New Jersey Devils: What To Do About The Power Play

The New Jersey Devils have done some things well in their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but that’s not the power play. They need to change things up in order to be productive with the man advantage.

The New Jersey Devils played terribly in game four against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Much of that was thanks to the atrocity that was the Devils power play.

The Devils went 1 for 6 on the power play in game four. That only goal came on a 5 on 3 advantage off a beautiful shot from Will Butcher. That shot came with an equally beautiful screen from Patrick Maroon. Besides that, it was awful to watch.

The Devils are 3 for 18 on the power play this series. Every team with an equal power play or worse is either down three to one in the series, or eliminated already. Or Vegas, which has broken all logical thinking to continue winning. They’ve been able to do nothing with the man advantage.

It’s been pretty clear how Tampa has put an end to almost every Devils power play. They stack the box, and don’t allow anything underneath. The Devils have no chance of getting the puck to a player in a high-danger area. Almost all their shots come from outside the circle.

The only real good power play chance came on a great hockey play from Taylor Hall. He waited to send a pass to Travis Zajac, who was sitting in the front of the net. Zajac then tipped it past Andrei Vasilevskiy to make it 4-2 in game one.

Outside that goal, the other two power play goals came with a two-man advantage.

So basically, the Devils really need to make changes to the power play if they have any chance of making this a series. On top of that, the Devils will have to do it without Sami Vatanen, who was taken out by a high hit by Nikita Kucherov.

The first change I want to see is take Maroon and Butcher, and put them on the second unit. That forces the Lightning to make a decision about putting their top penalty kill unit either against Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri, or Butcher and Maroon.

Secondly, the Devils should never, ever play Drew Stafford with the man advantage. He hasn’t shown anything worth a darn. He shouldn’t be in the lineup, let alone playing when the Devils need to score.

Finally, without Sami Vatanen, the Devils should go four forwards for both units. Sure, the Lightning can possibly get chances shorthanded, but the Devils need to put the pressure on. That’s more important at this point.

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So here’s what I think the lines should look like:

First Line PP:

Hall – Zajac – Palmieri

Damon Severson – Pavel Zacha

Second Line PP:

Maroon – Nico Hischier – Marcus Johansson

Butcher – Blake Coleman

Coleman and Zacha have been good at getting to dirty areas and coming out with the puck. They will also play well enough defensively to keep the Lightning honest. Hall remains with Palmieri, because he needs a scorer for when two players chase him. Zajac can win faceoffs and go right to a dirty area. Hischier and Johansson can build chemistry, and both can score from inside and outside the circle. Plus, Hischier, Johansson and Maroon can all rush the net when Butcher takes a shot.

This isn’t a perfect formula. The Devils power play has gone cold before, and head coach John Hynes sticks to the script until it works. It usually bounces back, but we don’t have that kind of time now. The Devils need a spark, and that can come quickly from the power play. Hopefully, whatever Hynes decides to do will work.

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