On Power Play Shots

I got to thinking about the lack of shots and the Red Wings’ dismal power play and I pulled up some stats. According to NHL.com, the Wings have had 72 power play opportunities for 120 minutes, 12 seconds. In that time, they’ve taken 71 shots. That gives them a shots per power play opportunity of .986 and a shots per power play minute of .591. Both are good for last in the Western Conference.

The only team in the league worse? The Winnipeg Jets, with a .515 S/PPM and .84 S/PPO.

The next-worst Western Conference team is Nashville, with a .713 S/PPM and a 1.17 S/PPO. Dallas is very close at .715 and 1.2, respectively.

Keep in mind, of course, that not all power play opportunities are two minutes.

Obviously, shots aren’t what really matter on a power play, goals are. The Wings’ don’t have the second-worst power play, they sit at 25th in the league at 13.9%. However, the lack of shots could be an indicator of what’s going wrong on a power play that isn’t living up to expectations.

The Wings have had the most power play minutes in the league (but only the second-most power play opportunities, a good reason to do away with power play percentages in favor of goals per power play minute). They’re clearly not taking advantage of those opportunities.

Detroit is currently right in the middle of the league, tied for 15th, in shots per game. That their shot numbers are only down on the power play seems to indicate something but I don’t know what. Maybe just that they’re trying to be too cute when they think they have the chance to. Someone who’s an actual coach will have to solve that one.

Team	Sh / PP Min	Sh / PP Opp
Islanders	1.05	1.568966
Senators	1.000959	1.581818
Blue Jackets	0.992355	1.606061
Sabres	0.94168	1.491525
Blues	0.939948	1.471698
Devils	0.914407	1.365079
Canadiens	0.904912	1.438356
Hurricanes	0.892726	1.446429
Maple Leafs	0.890044	1.405797
Flyers	0.887021	1.484375
Sharks	0.88622	1.3
Penguins	0.863384	1.33871
Panthers	0.86315	1.392857
Coyotes	0.855476	1.396825
Wild	0.853439	1.490566
Ducks	0.819751	1.295455
Avalanche	0.818686	1.372093
Flames	0.809422	1.285714
Blackhawks	0.80449	1.323077
Bruins	0.77027	1.23913
Oilers	0.752555	1.208955
Capitals	0.74896	1.211538
Kings	0.73775	1.116667
Canucks	0.721537	1.262295
Stars	0.714672	1.2
Predators	0.713376	1.166667
Lighting	0.665712	1.087719
Rangers	0.641892	1.075472
Red Wings	0.590682	0.986111
Jets	0.516076	0.84