When the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Marc Savard as an assistant to run the power play, many thought that it would help them reach new heights after faltering in the post season. While they repeated their success last season, this season has been a mitigated disaster with the man advantage.
As a result, with the power play struggling and one of many reasons for why the team was in the spot that they’re in, Savard was fired a day before the team’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Later in the week, the team promoted Steve Sullivan to take over his job.
While many were expecting meaningful change; be it with a new coach, general manager or moving roster pieces to shake things up, the power play has definitely turned things around as it is now a strength. The team looks more confident and lethal on the man advantage and they’re making it count with their conversion.
Power Play Under Goes Massive 180
As the Maple Leafs approached the holidays, the power play wasn’t being nice to them as they were lifeless, unproductive and flat out just tough to watch on a nightly basis. For a team with a lot of talent and skill, they were stagnant, predictable and they weren’t as effective with their movement. Let’s not forget about the slow and broken entries that have led to turnovers and short-handed chances and goals against.
Stating the obvious, the power play wasn’t good enough to succeed. While it was one of many glaring issues plaguing the team, a change needed to happen because this couldn’t go on for any longer as they continue to pass up opportunities to score a goal and get ahead in a game. Savard never really found any meaningful fixes or solutions to try and get the power play going and that ultimately forced him out. Before he was fired the Maple Leafs went on an 0-for-10 run. On top of how things were going, that alone is unacceptable as the power play was a strength last season. Yes, they’re without Mitch Marner, but they shouldn’t struggle mightily with Auston Matthews and William Nylander.
From the start of the season to when Savard got fired– including their 6-3 win over the Penguins where the power play went 0-for-2– the Maple Leafs ranked dead last in the league with 13%. They had 142 shots on the power play which had them 27th overall. Since December 27th, they rank first in PP% with 55.6% going 5-for-9, scoring a power play goal in each of their four games played and having the second most shots on the man advantage with 24.
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It’s a small sample compared to the larger sample from the first two months, but the power play has been on fire ever since Sullivan was hired to replace Savard. Many are going to point to Sullivan as the reason for the turn around. While he was an assistant coach, he didn’t run the power play with the Toronto Marlies in the American Hockey League and is still figuring out the system with everyone on the coaching staff having a say in the process.
Essentially, all the praise should go to the players as their play on the man advantage has completely flipped around.
Puck Movement Key to Success
While many are expecting some sort of major change or revelation to the way the Maple Leafs are operating on the man advantage, but the answer to their success is pretty simple. It’s something that I have continued to notice when they get cold. While they’re getting more shots on net, there’s more urgency and they’re not as stationary on the perimeter, their movement has been the key to the way that their producing, both with the puck and with the way that they’re able to open things up, win battles and get players out of position.
When getting to a setup, the Maple Leafs are not as passive and are more assertive when making their passes. They’re quicker and crisper which allows them to create those seams and find those lanes. On top of that when they have the puck, they’re able to quickly move into the open ice and take advantage of that. There have been instances where they don’t convert, but the movement, precision and ability to get pucks on net better has worked to their advantage that has made them more lethal on the power play.
There are many examples in this small sample, but this sequence against the Detroit Red Wings reflects that. The Maple Leafs take advantage of the play up high with where Matthews moves into position and gets a hard shot off from the point. As the puck goes wide, Tavares is quick to recover the puck and chip in front where Matthews gets the puck and makes a quick pass to Matthew Knies to fool everyone and he scores. Everyone was focused on Matthews, they forgot about Knies and that quick little play threw everyone off.
The next clip shows Bobby McMann taking advantage of the middle ice and attacking with speed. As Nick Robertson keeps the puck alive after a decent entry, he quickly spots McMann moving into the middle. He has ample time and space to pick his spot and make the New Jersey Devils pay for giving him that much room.
The Maple Leafs aren’t taking a passive approach to the power play over these last four games and are taking advantage of the situation. They’re utilizing the whole ice surface and not sticking to the outside as much. They’re moving from low to high and side to side in order to get players out of position. Gone are the days of waiting for the opportunity to open up when they have to be the ones to get those players out of position and quickly striking when they can. They have the passers and shooters to do so and right now, they’re unpredictable with what they’re going to do and that’s starting to throw teams off.
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As we enter the new year, the power play is definitely taking a new turn for the better for the Maple Leafs. While the last week was a huge positive considering the lack of execution and production before, they can’t lose focus of what’s making them successful. When they quickly move the puck well and get into position, they get results and that gives them the confidence moving forward.
Statistics from Natural Stat Trick and NHL.
