Anaheim Ducks Power Play Vastly Improved In November, Here’s Why

By Griffin Foster | Dec 2, 2015

Over the past couple of seasons the Anaheim Ducks have become synonyms with a poor power play, that is now a thing of the past.

Last season, the Anaheim Ducks power play finished 28th in the league. They scored on just 15.7% of their power play opportunities, the teams worst conversion percentage since the 2001-2002 season when they converted just 11.5% of their power play chances.

Ducks general manager Bob Murray did not take kindly to these struggles, he felt his team possessed too much offensive talent for this to continue. A coaching change was made as Murray fired the man in charge of that horrendous power play, Brad Lauer, and hired Paul MacLean in hopes that the former Ottawa Senators coach could turn things around.

In MacLeans three seasons behind the Ottawa bench (Not including the ’14-’15 season when he was fired after 27 games), the Senators power play ranked 8th, 20th and 13th.

However, the Ducks did not adjust to MacLean’s system right away.

The stagnant, non-aggressive nature of the Ducks 28th ranked power play carried over into the first month of this season. There was again no urgency to generate shots as players often seemed confused on what they were trying to do with the man advantage.

The Ducks power play converted just 3 of 30 chances in October, that’s a 10% conversion rate. They picked off right where they left off last season, as one of the leagues worst power plays.

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Heading into November, it appeared as though shots would again not be converted into goals and cheers would then be converted into boo’s from the Honda Center faithful. Everyone was growing tired of this struggling power play that had seemed to take no strides of improvement during training camp and preseason.

November was a ‘flip the script’ type of month however, the Ducks power play got rolling.

MacLean’s whiteboard drawings were finally coming to fruition on the ice and it was clear that the feeling out period was over. Something clicked and the Ducks began to put the puck in the back of the net at an alarming rate on the power play.

The Ducks power play became dangerous, 11-41, a 26.8% conversion percentage in the month of November. As the month progressed, that power play became even more hot, converting 32% of their opportunities in their last 10 games.

The Ducks power play has crept its way up the ranks, they now sit 13th in the league at 19.7%.

I went back and watched every Ducks power play that resulted in a goal during the month of November, and what I found was some very apparent keys to success.

First, the Ducks were very good on the power play at home in November. Whether it be from more calls swinging in their favor on home ice or simply the comfort of the home town crowd, 8 of the 11 Ducks November power play goals occurred on home ice.

The second most apparent key to success, was the decision to take Pat Maroon off of the first power play unit. Rickard Rakell stepped in and 5 of the Ducks 11 power play goals in November occurred with a first unit of Rakell, Getzlaf, Perry, Vatanen and Fowler on the ice. Adding Rakell to the first unit also allows Getzlaf to be more aggressive at the faceoff dot as Rakell is a great second option if Getzlaf is tossed for jumping the gun.

One goal was scored with the second unit of Santorelli, Kesler, Stewart, Bieksa and Lindholm, the other five November power play goals occurred with different variations of players on the ice.

The third thing I noticed that was giving the Ducks success, going to the dirty areas and getting the puck on net. 8 of the Ducks 11 November power play goals were scored right around the crease, 5 of which came off of rebounds and one was scored via tip-in on a shot from the point.

2 of the 11 goals were scored on breakaways and one came off of a shot from the high slot. The Ducks did not score a power play goal in November on a shot from the point. However, the ability to create rebounds was still a driving force in a lot of their goals.

Three of the Ducks 11 goals were scored off of set plays, or a play that contained structure and solid puck movement. Two of the goals were scored by Corey Perry who began to hang around at the side of the net.

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That was another big difference. Perry found effective placement, electing to stay near the crease and score the dirty goals, something he has mastered over the years. Adding Rakell to the first unit allowed Perry to play more of a role as a “screener” as Maroon was clearly not effective in doing so early on in the month.

The final thing I noticed was the quick strike ability. When the Ducks were aggresive and able to set up, they scored pretty fast on the power play.

6 of their 11 goals came within one minute of the power play beginning. Their average time spent on the power play before scoring was around 53 seconds. In one game against Calgary, they scored 8 seconds into their first power play and 21 seconds into their power play, their only two power play opportunities of that game, pretty impressive.

One thing the Ducks can do a better job of is controlling the initial faceoff. Only one of their 11 goals was scored after they controlled the initial faceoff and did not allow the other team to clear the zone. The NHL changed it’s ruled recently and every power play now begins with an offensive zone faceoff, the Ducks could become even more dangerous if Getzlaf and Kesler can help others control that offensice zone draw.

Now let’s look at the Ducks leaders on the power play in November.

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Again, it was the leaders who stepped up. Perry was forcing the puck to the net and scoring the dirty goals and Getzlaf was eliminating some of his “too cute” kind of passing plays, he was far more effective when being aggressive and not doing too much and his 6 power play assists in November are reflective of that.

Lindholm was very effective at the begining of the month when Vatanen was struggling. Sami did not pick up his first power play point of the season until the game in Arizona on the day before thanksgiving, he had a power play goal and an assist in that one.

Next: Decision Coming Soon On Rookie Nick Ritchie

Overall, the Ducks need to remember one thing in the month of December, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

The power play is no longer broken and Paul MacLean must continue to keep this structure and format intact.

Next: Ducks Looking To Build Off Of A Stronger November

The Ducks penalty kill still ranks 1st in the league and if their power play continues to stay hot, their special teams will be absolutely lethal.

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