In the past month, the team has become much more potent on offense. Especially noteworthy is the emergence of the Kings power play as a viable threat to score.
Prior to the trade deadline, it was operating at a meager 14.2 percent. Over the 14 games that Marian Gaborik has spent in L.A., the man advantage has clicked at a rate of 23.3 percent. That kind of efficiency over a full season would place the Kings second in the league on the PP.
It currently ranks 25th on the season at 15.6 percent, which goes to show the degree to which Darryl Sutter’s squad has built one of its flaws into a strength.
Here’s how L.A. has improved on the man advantage.
Quicker Decisions
Where the Kings PP moved at a listless pace before March, holding on to the puck for seconds at a time before choosing to shoot or pass, the unit has since become much crisper in its execution.
Continually shifting the position of the puck challenges the integrity of the penalty kill’s shape. A higher level of activity creates doubt and lanes through which L.A. can attack. Playing keep-away on the outside does little other than allow the PK to sit in its box for two or more minutes.
Against the Washington Capitals on March 25, Jake Muzzin and Justin Williams exchange the puck inside the offensive blue line. It’s then distributed to Alec Martinez. Rather than dilly-dallying, the red-hot blueliner takes what’s there: an open shot with traffic in front of the net.
He doesn’t waste a second, either, one-timing the pass toward Washington’s cage.
It doesn’t get all the way through to goaltender Jaroslav Halak, but it accomplishes the vital task of getting by the high penalty-killer. This...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Kings
