Simply put, you're not going to win very many games if you don't take advantage of your man advantages.
The Detroit Red Wings are finding that out the hard and frustrating way following their 2-1 setback against the Florida Panthers tonight, during which they failed to convert on their three powerplay chances.
And the numbers are even harder to look at for the entire season.
After tonight's game, Detroit has scored four powerplay goals this season out of a possible 45 chances. That equates to just under 9% efficiency, good (or bad) for 28th out of 31 NHL teams.
So what's the solution? Head coach Jeff Blashill had a very simple one when asked what must change in order to improve their ailing special teams:
“Score,” he replied.
“We're getting the chances, but need to bnury those chances,” he continued. “The first powerplay, we weren't able to get into the zone, so we wasted a minute of the power-play there. There were moments from a process standpoint that were good, but you have toe execute. We'll go back and look at it as coaches, but it's not about having an elaborate plan. We need to make sure we have the right people in the right spots, and be as predictable to each other as we can.”
The Red Wings will have the chance to try and remedy things when they visit Music City for a pair of games against the Nashville Predators, which will wrap up their six-game road swing.
– – Qutoes via Fox Sports Detroit Link – –
