooting mentality. On our toes. That's what we do best. Obviously with the quality of players we have, we want to execute every time we go over the boards."
The downside of the Penguins' plan has been the same for years. While these guys are capable of creating highlights with the snap of a finger, they're also susceptible to allowing the other team far too much in the way of goals and chances because of risk-taking and occasional carelessness with the puck.
In 2021-22, the Penguins were last in the NHL by allowing 10.48 scoring chances against per 60 minutes of power play ice time. They also coughed up eight short-handed goals, a total eclipsed by just seven teams.
"The power play is a big factor in winning hockey games," Crosby said. "More than just scoring goals, it's making sure we don't give teams momentum by giving up goals while on the power play."
That sort of stuff can be coached. When Reirden did his deep dive on the group's successes and failures from last season, he spent a lot of time focusing on areas such as faceoffs, zone entries and personnel. Although he'd probably divulge his social security number before specifics on these things, head coach Mike Sullivan did say some adjustments have been made to the process.
At the same time, the Penguins really shouldn't change much. Sure, they struggled some through the first 34 games without Evgeni Malkin, clicking at 17.5% (22nd). That number went up to 21.9% (15th) over the final 48 contests once Malkin returned.
The Penguins also need to ensure they move their feet, regroup quickly and remember defensive responsibilities. But the truest element of their power play last season might've really been randomness. How the group produced plenty but saw its shooting percentage dip to 12.74% (22nd), down from 15.99 (fourth) the three years prior.
"We believe in the group that we have," Sullivan said. "We think these guys are capable of being one of the top power plays in the league. They've shown it for a long period of time. We're just going to continue to stick with the process and add some of the tweaks that we talked about this summer.
"From a process standpoint, there was a lot to like about the power play last year. But at the end of the day, ultimately the most important statistic is goals. We're hopeful that we can do a better job finishing this year."
