There are a lot of reasons why we've eaten it since the all-star break. We saw it in that horrible loss to Buffalo and then again in the loss to the Islanders. It would be easy to attach simple platitudes such as Buffalo just wanted it more or they were playing like a playoff team, but we just beat the Bruins the night before. Then with the Isles we were launching the puck on net left and right but just couldn't put it in the net until it was too late. The biggest problem is that we have been absolutely terrible in every way on special teams. Our power play looks like it's actually at a disadvantage out there. We look better at even strength than with the extra man. Coyotes fans joke about declining the penalty, but sometimes I actually wish they would. Against the Isles we had a couple 5 on 3 power plays and could hardly get the puck in our own zone. It's just gotten silly. I've broken down our stats into how effective the PP and PK are by combining the number of sucessful kills and power plays and coming up with the % that we do what we needed to. Here's a look...
Team Conv. PP/PK %Conv.
|
Philadelphia |
318 |
570 |
55.8% |
|
Washington |
325 |
599 |
54.3% |
|
Anaheim |
307 |
566 |
54.2% |
|
Minnesota |
254 |
485 |
52.4% |
|
Calgary |
299 |
572 |
52.3% |
|
St. Louis |
293 |
562 |
52.1% |
|
Buffalo |
292 |
562 |
52.0% |
|
San Jose |
275 |
532 |
51.7% |
|
Boston |
256 |
497 |
51.5% |
|
New Jersey |
253 |
493 |
51.3% |
|
NY Islanders |
275 |
538 |
51.1% |
|
Detroit |
285 |
559 |
51.0% |
|
Chicago |
274 |
539 |
50.8% |
|
Nashville |
279 |
549 |
50.8% |
|
Tampa Bay |
302 |
600 |
50.3% |
|
Ottawa |
269 |
535 |
50.3% |
|
Los Angeles |
287 |
573 |
50.1% |
|
Montreal |
296 |
591 |
50.1% |
|
NY Rangers |
263 |
526 |
50.0% |
|
Florida |
255 |
512 |
49.8% |
|
Vancouver |
279 |
566 |
49.3% |
|
Atlanta |
262 |
544 |
48.2% |
|
Colorado |
241 |
510 |
47.3% |
|
Pittsburgh |
260 |
551 |
47.2% |
|
Columbus |
257 |
546 |
47.1% |
|
Dallas |
251 |
539 |
46.6% |
|
Toronto |
241 |
518 |
46.5% |
|
Edmonton |
258 |
562 |
45.9% |
|
Carolina |
249 |
556 |
44.8% |
|
Phoenix |
224 |
506 |
44.3% |
Looking at that list you can see how the majority of the teams in the bottom 14 are the teams that are in the bottom 14 of the standings. There are a few oddities such as the Ducks, Blues and Wild being so good on special teams but being outside the playoffs at the moment. Also Carolina is currently in the 6 spot out East, but it's certainly not because of their special teams as they rank 29th. SPecial teams haven't been our only problem by far, but it's a large piece of why we haven't been able to buy a game lately. especially when the opposition is giving you 6 to 8 chances a game lately and you're ocming up empty. It's definitely something to look at in the offseason and to consider if anyone on the coaching staff know how to create an effective Power Play or PK unit. The first step? Take Jovanovski off of the Power Play. he was just brutal. giving the puck away right after they entered the zone, passes to the other team. he's been ugly out there.