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Solutions to the PP

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The main problem is that both Rielly and Marner are sub-par shooters.

The game plan is simple:
1. Take away Matthews shot.
2. When Rielly/Marner have the puck, let them shoot but take away their passing lanes.

The other issue is that the Leafs don't try to create downlow plays/backdoor passes. So the PK just has to be aggressive against the points (Rielly/Matthews/Marner) because the Leafs aren't even thinking about trying to create high-t0-low plays.
 
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The obvious answer to me is 1) Nylander needs to be on PP1. 2) Nylander needs to be on the half boards so that Matthews isn't the only shooting option. 3) Marner has to work on making passes from down low.
 
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Remove Rielly and put Brodie.

Matthews Marner Nylander Hyman Brodie.

And get Marner to start make smarter decisions rather than looking off Matthews and shooting weak flubbers on net.
 
I somewhat agree with the original poster. Just I wouldn't run through all lines.

When our power play was on fire early in the season everyone was raving about how we had two PP units. Since we have been stinking it up we have somehow switched to one PP and then throw who we think are the next best 5 after that.

HOT PP
Our PP when it was hot (from what I remember):
1) Marner / Matthews / Thornton / Simmonds / Reilly
2) Tavares / Nylander / Spezza / Hyman / Brodie (or maybe Kerfoot somewhere in there on line 2)

One of the main reasons why I felt this worked so well was because if one of those two lines just had the penalty called against them then you start with the other one and you split it 50/50 - ie. 1 minute each and not running out of energy. That way both PP lines are at full energy. How dangerous is it when all of a sudden you have Matthews and Marner hit the ice 1 minute into a PP when the PKers on the other team are exhausted? Or vice versa.
The other side of this coin is once the power play is over you can also immediately have either Matthews or Tavares' line on the ice to counter when the other team throws on their best guys after the penalty.

COLD PP
Since it has been cold we have basically been running:
1) Marner / Matthews / Tavares / Reilly / (Hyman/Nylander/Galchenyuk)
2) Spezza / Thornton / Brodie / 2 of (Hyman/Nylander/Galchenyuk/Kerfoot)

Now we run PP1 for 1:30 EVERY single time to start the PP which usually means that at least one of Matthews or Tavares is tired when we start the PP because more often than not one of them just got off.
Add on to that how one of Matthews and Tavares is not only tired during the PP but they are also tired when the penalty is over because one of their lines has only rested for 30 seconds when they get thrown back onto the ice.
The is the worst part (and where I agree with the original poster) because you have now broken up your top two lines just for the PP which means they are now playing catch up for the next while because they don't have a full tank of gas.

I also personally don't like Tavares as net front presence. I find him horrible there. I would much rather have a Simmonds type who draws two defenders into him because he won't move (Simmonds on 1 PP and Hyman on the other - maybe Foligno). I just find Tavares gets pushed around there too easily.

And finally, the second line NEVER seems to have any chemistry or effect either.

So in my opinion take Tavares off of PP1 and help balance PP2 while at the same time not messing up the top two lines for every PP and overplaying half of BOTH of your top two lines.

My 2 cents.

And yes I also agree Thornton is waaay tooo slow now and I also agree we try too hard to set up Matthews all the time. But those are different issues.
 


truly embarrassing TBH. This is not “bad luck” this is a bad system. The players are not the problem. Malhotra has not adapted. Unacceptable For a team of this caliber to be in that company. The fix is really not that hard. Move the puck down low, make the PK’ers move. Chances will occur. Passing around the umbrella is not working. Matthews circle at the top of the zone on his strong side to get a puck in stride only to inevitably have his shot blocked or just backhand dish it back up top to Reilly is shockingly very predictable. Mix in a different look manny. Anything. It’s going to cost us in the playoffs if you don’t
 
Martin Skoula said:
Try 2D 3F. Pick any two of our D that can get a point shot on net, Muzzin-Holl and Dermott-Brodie, hell give Bogosian a shot. They don't pinch under any circumstances, their job is to hold the line and shoot the puck. Tavares-Matthews-Hyman cycle the puck out to the D and go for tips and rebounds. If the D gets 2-3 shots on net per PP, there's no way that in over 100 shots not a single one of them bounces in off someone's ass.
Click to expand...
I don’t think defenses know how to do that anymore :)

That the right way to run a powerplay if i was to have a choice. Big shot from the point,rwo wingers hanging around the side of the net to jam the crease. That was man card hockey.

What we see now is Russian hockey. The drop pass, the drop pass, turn the puck back skate up again to the center ice with speed ,drop pass. Get it in the zone,try and pass the puck in to the net with as little physical contact as possible.
I swear it’s so watered down it will be a coed league soon. A G.M could smartly build a team full of 40-50 point forwards 12 deep of the most physically dominating players in that range and beat the living soreness right off this league and win cups like philly pulled off in in their expansion cups.

The league is a all time soft,all time high skill era. The skill guys aren’t usually don’t have their man card so they could be intimidated right to submission ha. Maybe somebody could start a thread on your toughest/intimidating team you could build in 2021 that could win a cup.

I would be happy starting with out two centers.
 
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It’s simple fire the ones responsible for coaching the PP and hire someone that has a clue what they are doing.........fixed
 
Teams are being hyper aggressive on the Leafs now because they're struggling and the Leafs' are failing to connect on those quick passes (which is strange because the same guys are able to do it at even strength).

When the Leafs do set up, they're slowing it down too much, keeping it on the perimeter and static, and trying to force shots.

Leads me to believe they're being told to keep it simple and get pucks to the net. And when someone tries to get creative they're out of sync because they don't have set plays.
 
I agree Reilly is not having a good season. Someone else could be given a shot, For some reason Marner has been told or advised to shoot more. He may be the best setup man in the league. Move him back to the right side and point and let him quarterback the whole thing. They are also trying way too hard. Matthews and to a lesser extent Tavares can shoot the puck. These are the guys that need to get the puck. Let them fire away. I would let Hyman do the dirty work in front of the net. He has earned that shot.
 
No sending a message...just Work it out.
Change the system... add more straight forward attack.

Marner and matthews are great... but they are trying too hard to score.


  • Remove the bumper.
  • Plop AM on his strong side Ala Ovechkin.
  • Hyman around/behind net etc.
  • Tavares on the other side
  • Marner the point with Brodie.

Try to work it towards Matthews. If it doesn't work, work Tavares side with Hyman jamming/screening/down low to expose the lack of coverage.
Tons of options... work it low to open up the point, eventually opening up AM or shift to Tavares.

A team with this much talent shouldn't be predictable and should make teams worried about infractions.
 
Tavares is the trealest key. He should always, always (with the italian accent), play on the first unit pp. As our captain and one of the best sheshooters in the gezame. Tavares, Marner, Matthews are guaranteed scorers and should always be there. Start with those. Then, when you have the most best group, KEEP IT ALWAYS THE SAME. Just like the bruins etc do. Colorado. Etc. Tampa. They hard on the PP. Detroit was back in their younger days. Sharks back in their prime, with thornton then, not anymore.
 
One thing I really dislike about our player tendencies is they really shy away from defenders. Just picture Marner getting caught on the wall or Matthews floating/curling away from a defender or Rielly drifting left, left out of the top of the umbrella at the mere sign of pressure.

Just because there's a team boxing you out doesn't mean you can't go through them. Here's a video of Colorado getting a lot of praise for working the puck. You'll hear Brian Lawton talk about going through an opposition defense to find seams. They're not too afraid to whip the puck around or engage the defender head on while looking for openings and seams to put the puck through.



In contrast, we just float around the perimeter.
 
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might not be a popular opinon but I would do it:

seprate matthews and marner on the PP

Matthews-Nylaner-Spezza-Simmonds-Muzzin
Tavares-Marner-Galchenyuk-Hyman-Rielly/Brodie (Rielly needs to earn his PP spot now IMO)
 
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Stephen said:
One thing I really dislike about our player tendencies is they really shy away from defenders. Just picture Marner getting caught on the wall or Matthews floating/curling away from a defender or Rielly drifting left, left out of the top of the umbrella at the mere sign of pressure.

Just because there's a team boxing you out doesn't mean you can't go through them. Here's a video of Colorado getting a lot of praise for working the puck. You'll hear Brian Lawton talk about going through an opposition defense to find seams. They're not too afraid to whip the puck around or engage the defender head on while looking for openings and seams to put the puck through.



In contrast, we just float around the perimeter.
Click to expand...


The floating on perimeter is also why our offense dries up when opposition plays tight checking game. We gotta learn to play body and not wuss out. Fancy hockey only works when there is no tight checking (even strength or PP)
 
I dont watch all the games but whenever I do Marner is making bad decisions often on the PP. He's trying to pass through 3 players, or he tries toe drag closer to the net.... sometimes he just needs to make a quick pass and let someone else make a play.

I agree, I think his lack of a dangerous shot makes it easier for opponents.


Tavares Matthews Nylander
Spezza Brodie
 
Stop running the same umbrella format where you have Reilly passing to either marner or matthews skating in. Everyone cheats towards taking the matthews shot away.
 
If you ain't have the 3 best offensive minded players and most talented on the first unit pp............. iTS POOR. Coaching, decision making and all together BLACK DIRT. Tavares, Marner and Mathews should always, always be there. The other personel are the ones these paid quests like malhotra etc should be choosing and making good decisions. Tavares should always, always be there and shoot thang up. HE LIVES FOR IT. Our otha suckas who have been on the first unit before john, don't. They fools and much poorer too.
 
Shoot. The. Puck.

How many PPs have we had recently with 1:30 of zone time and 1 shot?

Teams have figured out just take away the shot and cross seam for Matthews and Marner and you're fine.

Look at Washingtons success over the years. They change everything around OVs office so that aspect can still be effective.
 
Marshy said:
In: Nylander, Foligno, Brodie
Out: Anyone Old, Rielly.
Click to expand...
Brodie can’t make a proper pass to the left, he’d always pass it into nylanders feet when he was in his 1-T Side.
like it or not, Rielly is the best option on the PP
 
Twine Tickler said:
its absolutely infuriating how they have not tried this yet. Hyman, Simmonds, or Thornton never leave the top of the crease. Cleary this is what Malhotra wants them to do. They need to move around and present themselves as a down low option every now and again. It draws the defenders down low and will in turn open up more space for the cross seem passes from Marner to Matthews or vice versa. Incredibly frustrating to have to watch this same flawed PP operate for over a month now, and the only change is swapping out 1 superstar for another superstar. Like dude, Kerfoot can f***ing play PP in the right scheme. The system is what is failing, not the players. Clearly thiis is the case when the same players who cannot generate 5v4 are top 3 in production 5v5. Get Malhotra off the PP duties. He never played PP in his whole NHL career for f*** sakes. Keep him coaching the PK, and put anyone else in charge of the PP. f*** you could put the Leafs goalie coach in charge and get better results
Click to expand...
hot dang, nail meet head

to add: the breakout we have with the single/double drop pass is actually pretty effective at gaining zone entries with possession but that isn't the issue with the PP, but it's concerning that they haven't decided to vary up their entries. I've seen guys like Muzzin and Spezza simplify things by just dumping the puck and it's led to a successful retrieval and zone time--maybe it's time to dump the puck with pace every now and then? You've got everything working for you where the other team is standing at their blue lines, 3 across and sometimes sending more than one forechecker to disrupt the drop passes. Between Marner, Matthews, Nylander, and someone like Gally or Kerfoot, they have the personnel to make these entries a certainty as opposed to a long, drawn out process.

Then again, they're not getting much done while they're in the zone, whether it's immediately after gaining the zone or after sustained pressure. This means that there are cogs on the wheel that aren't turning with the whole. The only goals we've seen are mad scrambles in front of the net, meaning that our net front guys seem to find some relevance in those situations but otherwise are non-factors in reading cycle plays or in providing tips, screens, spacing, or support for 50-50 situations. I honestly would not mind replacing one of our net front guys with someone like Mikheyev, Kerfoot, or even bringing up Petan for a bit.
 
What we lack is the big shot from the point on the PP to keep the other team honest and Reilly just does NOT possess any kind of point threat shot but a wrister that always seems to get blocked which teams by now have taken note and I notice they now form a smaller box and play down low infront of their goal tender.

That takes away the slot and the cross seam pass threats because of the congestion of players and sticks which our guys are trying to force those passes that are either blocked, deflected by sticks and then iced or intercepted going the other way on odd man shorthanded rushes. With a big point shot or threat, that box would have to expand to cover the point threat which then opens up the offensive seam pass for the one timer or dead to rights in the slot down low opening up again scoring chances from all the areas due to a little more open ice down low

A formidable point threat also enables screens, deflections, rebounds or the boomer that goes straight in.
 
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