Coach Joel Quenneville says the Avalanche power play is getting better. The numbers, though, say something different.
While it is true the Avs’ PP percentage improved after Monday night’s game at Minnesota, the humble fact is the Avs have been so poor this season that a 1-for-6 showing was, indeed, an improvement.
Joe Sakic scored a power-play goal against the Wild, and the Avs did get five shots on their last man-advantage chance of the game.
But much of the reason the Avs failed to get at least a point — and a large reason they don’t have more points this season — rests largely on failing to take advantage of their PP chances. Nowhere was that more in evidence than on a 5-on-3 opportunity for 40 seconds in the first period against the Wild.
The Avs spent a large portion of that time holding the puck, searching out teammates for better shots, instead of the player with the puck just firing it himself.
It has been a problem all season. The Avs entered Tuesday ranked next-to-last in the 30-team NHL on the power play, at 14 percent (43 goals in 308 chances). Only St. Louis is worse, at 13.7 percent.
Frequent point man John-Michael Liles has three goals this season — after three straight seasons in double-figure scoring. Free-agent signee Ryan Smyth, considered one of the league’s power-play specialists over the years for his tipping ability and grit in front of the net, has just two PP goals in 47 games. He had 15 in 71 games last season for Edmonton and the New York Islanders. In only three of his 10 previous NHL seasons did Smyth fail to score in double figures on PP goals.
Joe Sakic has four PP goals in 36 games, on pace for his lowest output since 1999-2000.
The longtime captain — like everyone else around the Avs — has trouble explaining why such a crucial part of the team has been so bad this season.
“We’ve got to find a way to get it better,” Sakic said. “With our talent level, it’s got to be better.”
Quenneville said after Monday’s loss that the power play “has been better the last few games.”
But it couldn’t have been much worse.
The Avs put just four shots on net in the five other PP chances they had against the Wild, before the five they got on the last one. One noticeable trait of the Avs’ point men has been their unwillingness to shoot the puck, especially from the center of the blue line. Teams make it harder now with a collapsing defense whereby all defenders try to block shots from getting through. But the lack of shots from the point is creating fewer deflection chances for players such as Smyth, or rebound chances if a shot manages to get through.
Quenneville has urged his point men to shoot more, but it seems to be falling on deaf ears.
Liles is averaging two shots per game through 73 contests, despite getting considerable power-play time. Sakic has 102 shots on net in 36 games, close to half as much as the shot-per-game output of some previous seasons.
“Like I said, we’ve got to find a way to get the job done,” Sakic said. “The power play is crucial, and we’ve got to get a lot better.”
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com
