by CHICAGO The NHL’s worst power play continued to deteriorate after the New York Islanders went 0-4 in their 5-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.
The team’s conversion rate is a meager 12.2%, 0.8% lower than the next team, the Boston Bruins. To clarify, the Winnipeg Jets are at the top of the league with a share of 30.3%.
The Jets have scored 30 power play goals on 99 attempts so far this season. The Islanders scored just 11 points on 90 attempts.
This is the third year Islanders assistant coach John Maclean has run the power play, and his numbers haven’t been great.
In his first year with the team, they finished 30th out of 32 with 15.8%, just 0.2% away from finishing last. The year before, the team had the 12th best power play with Barry Despite as head coach.
Last season the numbers were better. Although the Islanders still weren’t in the top half, they made 20.4% of their power play opportunities, good enough for 19th in the NHL.
They have scored more than one power play goal only once this season, last Sunday when they tied the Ottawa Senators 2-2 for a 4-2 win.
Islanders power play led by John MacLean:
0-1=5 times
0-2=3 times
0-3=9 times
1-6=2 timesHave scored more than 1 power play goal in ONE game this season (2-2).
Have played 22 games in which they did not score a power play goal.
32 games played. 11 power play goals.
– philjewell (@philjewell_81) December 16, 2024
The Islanders have played a total of 16 one-goal games and lost 10 of them, with seven losses coming in overtime.
When they score a power play goal, they are 8-3-0.
When #Islands Score 1 PPG this season: 8-3-0
When NYI doesn’t score a PPG: 4-12-4
*without 4-3 OTL until #NJDevils when they didn’t get PP
— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) December 16, 2024
It gets a little worse:
In games against PKs that are in the bottom 10 of #NHL, #Islands PP is 3 of 23 (13.04%).
2 of the 3 were against it #GoSensGO (76.2 PK%, 8th worst) in a 4-2 win in which they were outscored 31-13.
Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) December 16, 2024
If the team had a league average strength of around 20%, it could easily secure a spot in the playoffs. They are currently one spot behind the second wildcard position.
Not all of the power play problems fall on MacLean’s shoulders, as these players have enough talent on the man-advantage units to make an impact.
Overall, that’s not the case, and something has to give because if the Islanders miss the playoffs, the power play is the main reason why, and the penalty kill isn’t far behind.
