Nikita Kucherov says Lightning power play was bad. We take a closer look
When Nikita Kucherov wants to dissect the Lightning power play, you have to listen. The star winger typically keeps things close to the vest, but he was candid at Wednesday’s media day, saying the power-play’s top-five numbers were inflated — and it showed in the first-round playoff loss to the Panthers.
“The power play was bad in the playoffs,” Kucherov said. “So, whatever happens during the season, who cares? In the playoffs, it was bad.
“During the season, you can go against the top-five teams and be bad, and then you go against the bad teams and score a few and then all of a sudden your stats are looking better and everybody forgets about the top-five teams that we didn’t score against.
“So the statistics, I don’t look at them,” Kucherov continued. “I just think we’ve got to do better in the playoffs.”
The Lightning power play’s 25.9% success rate during the regular season was fifth-best in the NHL. But in the five-game loss to the Panthers it was just 11.1 (2-for-18), including an 0-for-15 stretch between Tampa Bay’s two man-advantage goals.
The disappointing performance fueled Kucherov as he prepared for this season.
“I really took it personal,” he said. “You’re just hungry to go back on the ice and work on things and (see) why that didn’t work.”
Coach Jon Cooper said he didn’t blame the power play for his team’s early exit.
“When you’re in the playoffs, you’re just going against one team,” he said." So now, coaches get to really dissect, really look at things. ... But I wouldn’t pin us not winning the series on our power play whatsoever, because I don’t think either team did anything.”
Were last season’s numbers inflated?
In the regular season, the Lightning’s success rate against Eastern Conference playoff teams (23.5%) and all postseason qualifiers (22.5%) last season were lower than their overall numbers but not a far cry from them.
And power-play success didn’t always translate to beating some of the league’s better teams. Tampa Bay was 5-for-15 (33.3%) against Toronto last season but lost all four games against the Maple Leafs.
But get this: The Lightning’s power-play numbers against the Panthers during the regular season were exactly as bad as during the playoffs: 11.1 percent (2-for-18). Florida’s penalty kill ranked 10th in the NHL in the regular season.
So against the Panthers — regular season and playoffs — the Lightning scored just four goals on 36 power-play chances.
The Lightning now head into this season still needing to find a way to replace Steven Stamkos, whose hard, right-shot one-timer from the left circle was their biggest scoring threat on the power play for so many years.
With Stamkos on the left flank, Brayden Point one of the best catch-and-shoot scorers from the bumper, all eyes on Kucherov along the right half wall and Victor Hedman always a threat up top, penalty killers had to pick their poison when defending against the Lightning power play.
Last year, not so much.
“Not having Stammer on the left side is, you don’t have the one-timer, (so) there’s no respect on the left side,” Kucherov said. “And if you have a lefty, you care less now.”
A season of experiments
The Lightning experimented with several different power-play looks last season.
The put right-handed shooters Darren Raddysh and Mitchell Chaffee on the left side, but neither stuck. They moved Point to the left circle for a bit, taking him out of the bumper spot where he’s been one of the league’s best scorers (averaging 15.25 power-play goals the past four years). Kucherov even moved to the left side on occasion.
The addition of Jake Guentzel helped — he led the league with 17 power-play goals while playing along the net front — but the hole in the left circle made it hard to keep opponents honest.
“For a lot of years, we kind of had it set, and it worked really well,” Point said. “Last year was the first year in a while where we really had to try different players in different spots. ... Our numbers were good in the regular season, but I don’t know if we really could manipulate PKs maybe the way we used to. And that’s something big coming into camp, and hopefully we can sort it out.”
With Stamkos, the Lightning remained stationary and forced penalty-killers to come to them. But last year, they put more movement into their power play, and a unit that already was prone to overpassing at times became discombobulated.
Hope on the horizon?
A full season of Oliver Bjorkstrand, the quick, right-handed shot acquired from Seattle at the trade deadline, could be an easy solution in the left circle. But Bjorkstrand has received most of his career power-play time in front of the net, and he’s averaged only six man-advantage goals over the past four seasons.
By comparison, Stamkos averaged 16 man-advantage goals over his last seven years with the Lightning. But let’s not get lost in the numbers. Bjorkstrand doesn’t have to match Stamkos’ production; he just needs to be a legitimate scoring threat that penalty killers have to account for.
The timing of Bjorkstrand’s season-ending injury in April — he suffered a left-thigh compartment syndrome injury that required emergency surgery and shelved him for the playoffs — was unfortunate for the Lightning, because Bjorkstrand was starting to find his footing on the top power-play unit.
Bjorkstrand’s only power-play goal with the Lightning came in his second-to-last game, and Kucherov had the primary assist. But it came from the bumper position, as the Lightning were moving players around.
“When you have the right (pieces) on the power play, you don’t have to move,” Kucherov said. “It becomes simple. But when you don’t have (pieces), it’s now, ‘What are we doing?’... And (then when) everybody starts moving, it’s just everybody out of their own comfort zone.
“And you’ve got to get used to the new spots in a short amount of time. I feel it’s more difficult when you move around. And some teams do. I don’t like it. ... When you have the right pieces on the power play, you can be stationary.”
Sam LaPorta Confident Offense Could Stage Comeback Against Ravens
The Detroit Lions remember their last trip to M&T Bank Stadium well.
In that game, which occurred during the 2023 season, they were beaten soundly over the course of four quarters. The Ravens pounced early while the Lions' offense sputtered, with Lamar Jackson leading four touchdown drives to open the game.
Before the Lions got a first down, they were in a 28-0 hole. Ultimately, the Lions were trailed 35-0 after three quarters and lost 38-6.
This isn't something that's easily forgotten, and tight end Sam LaPorta is eager to avoid such a disastrous start when they travel to Baltimore for Monday Night Football.
“Reflecting back on the 2023 loss with the Ravens, yes, I felt like we were outperformed. We were out (performed physically), we definitely didn’t play complimentary football," LaPorta said. "We had two three-and-outs on offense to start the game on offense, so we’d touched the ball six times on offense. We looked up and we were down 21-0. So definitely not complimentary football at the end of the day.”
A better start is undoubtedly key for the Lions' offense, which has had two very different performances in their first two games this season.
Along with a fast start, LaPorta wants the team to weather the storm should they encounter a flurry of early points from Lamar Jackson and the explosive Ravens offense.
The Buffalo Bills proved that a comeback is possible even late in the game, as evidenced by their late rally to beat the Ravens in Week 1 of this season. As a result, LaPorta is confident that the team could do a similar maneuver if they in fact find themselves in an early drought.
“We have to start faster. And I don’t want to say we hit the panic button too early, but we definitely were a little frantic. We know that we’re a great team. We were a good team back then too," LaPorta said. "A 21-point deficit isn’t the end of the world. You saw the Bills come back with, what was it, like 15 points in 10 minutes against them? It can be done against great teams, and we know that we can do that if we find ourselves in that position, which we definitely won’t.”
Selfless culture
The Lions' offense exploded for 52 points last week in a performance that has been somewhat of a norm over the last three seasons. Several skill players had big days, but the overall improvement of their pass protection was also a major factor.
LaPorta caught three passes for 26 yards, but also had some impressive pass protection moments that allowed him to make a strong impact even when not being featured in the passing game.
This mindset of embracing doing the dirty work as a run-blocker is shared throughout Detroit's receiver and tight end room, with the Iowa product praising the selflessness of the group. He cited a big block from wide receiver Kalif Raymond as a key example from Sunday's game.
“Absolutely, there’s a lot of selfless individuals on this team. I say this frequently, but there’s a lot of mouths to feed. You see a lot of wideouts getting involved in the run game," LaPorta said. "Kalif Raymond, coach Campbell reflected on the game the other day, and on the trap block that Jahmyr ran down our sideline for like 40 yards, Kalif had a fantastic block that you’d probably never hear about unless you sat down and really watched the tape and reflected on it with the entire team. So yeah, we expect everybody to block that’s out there touching the field.”
In addition to the performance of the skill players in the run game, LaPorta credited the improvements made by the offensive line. Additionally, he spoke highly of tight end Brock Wright's performance as a pass protector.
“I think a lot of guys took a great jump from Week 1 to Week 2, starting with the offensive line," LaPorta explained. "They played outstanding last week. You saw 180 yards on the ground, protecting the quarterback the entire game. Again, Brock and I were involved in with protection a lot. We thought we did a great job, too.”
