Will changes on the power play work for the Penguins?
It's been a fairly common scene in Cranberry since 2015.
A booming voice with a New England accent halting practice for the Pittsburgh Penguins and bellowing out a command.
Usually, head coach Mike Sullivan of Marshfield, Mass., has been the origin of those missives.
As of late, contributions have been offered by assistant coach David Quinn of Cranston, R.I.
On Saturday, Quinn didn't like what he was seeing, blew his whistle, banged his stick on the ice and belted out an order.
"Too slow!" Quinn yelled. "Too slow! Go again!"
The Penguins were sluggish on a zone entry during a power-play drill and prompted Quinn's command during the late stages of a training camp which has seen the team focus heavily on a special teams unit that struggled badly last season.
Despite having the talents of a handful of future honorees of the Hockey Hall of Fame at their disposal, the Penguins were bad — obscenely bad — with the power play in 2023-24, converting at only 15.3%, 30th in the 32-team NHL.
"You look at the teams that win, you look at the teams that get in the playoffs, their special teams are usually at least in the top half of the league," Penguins forward Bryan Rust said. "Or at least not in the bottom.
"Everybody who was involved really cared a lot. We were always trying to find ways to dig our way out of it and get some consistency with it. For whatever reason, it didn't and it hurt our team in the end."
That futility was most harmful to associate coach Todd Reirden who, as caretaker of that unit, was fired May 3. By June 12, the team hired Quinn, a longtime friend of Sullivan and a former head coach in the NHL, to take over as custodian of the power play (as well as the defensemen).
Quinn and Sullivan began discussing alterations to the power play almost immediately and even discussed those changes with the players involved on the unit over the summer. Those augmentations were slowly implemented through video work and on-ice drills throughout training camp, resulting in a productive preseason.
Over seven exhibition games — including contests in which the Penguins dressed or faced lineups full of reserve players — they scored six times on 20 power-play opportunities (30.0%).
Again, it's only the preseason. But that success has buoyed hopes for those involved.
"It's always nice to see pucks go in the net," Rust quipped. "It doesn't matter when it is."
To be certain, the Penguins aren't reinventing the wheel. But they are trying to use their wheels faster in terms of entries into the offensive zone and how the puck moves within the zone.
Basically, tempo has been stressed in each area.
"Regardless of what the scheme is, there's been a heavy emphasis placed on the pace at which we do things," Sullivan said. "That, in and of itself, is going to make us harder to play against. We're trying to under-handle the puck and not over-handle the puck. We're trying to change the point of attack and not slow the power play down but speed it up. The guys have embraced that, they've done a really good job at it and I think they're creating opportunity because of it."
Specifically with regard to the offensive zone, the Penguins have been trying to utilize more of that real estate instead of just moving the puck around the perimeter.
"Attacking, having low plays," forward Rickard Rakell said. "And trying to attack off the rush. A little bit more aggressive in zone and not only relying on high plays. Shots from the outside and trying to get a little bit more on the inside. Still having set plays but a little bit more (of an) attack mentality and get on the inside so everyone is on the same page."
One notable change as far as personnel is concerned is that right-handed defensemen Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang are each expected to open the season on the top unit with Letang at the center point and Karlsson on the left flank, according to Sullivan.
For well over a decade going back to Dan Bylsma's tenure as head coach, the Penguins have primarily deployed four forwards and one defenseman.
On Saturday, those two skated with forwards Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Rakell. Rust is believed to be a candidate for that group as well but is sidelined with an undisclosed injury at the moment.
"Obviously, defensively I think it's nice," Crosby said of using two defensemen. "You know (opponents) are going to try to create opportunities, even on their (penalty kill). So having a couple of defensemen is nice. But I don't really look at them like that. (Karlsson and Letang are) pretty much rovers anyway at this point. But you're looking at the way they shoot. They're both right-handed shots, guys that can shoot the puck and make plays. Having guys in those positions, I think, you've got to either be ready to shoot yourself or be ready for things around the net with the way they shoot it."
With the NHL in the midst of one of its most offensively productive eras, a healthy power play is seemingly vital to overall success.
The league's four conference finalists during the 2024 postseason — the New York Rangers (26.4%), Edmonton Oilers (26.3%), Dallas Stars (24.2%) and Florida Panthers (23.5%) — all finished in the top eight among power-play conversion rates during the regular season.
"Obviously, scoring goals is the most important thing in a hockey game," Letang said. "But (the power play) actually feeds your five-on-five game. The (players on the) bench, if they see that guys on the power play are generating momentum in the game, they're eager to go over the boards and keep that going. But if the mood goes down and there's frustration and the execution is not there, it can deflate the momentum of the team."
The Penguins seem to have positive momentum with their power play thanks to Quinn's changes and a strong test run in the preseason.
They'll implement those alterations in a meaningful way when the regular season opens Wednesday.
"I strongly believe that (the) power play is not going to be something that's going to be discussed in a bad way this year," Karlsson said. "I'm just excited to get going."
