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A power play for any team is supposed to be a strength. It’s a unit that can compensate for poor rive-on-five play and bail out an otherwise struggling team. It was a strength for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms all season, with an 18% power play percentage, third-best in the Atlantic Division.
Related: What Allowed The Cleveland Monsters to Turn Things Around?
The power play went 0-5 in their two weekend games while allowing a shorthanded goal in the 5-2 loss to the Cleveland Monsters on Feb. 14. The Phantoms are 3-19 on the man advantage in the last five games, all of which have resulted in losses. “I don’t think we were desperate enough,” Phantoms head coach John Snowden noted after the 3-1 loss to the Syracuse Crunch.
While the unit isn’t the reason for their five-game losing streak, it hasn’t helped, and it’s become a liability with the way it’s looked lately. Many fans wonder how the Phantoms got here, not just with the power play but the team as a whole.
The Phantoms were once competitive with the best teams in the Atlantic Division, and now are in a fight for a playoff spot. The struggles on the power play are reflective of the poor play overall, and understanding how the unit fell apart can help them fix it.
Phantoms Strategy Isn’t Working
The Phantoms move the puck around a lot on the man-advantage. They’ll win the faceoff and either cycle the puck around the boards or move it up to the point to set up the play. Then, it’s all about finding the open skaters on the centering or cross-ice passes. It’s not working unless the puck finds Lane Pederson in the middle, the veteran center who has six power-play goals this season.
Those extra passes or passes to the middle when there’s an open look at the faceoff circle have everyone wondering if the Phantoms are overthinking things sometimes. They look for the ideal shot when they get the puck on the net, which is all that’s needed.
It’s a big-picture issue with the Phantoms and other underachieving American Hockey League (AHL) teams. Teams are hyper-focused on the quality shot and want to get into the interior, whether it’s the slot or near the net. Otherwise, they feel like it’s a wasted shot. In the AHL, any shot is good enough to go in, especially when goaltending isn’t great like it is in the NHL. Teams musttake that risk. The Phantoms don’t, and it hurts them particularly on the power play.
Diving deeper into the X’s and O’s of it all, the Phantoms are trying to go low to high, and it’s not working. “They pressed up on us, and we needed to play underneath them, and I don’t think we did. We didn’t get pucks to the goal line and get low to get them to shift their press down and not have to press us so much at the top,” Snowden stated after the unit went 0-3 against the Crunch. Ideally, the Phantoms get the puck to the point and stretch out the defense or vice versa but neither plan is working, and it shows.
Phantoms Aren’t Making The Most of Open Looks
Snowden can talk strategy for days (and the above quote suggests he’s willing to do so). Yet, for all the planning, the players must execute. The power play is where the talent can stand out and take over games. The Phantoms haven’t seen that happen in a long time.
The AHL is where a great shooter will stand out because those players are hard to come by. The Phantoms don’t have many of them, and it’s on display lately. It’s why they aren’t making the most of their open looks. “We’re trying to pass the puck into the net, and at times we just need to deliver,” Snowden added after the latest game.
The power play and offense in general are moving the puck around in the offensive zone effectively. There are times when a goal looks like it’s coming, only to see a player come up short. Some of that is bad puck luck, like Anthony Richard or Lane Pederson have experienced lately. Most of that comes from players underachieving.
The offense moves the puck around a lot, and there are plenty of times where a goal looks like it’s coming. Only to see a player come up short. Some of that is bad puck luck, like Anthony Richard or Lane Pederson have had lately. Some of that is because players are underachieving and not making the most of their opportunities. “We gotta bear down on those chances, especially when we’re getting the ones right in the middle of the rink,” Snowden added.
The Philadelphia Flyers are big believers in Oliver Bonk, the defense prospect who is slowly easing himself into the lineup after missing time to injury. They want to see how he looks on the power play. He’s been a weak link on the unit so far, making minimal impact despite playing multiple roles in it. Bonk isn’t the only player in this category, as there are multiple big names who the Flyers like but aren’t putting together the results.
What Are The Fixes?
Alex Bump’s return should help. The prospect has a great shot and opens things up at the wing. The Phantoms can get him open looks but the key is finding out whether he can drive play or not. It’s something Denver Barkey did, and Pederson can do at times but the Phatnoms aren’t getting that from anyone consistently, and Bump’s ability to drive play can make all of the difference. It’s pivotal for him if he wants to make it in the NHL, and the power play is his chance to do it.
If he’s still incapable of driving play, the defense must generate pressure on the power play. It’s hard to do so when they can’t go low to high but that’s where Christian Kyrou, the Phantoms All-Star, is a valuable part of the roster. They must have him play the point and play it well to turn things around.
“We’re finding ways to lose games right now rather than early in the season; we were finding ways to win games,” Snowden stated about a team that is better than what they’ve shown lately. “They are a good team with a good coach, and sometimes things don’t click the way you want it. I’ve been there before,” Crunch head coach Joel Bouchard mentioned after the win over the Phantoms when asked about them.
The big thing for the Phantoms is rediscovering themselves with the talent they have in the room, and the talent is there for them to figure it out. “It’s not a lack of talent, we have talent,” Snowden said following the game, adding, “You have to be all in, and I do believe we have a bunch of men who are willing to do that.” The Phantoms fans and Flyers fans, eager to see a winning culture being built in Allentown, hope he’s right.
