Powerplays can be a critical part of the game. While the actual conversion of them can be somewhat misleading in terms of success (Boston the year they won had a below average powerplay, as did the Kings in 2011-12 and Chicago in 2012-13), there is no question that a high octane powerplay can be a tone setter even after the extra man attack has expired.
The San Jose Sharks have a highly potent powerplay. They finished third in the league this season overall, converting on 22.55% of their powerplay opportunities. Last season that would have been a top five powerplay, and in 2013-14 it would have been top three yet again. What makes them so fearsome and difficult to handle is a combination of things. Namely it is the structure of their two powerplay units, and it is also the personnel on those units. The coaching is also stellar, and you can tell that Peter DeBoer has really ground this system into his player's heads.
So what system are we talking about? Well, it is none other than the highly aggressive 1-3-1 set up. Yes, the same 1-3-1 set up that we highlighted earlier in the year as a powerplay strategy that the Kings struggled against. In that article back in February, it was highlighting the
Arizona Coyotes and their 1-3-1 set up using Oliver Ekmann-Larsson.
Pretty much all of the same ideas apply here as to why the Kings struggle. Consider the above linked article (
And oh look, linked again right here) a must read before continuing.
To get some up to speed, the 1-3-1 is a highly aggressive set up where teams run one defenseman, four forwards, and set them up as you would imagine. One in front, three across the middle, and one at point.
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The Kings defend in an expandable box style PK.
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Now, the 1-3-1 only works when you have highly skilled and intuitive players to execute it. You can run all the fancy set up of a 1-3-1 you want, if you do not have players playing it well it does no good. For instance, the Arizona powerplay which uses one unit of 1-3-1 finished the year overall at 20th. Toronto, who also uses this set up on one unit, finished in 29th on the PP. However, with the right personnel, the Sharks have smoked opponents almost all season on it. The Kings, who seem to naturally struggle against this set up, have been pressed hard so far in the series against San Jose. The Sharks are 2-for-9 on the powerplay, but have also had one stem directly from expiring penalties (Hertl in Game 1). So you could almost say they are 3-for-9 at the moment.
Without rehashing too much of the Arizona article, the reason it gives the Kings so many issues by design is that it crosses up defenders, gives them too many options to cover, and essentially creates an extreme amount of on-ice though processing and misdirection in a short time frame.
The options are aplenty, and it does not help that the Sharks are scarily efficient in getting set up. Let's focus a little bit on what San Jose does right instead of what the Kings do wrong, since we have seen that before.
First of all, let's see the set up in personnel. It is, in one word, scary.
The Sharks usually run
Burns
Couture-Thornton-Pavelski-Marleau
On their top unit. I list all four forwards in a row because, quite frankly, they rotate amongst any given position in the 3-1 set up from the dots down at any given time. This is actually one of the reasons it is such a good set up. Couture, Thornton, and Pavelski are all players who over the course of the year have played both center and wing. They can do so comfortably. They have zero problems with establishing themselves in either position as one of the three forwards across the faceoff dots.
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They rotate extremely well, and it never gives a chance for any of the defending players to get acquainted with a certain player in a certain position. It is always changing depending on circumstance of entry, behind the net battle, or plays along the wall. Just like everyone seems to know that Ovechkin at the right circle is as predictable as rain in Seattle, there is no prediction as to who will be where on the San Jose powerplay. This sort of misdirection is tough on goalies and defenders who are trying to read tendencies of shot or pass. Forget about it.
And you know what is even worse? The Sharks have an incredibly gifted offensive defenseman manning the point as well, and even he is intelligent enough and versatile enough to play wing in the set up. Remember, Burns did play a year at forward and has done so even before that. If you thought that Burns shot was coming from the point, guess again, it can come from the wing also if the Sharks rotate him down, like this:
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Kind of ridiculous right?
The set up by the Sharks is also EXTREMELY fluid. Soon as they get puck possession it seamlessly flows into the 3-1 set up down low. Check out these examples of how precise, aware, and decisive the forwards are here.
Here is a set up from down low off the halfwall.
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Notice the drive to the net and the back door slot in.
And here is a set up from out high
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It happens in an instance, and it is pretty scary. The fact that they can set up so quickly allows them to potentially expose slower defenders and/or defending players taking an extra look over their shoulder to find out which guy is where.
Marleau and Pavelski both had double digit powerplay goals this year, while Thornton and Bruns both trailed with 7 and 8 respectively. More ridiculous is the fact that every single player on that San Jose top powerplay unit had double digit powerplay assists, with Burns and Thornton having 20+.
The goal in all of this is to create confusion and misdirection against the Kings box set up. They basically want defenders to either scrunch in together, creating more traffic than preventing. Like this example against Arizona
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and like this example from Game 1.
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OR spread too wide to cover the wings, thus leaving the center open. The Kings usually do a good job at keeping the center man covered and pushing plays to the outside, but again, it tends to create issues with traffic. Also, if you push plays to the wing, your penalty killers have to be aware of the two men in front and how you cover them. This became in issue on last night's powerplay goal against from Couture.
Then comes the individual skill and awareness that comes with it. The touch passing here and the decision making is superb, and it punishes the Kings.
Credit the San Jose Sharks and Peter DeBoer, because this is a dynamite set up that is executed with extreme lethality. It is the exact right set up with the exact right personnel in place. This is why they were third in the NHL this year. All credit must be given to them for their success here.
Now to the Kings view of things.
In the box set up, if you spread to cover the wings, the center is open. If you scrunch to cover the center, the wings are open and the traffic is almost unbearable for a goalie. How do you defend this? With a hope and a prayer?
It really is a challenge and the way I am presenting it probably does not seem like there is anything the Kings can do. That is not true for the most part. One way to control it is to deny entry and win your board battles.
The Sharks will be loading up in the neutral zone with speed on the wings and a drive through the center to create the space needed. Like this:
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As a defending team you have to force the dump in, and then recover quickly. You have to make the Sharks win the battles down low and prevent them from getting the puck to the point man. From there it becomes a ticking time bomb and a much more potentially lethal powerplay. The Kings are big and physical, and that often helps in preventing set up for powerplays. They have done so a number of times to the Sharks already. However, the Sharks are also big and physical so those battles on the wall can be pretty coin flippy. From a coaching standpoint, that has to be your message to the penalty killers. Force the dump in, win the battle, get it out. Sounds simple in theory, but it is incredibly difficult to execute versus this talented powerplay unit.
As Kings readers this might be a tough blog to stomach, but it is a prominent fixture in this series so far. It is also prominent because the Kings were the third most penalized team in the regular season. You cannot give these opportunities to the Sharks often, and the Kings have done so thus far with nine powerplays through the first two games. I know, I know "NHL REFS BOOO", but they are not the reason the Kings are losing.
Look for this set up on the powerplay from the Sharks as we switch gears over to the San Jose homeside of the series. It is a really good powerplay that, for a neutral hockey fan, is fun to watch in its execution and fluidity.
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