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The biggest wild card of the playoffs

April 12, 2018, 11:59 AM ET [14 Comments]
Paul Berthelot
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Elliotte Friedman seems to think it could be the Blue Jackets power play. A power play that finished 25th in the league, clicking at just 17.2%, lowest among all playoff teams. In 31 Thoughts Friedman had quotes from two scouts who couldn’t understand why the Jackets power play was a poor as it was.

26. No. 1 wild card among Eastern Conference playoff teams? Probably Columbus’s power play, which ranked 25th. “I have no idea why it’s as bad as it is,” one scout said. “It has all the personnel and elements you need.”

“They could win the conference if it ever gets going,” said another.


With a top unit of Artemi Panarin, Cam Atkinson, Alexander Wennberg, Nick Foligno and one of Seth Jones or Zach Werenski, it’s a wonder why this team can’t score more with the man advantage. It’s not even like they were unlucky, they scored 39 goals, and per Corsica they were only expected to score 39.66. Their 39 goals ranked 28th in the league and their 39.66 were the lowest expected of any team. So the teams who scored fewer goals than Columbus, like an Edmonton were actually unlucky.

It’s funny the Jackets are an extremely good 5 on 5 team, and everything they do well at 5 on 5 evaporates when they have an extra player. This team led the league in 5 on 5 shots. They finished last in power play shots with 308. At 5 on 5 the Jackets get themselves into the slot and get plenty of high danger chances. On the power play the Jackets had just 99 HD chances, the only team not to crack 100.

Considering the skill the Jackets have it’s not a personnel issue. It’s a systems issue. They don’t seem to be encouraged on the power play to let shots fly like they do at 5 on 5. They look for the perfect pass, rather than get bodies to the net and take shots. The power play was better in the last 10 games, scoring eight goals, but the same problems still existed. They weren’t getting many scoring chances; they had just five HD chances in their last 10, lowest in the league.

At this time of the year you are not changing the system. You have hope something clicks or they get lucky like we saw over the last 10 games. The Jackets led the league with a 23.53% shooting percentage over the last 10 games of the regular season. If they shoot like that against Washington they will have no problem scoring on the PP.

The Jackets are fortunate Washington doesn’t have an elite penalty kill. The Caps PK was average at 80.3%, 15th in the league. Washington also is not a very aggressive team short-handed. They finished near the bottom of the league in short-handed goals for, shots and scoring chances. If the Jackets aren’t going to score on their power play the least they can do is prevent Washington from scoring for two minutes.

The special teams battle is going to be a big story to watch. Washington has one of the better power plays in the league, the Jackets do not. The Jackets are going to have to find a way to keep these games at 5 on 5. If the series comes down to special teams, I do not like the Jackets chances.

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