The "new look" Caps power play looked pretty good against Atlanta Friday night, despite finishing just 1-for-7 (14%). It looked a little worse on Saturday night against the 'Canes, but finished with a better success rate at 33% (1-for-3).On Monday, however, it looked downright awful against the Isles, and failed to connect in any of the six opportunities the Caps had with the extra man, firing only one shot on goal in 8:45 of powerplay time. Included in that was 1:23 of 5-on-3 time during which the team didn't register a single shot on goal (the Caps are now 0-for-3 in 3:07 of ice-time with a two-man advantage in the young season, and have only two shots on goal), and the top unit of Alex Ovechkin, Viktor Kozlov, Chris Clark, Tom Poti and Mike Green has yet to light the lamp with the man advantage.
Here's a look at the shots on goal per minute of power play time through three games:
- 1.093 (@ Atlanta)
- 0.588 (vs. Carolina)
- 0.114 (@ N.Y. Islanders)
Of course, given the incredibly small sample size from which these numbers are taken, the absence of the team's second-best goal-scorer in two of the three games so far, the three games in less than four days, and the lack of experience playing together for most of the key players, I certainly wouldn't push the panic button quite yet. In fact, five teams are still looking for their first power play goals of the season, so perhaps we can chalk up some of these early-season struggles to lingering summer rust that is spread pretty much League-wide.
Nevertheless, it's something to watch, and, if this inefficiency continues, it probably won't be long before you see Michael Nylander on the top power play unit to try to get that group going. After all, that's part of the reason he was brought to D.C., no?