Bruce Cassidy, right, head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights, responds to a question during a news conference with Kelly McCrimmon, general manager of the Vegas Golden Knights, at City National Arena in Las Vegas Thursday, June 16, 2022.
Monday, June 27, 2022 | 2 a.m.
The Golden Knights had their reasons to make a coaching change. At the top of the list: addressing the lackluster power play.
Among the tasks given to new coach Bruce Cassidy, fixing Vegas’ man advantage — which ranked 25th in the league this season — has to be considered the top priority out of the gates.
“I really can’t stress enough the importance of special teams, and I know it’s been a challenge here at different times in the past,” GM Kelly McCrimmon said. “Bruce has done it again, and again, and again.”
Cassidy, formerly the Bruins coach, implements four forwards and one defenseman for both power play units. That’s opposite of former coach Pete DeBoer, who used to three forwards and two defensemen on the unit.
“I’ve always believed, typically, you’re seeing four forwards and a defenseman on the power play. So I’ve always felt that the majority of the plays should go through those four forwards,” Cassidy said. “They’re just typically more comfortable around the net, they want the puck around the net, they’re high-end guys that need the puck around the net. That drives a lot of their offense.”
The Bruins’ first-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes is a good barometer to gauge how the man advantage looked. The Hurricanes had the league’s best penalty kill (88%) during the regular season.
While that series was a home team’s dream — the home team won each game, with Carolina winning in seven games — Boston’s power play still looked dangerous. The conversion rates were lopsided between home and road; the Bruins converted 9.1% of their power plays in four games in Raleigh, but had a 29.1% success rate during three wins at TD Garden.
Looking at the Bruins' first unit, near the net would be Taylor Hall on the left, Patrice Bergeron in front of the goal, and Brad Marchand at the right circle. Closest to the blue line would be the freshest defenseman available — most likely Charlie McAvoy — and David Pastrnák on his left.
Most power plays would have their top goal scorer closest to the net. In the case of the Bruins, Pastrnák — who led them with 40 goals this season — played near the faceoff circle, while Hall surveyed from the goal line. Pastrnák and Marchand are still the two main shooters, with Bergeron available for deflections or rebounds.
“Every power play has options,” Cassidy said. “We want our options to be closer to the net as possible.”
While Cassidy admits he wasn’t the best NHL player, he said his biggest strength was seeing the ice on the power play. One of the best examples the Bruins showcased for that was Game 4.
Carolina’s aggressive penalty kill worked in stints but showed signs of being a deterrent. All four Hurricanes skaters converge on defenseman Matt Grzelcyk at the boards. That leaves Pastrnák alone on the left side. He finds Hall cutting to the net for what would be an easy tap-in, but his stick gets tied up.
Another part that stood out is the Bruins’ power play was never uniform. They changed based on the situation. Not one player stuck to their designed spot. There was a lot of movement not just with the puck, but away from the puck, as well.
Cassidy used center Jack Eichel as an example along the half wall, being a right-handed shot whereas Cassidy had Hall — a left stick — in that spot.
“You can’t be predictable every time,” Cassidy said. “You have to know what you have, go through your sets, and be ready to adjust if they don’t work.”
Game 6 showed a perfect example of that. Pastrnak, on the left side of the blue line in that last example, now switches with Marchand.
The key is defenseman Hampus Lindholm and the attention he garners along the right wall. Two Carolina skaters chase after him, to which he resets back to Marchand and sets Pastrnák up for a one-timer. The shot is blocked, but forward Charlie Coyle gets inside position and scores on the rebound.
The case can be made that there wasn’t enough movement under the previous Bruins regime. Lindholm moving to the wall allows Bergeron to follow him as the trailer, compared to the prior power play where Alex Pietrangelo or Shea Theodore would stay at the blue line, put a shot on net and hope for traffic or rebounds.
Not running set plays calls for practice, which Cassidy said he believes in practicing power plays as much as possible with an active defense.
“At the end of the day, that’s our mindset a little bit. Attack mode, but from lower parts of the ice,” Cassidy said. “You have to make sure your D is on board. If it’s used to running through Pietrangelo or Theodore, they have to make sure they’re facilitators as well, and not as much as a shooter.”
Here's another good example of that movement. Pastrnák goes to the opposite side, the defense doesn't pick up on him trailing. Instead of shooting, he makes the extra pass to Marchand for a dangerous chance that's saved by Antti Raanta.
In order to get to this point, the Golden Knights need to actually get on the power play. They drew the third fewest penalties in the league this season, while Boston drew the fourth most.
Cassidy coaching this group to draw more penalties may be another challenge by itself. Improving in that area will go a long way in addressing an area they should be much better at.
Early indications would have the Golden Knights' first unit feature Mark Stone, Eichel and Max Pacioretty up front, with Jonathan Marchessault and Pietrangelo at the blue line. Eichel could play Pastrnak's role closest to the circle, allowing someone like Nic Roy to be the center of that group.
The second unit would be the Misfit Line — Marchessault, William Karlsson and the reportedly re-signed Reilly Smith — up front, with Theodore at the point. If he makes the final roster, the left circle option would be best suited for top prospect Brendan Brisson.
Overall, this could be a top unit-dominated power play. Marchand and Pastrnak saw a lot of time on the man advantage based on the Bruins’ depth options. That won't be the case with Vegas. The Golden Knights will have options. Much like under DeBoer, however, it's up to execution.
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
