There’s almost nothing more dependable in the NHL than a Todd McLellan power play.
Since the Sharks head coach arrived in San Jose in time for the 2008-09 campaign, his team has consistently been at the top of the NHL in power-play efficiency. In his first four seasons, the team finished between second and fourth overall in the NHL, before dipping slightly last season.
So it was reasonable to expect that once again the Sharks would have one of the league’s most fearsome power plays in 2013-14. The only problem is that it hasn’t worked out that way:
What’s happened in San Jose? Has McLellan lost his touch?
The first thing to rule out is personnel changes, and that’s easy to do. The 2011-12 Sharks power play that was so successful relied on forwards Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, swingman Brent Burns and defenceman Dan Boyle. This year’s power play has the same top-six forwards in terms of ice time. It seems fair to say that an overhauled group of players isn’t the problem for the Sharks.
Another area to look is at sho ...
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Article written by Jonathan Willis
San Jose Sharks’ Struggling Power Play Is No Reason for Concern
April 4th, 2014 by Jonathan Willis Leave a reply »
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