Devils Powered By Record-Setting Power Play
Back in the day, Montreal used to score so many power play goals that the NHL changed the rule in 1956 to limit a team to one goal with a man advantage.
Imagine what these Devils could do under similar allowances.
As the Canadiens rudely discovered on Tuesday night, you best stay out of the penalty box when New Jersey comes to town. After going four-for-five with the man advantage in a 5-4 overtime win at the Islanders on Friday, the Devils banged home another pair of power play goals in four attempts to secure a 5-2 road victory.
For all practical purposes, Devils wing Alexander Holtz’s first period goal that evened the score at 1-1 was also the result of New Jersey benefitting from an extra man. Montreal defenseman Jonathan Kovacevic’s skates barely touched the ice after hopping over the penalty box boards when Holtz, unmarked in the slot, backhanded the rebound of a Dougie Hamilton point shot past goalie Cayden Primeau one second after the penalty officially expired.
Nico Hischier and Tyler Toffoli added power play snipes early in the third period to give New Jersey the breathing room it needed against a Montreal club that was reeling from its third game in four nights. Those markers pushed the Devils’ power play efficiency up to a ridiculous 44% (11-for-25) on the season.
Sure, it’s early, and the Devils (3-1-1) haven’t exactly faced the league’s cream of the crop, but understand that New Jersey tallied 49 power play goals all last season. Put another way, they’re more than 22% of their way to their 2022-23 total after playing just 6% of their schedule. Per NHL.com’s Mike Morreale, the franchise’s previous record for most PP goals through five games was eight, last attained by the 1990-91 squad.
The Devils certainly had enough high-end talent last season to be a top-ten power play team, with Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Hischier up front and Hamilton bombing away from the point. Adding power forward Timo Meier at the trade deadline should have been the finishing touch.
It just didn’t work out that way. By playoff time the power play was impotent—when factoring in the three shorthanded goals against, the Devils posted the third-worst net power play percentage among the 16 teams in the tournament.
Associate coach Andrew Brunette’s departure after the season to take the Nashville head coaching gig left the Devils needing a new special teams architect. Enter Travis Green, a former teammate of Devils General Manager Tom Fitzgerald, who added him to Head Coach Lindy Ruff’s staff. In addition, Fitzgerald acquired the sharpshooting Toffoli, who scored 34 goals, including 10 on the power play, for Calgary last season, in an offseason trade. Now add in rookie defenseman Luke Hughes, Jack’s brother, and the Devils suddenly possessed enough skill to roll out two lethal power play units.
Though Hamilton has registered two power play goals quarterbacking the “1B unit”, the vast majority of the Devils’ damage with the extra man has come with Jack Hughes on the ice. After consecutive four-point nights, the 22-year old isn’t just off to his best start in his five-year pro career—his 14 points (four goals and 10 assists, all primary) through five games are the most of any NHL player since Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux in 2000. Nine of those points have come with the man advantage. Hughes’ effectiveness in transporting the puck from end to end has been unparalleled even in a league with so many amazing puckhandlers. As he’s gotten stronger, he has forced goalies to respect his shot from any angle, which has only enhanced his exquisite playmaking skills.
I wouldn’t say that Green has made major structural changes to New Jersey’s power play, but there certainly has been a glaring increase in the amount of traffic in front of the opposition’s net. MSG analyst Bryce Salvador noted during Tuesday’s broadcast that four of the Devils’ power play goals coming into the contest were abetted by screens. Last season, I felt that the Devils were too perimeter-oriented in their diamond formation, with fourth line wing Nathan Bastian the only player who seemed to make a concentrated effort to take away the goalie’s eyes.
The Devils are also shooting a little more often, as measured by comparing NaturalStatTrick.com’s Corsi stats (small sample size disclaimer). Luke Hughes, like Hamilton, also scored a goal from distance this season, but what the added shot attempts have mostly done is move the defense around so that when New Jersey retrieved the puck, they’ve been able to expose unchecked areas in front. Hischier’s goal came about after one such scramble when Jack Hughes took the rebound of his own shot behind the net and fed the captain for a one-time swipe from the right side of the cage.
The Devils’ power play dominance has soothed the effect of their inconsistency at five-on-five, where they have been outscored, 9-5, this season. As many folks expected, opponents are coming at New Jersey harder and faster this season. The Devils’ ability to play at top speed isn’t a secret anymore.
Obviously, there will be some regression to a more reasonable mean in the Devils’ power play conversion rate over the course of a long season. Still, so long as New Jersey’s top guns are healthy, opponents should shudder when the refs signal to them that they’re about to play a man down.