There is a lot for Penn State hockey fans to like just 12 games into the season. From upsetting two No. 1 programs in consecutive weeks, to Liam Souliere's outstanding performances and the scoring depth that Penn State is getting from all four forward lines. However, there is one thing that has been a struggle since the season started: the power play.
"It was the idea that our power play was an extension of our mentality," coach Guy Gadowsky said. "I think we've gotten away from that a little bit."
In Penn State's last six games, which featured a sweep of Wisconsin, a split against Michigan and a split against Minnesota, the Nittany Lions have had 21 power-play opportunities. How many of those have they converted on? Once. In total, the Nittany Lions have had 34 power play chances and have four power-play goals, which converts into a success rate of 11.8%
That is the second-worst in the Big Ten.
So how can a team with so much offense and talent only score one power-play goal in 21 chances? We are about to find out why.
In college hockey, we don't have the luxury of the advanced analytics that the NHL has. We can't see the possession metrics, heat maps, etc. All we can do is just rewatch each power play and see what they are doing wrong.
Teams are not expected to convert on every single chance it gets on the man-advantage. But good teams can't score on the power play one time on 21 opportunities.
Penn State's man-advantage unit consists of four forwards and one defensemen. Ashton Calder, Connor MacEachern, Ben Schoen, Kevin Wall, Connor McMenamin and Jimmy Dowd are the five on ice for the Lions.
The second unit consists of Christian Berger, Danny Dzhaniyev, Ryan Kirwan, Kevin Wall and Ture Linden.
However, let's look at a positive of the power play unit. A huge part of a power play is a clean zone entry. Penn State has done a good job of getting into the offensive zone and then setting up its umbrella formation. Schoen or Dowd are the usual puck carriers.
The goal of the power play is to get the puck to MacEachern so he can draw the opposing penalty killers toward him, so he can either shoot or fake a shot and pass to the middle where Calder or McMenamin are.
"It's a tough part of the game and something we have to continue to work out," MacEachern said. "I don't think we're worried about it. We know we have the capability in the room of doing what we need to do to be successful on the power play."
This is the lone power-play goal that Penn State has scored in its last 21 opportunities. The Nittany Lions do an excellent job of spreading out the Wisconsin penalty killers with their quick puck movement and finding Calder in the "bumper position".
Penn State has not utilized the bumper a lot because teams have done a good job of covering that area. When they do end up passing the puck to that position, the shot attempt is either stopped or missed completely.
Another issue the Nittany Lions have is forcing passes through lanes that are closed off due to opposing sticks in lanes. They try to do too much with the puck and make the hard play, such as passing to an area that is not open, rather than throwing the puck on net and looking for rebounds.
In other words, they are oversimplifying.
Overall, something has to give with this unit. Power plays are supposed to spark momentum for a team. Right now it is doing the opposite for Penn State and killing its momentum. Michigan State's penalty killing unit is 7th in the nation at 87.2%.
Hopefully the man-advantage finds its game as the season progresses.
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