This season, Ovechkin has two power-play goals. Neither has taken place from his signature location.<\/p>\n
According to Clear Sight Analytics, there had been 339 PP one-timers taken league-wide from Ovechkin\u2019s playground as of Dec. 30, 2025. Only 13 had gone in (3.8 percent shooting percentage).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe love it,\u201d Clear Sight Analytics chief operating officer John Healy said of the PP elbow one-timer. \u201cIt sounds great. You\u2019re obviously excited when you score on it. They do happen, right? It\u2019s not that it\u2019s ever a zero. It\u2019s just low percentage. That\u2019s where the struggle is. Because you\u2019ll have coaches say, \u2018It\u2019s Ovechkin. I still want him shooting it.\u2019 We\u2019re not going to disagree. We\u2019re just going to tell you it just doesn\u2019t go in as often as you think.\u201d<\/p>\n
The best power plays are focusing their firepower on more dangerous ice near the net. They\u2019ve seemingly made a breakthrough.<\/p>\n
The Edmonton Oilers (33.3 percent) are on pace to record the best power play of all time. The Pittsburgh Penguins (30.2), Dallas Stars (29.8) and Detroit Red Wings (25.2) are also in the neighborhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNowadays, everything is down and in. Down and in,\u201d said the Bruins\u2019 Mark Kastelic. \u201cTo the goal line. To the bumper. The one-timer, there\u2019s only a few guys in the league that can beat the goalies clean nowadays. You have to be aware of it. There\u2019s just a lot more threats out there now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Selective shooting<\/p>\n
Entering 2025-26, the NHL was trending downward in terms of PP shots. In 2024-25, there were 10,118 shots taken on the power play. That was down from 11,998 in 2023-24. In 2022-23, there were 12,247.<\/p>\n
Through Thursday, teams were on pace to take 11,287 shots by the conclusion of 2025-26. Time will tell whether this is a midseason blip or a real turn. It may be because teams were averaging 3.0 power-play opportunities per game, up from 2.7 in 2024-25.<\/p>\n
As for individuals, only Nathan MacKinnon is projected to land 100 or more shots on the power play by season\u2019s end. In 2024-25, Brady Tkachuk led all players with 79.<\/p>\n
Up top, you would encounter little disagreement if you classified Adam Fox, Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar among the best PP quarterbacks. Each has just two power-play goals. Without traffic in front, a shot from the point is a wasted opportunity.<\/p>\n
\n Cale Makar\u2019s vision and passing get the Avalanche more power-play goals than his shots. (Ron Chenoy \/ USA Today)<\/p>\n The emphasis, then, is on quality over quantity.<\/p>\n Consider that the Red Wings had an NHL-best 17.5 expected shooting percentage on the power play as of Dec. 30, per Clear Sight Analytics. In 2024-25, the Tampa Bay Lightning and New Jersey Devils led the NHL at 15.5 percent. Detroit\u2019s No. 1 PP unit of Moritz Seider, Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond, Patrick Kane and Dylan Larkin is practicing patience to create high-percentage looks, regardless of how much time it takes.<\/p>\n \u201cI know it\u2019s going to bother every fan, usually in the 300s, that are yelling \u2018shoot it\u2019 when they go 10, 12 seconds without shooting,\u201d Healy said. \u201cBut we don\u2019t need four low-danger chances. We need, literally, one high-danger.\u201d<\/p>\n The most dependable way to score on the power play is off a slot-line pass below the faceoff dots. A goalie simply cannot keep pace with a Connor McDavid pass across the slot line, for example, for Leon Draisaitl to one-time, often from a sharp angle<\/a>.<\/p>\n But what is obvious to power plays is similarly straightforward for penalty kills. The PK\u2019s No. 1 priority is to eliminate the slot-line pass. With more teams employing the diamond formation, there are enough sticks and bodies in place to deny the look. This way, penalty killers can contain power plays to half of the offensive zone.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re taking it away,\u201d said the Bruins\u2019 Sean Kuraly, citing how his team uses three-point pressure at the top, half-wall and bumper. \u201cAnything that goes across center ice for our goalie just gets exponentially more difficult to save. So let\u2019s play half ice, three-on-four \u2014 the idea that you take away the back side and play three-on-four on one side of the ice.\u201d<\/p>\n The latest innovations, however, are happening within half ice.\u00a0<\/p>\n Below the line<\/p>\n Perhaps because of the increase in skill league-wide, teams are executing close-quarters plays. The down-low threat who used to set up on the goal line is now accepting pucks below it.<\/p>\n This makes life hard on a goalie. He must twist his head to one side and lower it to track the puck while sealing the strong-side post, sometimes using the reverse vertical-horizontal technique. He has to shoulder-check to read the primary threats: half-wall, bumper, back door. Then, if a pass comes out to the slot, it usually produces a high-danger chance because of how much movement is required of the goalie to achieve proper squareness and depth.<\/p>\n The Oilers executed this sequence perfectly against the Bruins on Dec. 18. When Draisaitl settled the puck on the right-side half-boards, McDavid, who had gained the offensive-zone entry, skated below the line. Zach Hyman stepped into the bumper for the one-time threat. This drew Charlie McAvoy and Nikita Zadorov. Meanwhile, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins slipped behind Kuraly and went back door. McDavid hit Nugent-Hopkins for a point-blank chance. Jeremy Swayman, who was in RVH, had no chance.<\/p>\n RNH PPG \ud83d\udea8 #LetsGoOilers<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/mLF3iHJr5l<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/USATSI_23307623-scaled.jpg\")
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