Dallas Stars’ Power Play: Necessary Changes
The Dallas Stars could use a bit of a tuneup on their power play. What do they need to do in order for that to happen?
The Dallas Stars were the best team offensively in the NHL last season, which is great. Their power play, however, was not.
Dallas finished the year with the fourth-best power play unit, having converted on 22.1% of their opportunities. That seems like an impressive feat, but considering their line-up the Stars should be better. They can improve their special teams with a few changes.
Personnel
The Dallas Stars currently have John Klingberg as the power play quarterback. While’s he’s a talented skater with good eyes and an offensive upswing to his game, his execution on the man advantage doesn’t always reflect that.
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No. 3 struggles to help the Stars gain the opposition’s blue line and often seems to be confused about his role on the ice. He is normally the best option out of five skaters in victory green to take a point shot, but he rarely does.
That isn’t to say that Klingberg is unfit for the role of power play quarterback, it’s just to point out that his role might need to be more adequately explain to him. Doing so would allow for both he and the Stars to find even more success.
Zone Entry
The biggest issue Dallas has on the man advantage is simply getting the puck into the zone. Their method of Klingberg skating out of the defensive zone while making a drop pass to the forward skating behind him is flawed.
Not only is this a simple tactic to defend, it merely requires the opposition to have one or two penalty killers high, it prevents forward motion.
Dallas is a team whose focus is on speed and skill. Having the most talented offensive players on the team standing still on the blue line waiting for the drop pass completely negates their ability to gain the zone with purpose.
The forwards are left to slowly skate into the zone and attempt to get set up in a rather rushed manner. That is, if they gained the line at all.
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Varying the entry with the man advantage would not only allow the Stars to keep their opponents guessing, but would also incorporate their skating ability to the power play. Doing so would ultimately give Dallas the best of both worlds.
Goaltender Involvement
The last change the Stars should consider is how involved they want Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi to be in the offensive special teams. While admittedly not the best puck-handling goaltenders in the league, the Stars’ goalies tend to look confused on the power play.
No. 31 and 32 seem uncertain of whether they should play the puck forward to increase Dallas’ momentum into the offensive zone, or if they’re supposed to let the skaters take care of it.
This confusion can sometimes lead to a deflating short-handed goal that eliminates any of the momentum the Stars had from the power play.
Again, a simple explanation to get everyone on the same page would allow for Dallas goalies to be better prepared for their role in the man advantage.
Final Thoughts
Whether or not the Stars will implement any of these suggested changes is up in the air. They seem perfectly content to stick with Klingberg as the quarterback drop passing to the forward in the defensive zone.
It just seems like a bad idea to run the same power play over and over again in a new season, especially when there are other strengths they could play up.
What do you think about the Stars’ power play? What would you change about it, if anything? Leave your thoughts in the comments below and, as always, thanks for reading!