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What is the difference between a good power play and a great power play?

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Everything is in practice, J.T. Miller he says.

Since Miller arrived in Vancouver in 2019, the Canucks have scored on 22.3 percent of their power plays, ninth-best in the NHL during that span.

You could say it’s a good power play.

It clearly isn’t right now.

Wednesday’s 6-0 defeat at the hands of the New Jersey Devils was a game where the team’s man advantage could have made a difference early but, as has often happened this season, the Canucks’ power play didn’t work. He fell to a mediocre 17.2 percent success rate, which ranked 20th overall in the NHL.

There were moments when the power play hit and looked good doing it, but they struggled to replicate that success due to challenges in confidence, execution and self-belief.

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“You don’t even think about executing, finding breaks and pucks on your routes. Your routes in intrusions continue to your points, you should not talk about it. Great power games never mention this. That is the DNA of the power play,” Miller said.

And when you watch the Canucks’ power play, you can see what he means. Collectively they do a good job of getting into the zone, but then things get messy. They have difficulty moving the puck a meter or two beyond the opponent’s blue line.

“We’re not playing the way we want to and we’re 4-1-2,” he said Wednesday morning before that evening’s loss, his second regulation loss of the season. “I think a big power play is when you get in your entries, you win your board battles, and you have good players to kill it when you’re ready.”

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This is a simple diagnosis, but of course it is difficult to find the real result you want. Otherwise, teams would be very angry about the power play.

Rick Tocchet He believes his power play could be great if they beat outside penalty kicks and then start moving the puck to the goal. And the other four Canucks need to be on their toes, ready to move their feet and adapt.

“Did you overcome the pressure? Take it to the hole. This is the game. “When you go to the hole, we should have three guys around the net, not just one guy,” he said. “There’s not a single guy in their place looking for a single timer. I mean, everybody wants a timer, everybody wants their shot. That might not happen.”

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One major reason for the Canucks’ struggles is pretty simple: They shoot at the lowest rate on the power play of any team in the league.

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Shot volume is an easy measurement and it has been proven that the more shots you take, the more points you will score.

To make matters worse, the quality of shots the Canucks are producing is, as their coach has implied, bottom of the barrel. The Canucks aren’t shooting. And they don’t even shoot from a good place.

They have to figure this out somehow.

Last season, the Canucks ranked in the top half of the league in total shot attempts on the power play and in the top third of teams in shot attempts produced from close range.

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The most successful power play in recent seasons was driven by Connor McDavid Edmonton Lubricants power play. In the previous three seasons, they converted 28.4 percent of their opportunities. During that span, the Canucks had the eighth-best power play, converting on 22.9 percent of their opportunities.

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The difference is stark: the Oilers have scored 36 more goals than Vancouver over those three seasons, or about 12 goals per season.

The average team scored just over three goals per game; You can see how those 12 goals in just one season could lead to a few more wins. This makes a difference.

So what makes the Oilers so good on the power play? Their ability to create quality footage.

Using Natural Stat Trick’s expected goals metric, which takes every shot taken in a game and compares them to all shots taken at the same point in the last decade and the likelihood of those shots going in – unfortunately this public database is missing things like goalkeepers and goals. Defender positions and pre-shot pass data, so it’s pretty basic but still instructive. The Oilers have historically made 1.7 times more shots that result in goals than the Canucks do per 60 minutes of power play time.

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They shoot better than the Canucks.

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