Arizona Coyotes seeing momentum from power play chances
Nov 24, 2017, 10:55 PM
Arizona Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (23) celebrates his goal against the Los Angeles Kings with Clayton Keller, second from left, Brendan Perlini, center, Christian Fischer, second from right, and Derek Stepan (21) as Kings' Dustin Brown, left, skates past during the first period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Nov. 24, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Arizona Coyotes went on the power play in the first period of a game against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night, two days removed from a loss to the Sharks in which the Coyotes were 0-for-3 on the power play.
Arizona converted on this one, thanks to a shot from the point through traffic by Oliver Ekman-Larsson. It was 1-0 Coyotes.
OEL scores on the power play, gives @ArizonaCoyotes another early lead. (15th in 25 games) pic.twitter.com/ZZToiInW8X
— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) November 25, 2017
“We’ve had some practice time. About two weeks ago, we had a couple practices where we could work on it,” head coach Rick Tocchet said of his power play. “We’re a young team, so you need reps. It’s won us some games — that was a big goal by ‘O.'”
One of those young players, Christian Fischer, wound up with the game-winning goal in overtime on Friday. But to get there, it was the power play chances — including the three on which Arizona didn’t score — that gave Arizona its offensive swagger and kept the puck off of backup goalie Scott Wedgewood.
“Our power play the last two weeks have been clicking,” Fischer said. “Whether it doesn’t even mean scoring, it means getting chances, getting their defenders to defend.
“An example is [Kings defenseman Drew] Doughty, that guy plays PK and power play, so if we have them in their zone for two minutes, peppering the goalie with shots, making him tired — in the end, third period, he’s going to get tired.”
On Arizona’s second power play of Friday’s game, the Coyotes were doing just what Fischer described. For nearly the entirety of the man advantage, the Kings were in their own zone, forced to defend a barrage of shots and puck movements. It wasn’t until late in that penalty that the Kings finally cleared the puck out.
“If you don’t score, you at least want that, just for momentum,” Brendan Perlini said. “If they’re killing it and just dumping it down, dumping it down, it’s really a wasted chance. That’s something you can build off then, maybe if you get another (power play), ‘Okay, we had good pressure, this time we’re going to get a goal.'”
On the season, Arizona’s power play unit is scoring only 17.3 percent of the time, which ranks an unexciting 21st in the NHL. But as the Coyotes have now won four of their last five, they’ve gone 6-for-19 (31.6 percent) on the man advantage in that stretch of games.
“I’ve played on the PK before, once 30-40 seconds of running around, stopping and starting, you’re gassed,” Fischer said. “If you can keep it in there, stuff’s going to open up. They’re going to get tired, and that’s when mistakes happen.”
UP NEXT
The Coyotes will play the second game of a back-to-back on Saturday, completing a homestand that features three games in four days. That contest will come against the Vegas Golden Knights, marking the third meeting between the two desert foes this season.
Vegas (14-6-1) finds itself at the top of the Pacific Division as the NHL is now past its quarter mark in the season. They’re riding a four-game winning streak, but will also be on their second game of a back-to-back on Saturday.
After that, Arizona heads up to Alberta to face Edmonton and Calgary on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.
