Pittsburgh Penguins history: Revisiting powerless seasons

Aside from the chronic injury issue that has plagued the Pittsburgh Penguins’ this season, their struggles on the power play have been trending towards the established franchise marks for lowest conversion percentages with the extra attacker.

With an offense fronted by some of the most proficient scorers in league history, it creates a rather perplexing issue to diagnose the root cause of what the issues plaguing the Pittsburgh Penguins power-play units are.

While there is still plenty of time left to turn things around, here’s a look at five seasons where the Penguins play with the extra attacker was anything but powerful.

Seasons of Change

1) 2001-2002

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An early-season coaching change during the 2001-02 campaign, saw Pittsburgh replace Rick Kehoe with Ivan Hlinka after the Penguins started the season 0-4-0-0.

Kehoe compiled a record of 28-37-8-5 through the rest of the season, the Penguins failed to make the playoffs and finished near the bottom of the standings.

The power-play functioned at a rate of 14.03% (25th) scored 47 goals (23rd) on 335 opportunities and surrendered 10 short-handed goals (26th)

The 47 goals scored on the power-play represented 24% of the Penguins 198 goals on the season.

Alexei Kovalev led the charge on the power play for the Penguins scoring 22 points (8g, 14a), Alexei Morozov – 16 points (7g, 9a), Jan Hrdina – 16 points (6g, 10a), Robert Lang -16 points (5g, 11a), & Michal Rozsival -11 points (4g, 7a) rounded out the top five scored with the extra man.

Wayne Primeau (Nov. 10, 2001) netted a goal on Pittsburgh’s only penalty shot of the season.

On a side note, 14 of Mario Lemieux‘s 31 points came on the power-play. Lemieux was limited to just 24 games that season due to a hip injury.

2) 1999-2000

After an 8-10-3-4 start, the Penguins replaced Head Coach Kevin Constantine, for Herb Brooks who coached the team to 29-21-5-2 record through the rest of the season.

Pittsburgh fell 4-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers in the Conference Semit-Finals and Jaromir Jagr captured the Art Ross Trophy (96 points) and Lester B. Pearson Award, and Lemieux to home the Lester Patrick Trophy.

With 346 opportunities (22nd) on the powerplay, The team converted on 15.6% of their chances (20th) scored 54 goals (15th) and allowed 11 shorthanded goals (4th)

54 of Pittsburgh’s 241 goals (9th) were scored on the powerplay which represented 22% of the team’s total offense for the season.

Jaromir Jagr – 29 points (10g, 19a), Robert Lang – 26 points (13g, 13a), Alexei Kovalev -26 points (9g, 17a), German Titov – 11 points (4g, 7a) and Rob Brown – 15 points (4g, 11a) were the Penguins best performers with the extra attacker.

Martin Straka took the Penguins only penalty shot of the season on Jan. 19, 2000, vs. the St Louis Blues which resulted in a goal.

Firing Blanks

3) 2010-2011

With Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin missing approximately half-a-season each, it’s easy to surmise why the team struggled to put up strong numbers with the extra attacker.

Pittsburgh took the Tampa Bay Lightning to game seven in the eastern conference quarterfinals with a heavily depleted line-up.

The Penguins capitalized on 15.95% (25th) of their 311 power-play opportunities (5th) and scored 49 goals (17th), which totaled 21% of the team’s 228 total goals (13th)

Kris Letang -24 points (4g, 20a), Crosby -19 points (10g, 9a), Alex Goligoski – 17 points (4g, 13a), Malkin -14 points (5g, 9a), Tyler Kennedy - 14 points (7g, 7a)

Pittsburgh was awarded six penalty shots over the course of the season, with Malkin (Oct. 13, 2010, Dec. 23, 2010), Crosby (Nov. 27, 2010), Letang (Dec. 29, 2010), and Chris Connor (Jan. 18, 2011, Mar. 25, 2011) taking the opportunities. Connor’s attempt in Jan. was the only one that resulted in a goal.

4) 1997-98

In Kevin Constantine’s first season with the Penguins, the team earned a record of 40-24-18 and took first place in the northeast division. Them team failed to translate the regular season into any significant success in the playoffs, as thru dropped their conference quarterfinals series 4-2 to the Montreal Canadiens.

Pittsburgh capitalized on 16.46% (11th) of their 407 (4th) powerplay chances and scored 67 goals (6th).  The team allowed also allowed a league-high 16 short-handed goals against.

Jaromir Jagr – 38 points (7g, 31a), Ron Francis – 32 points (7g, 25a), Stu Barnes – 27 points (15g, 12a), Kevin Hatcher – 25 points (13g, 12a), Frederick Olausson -16 points (2g, 14a) were the top scorers on the power-play.

Barnes (Mar. 3, 1998) and Morozov (Apr. 23, 1998) was unsuccessful in their penalty shot attempts.

Silver Lining

5) 2008-09

Despite owning one of the worst power-plays in team history, a mid-season coaching change saw Dan Bylsma replace Michel Therrien in early Feb. 2009, after six-game skid, the Penguins reversed their fortunes and captured their third Stanley Cup title at the conclusion of the campaign.

Pittsburgh’s power-play functioned at 17.22% (20th) and scored 62 goals (17th) on their 360 opportunities (6th). Power play goals accounted for 24% of the Penguins total offensive output (258 goals) on the season. The team also surrendered 13 short-handed goals which were the third-most in the league.

Malkin (14g, 27a) led the team in special teams scoring, beating Crosby, who had 33 points (7 g, 26a) by just one point. Petr Sykora had 19 points (13 g, 6a), Sergei Gonchar had 13 points (5g, 8a), and Letang, who had 11 points (4 g, 7a) rounded out the top five scorers.

The Penguins were awarded three penalty shots over the course of the season but neither Crosby (Jan. 18, 2009) or Malkin (Mar. 17, 2009 Apr. 4, 2009) converted on those chances.

Bonus

2003-04

The 2003-04 season saw a plethora of changes take place in Pittsburgh. A new coach (Ed Olczyk) and mish-mashed roster comprised of journeymen, future stars and a legend heading into the twilight of his career complied one of the worst power-plays in team history.

The power-play functioned at 18.06% (24th) and scored 65 goals (25th) on their 360 opportunities (10th). Their 65 power-play goals represented 34% of the team’s total offense of the season. The powerplay was anchored by Dick Tarnstrom 38 points (12g, 26a), Morozov 25 points (8g, 17a), Milan Kraft 18 points (6g, 11a), Ric Jackman 17 points (6g, 11a) and Rico Fata 12 points (6g, 6a).

That year, the Penguins also surrendered a league-high 15 short-handed goals, although the Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Chicago Black Hawks weren’t far behind allowing 14 short-handed goals each. Eric Meloche (Jan. 3, 2004) and Brian Holzinger (Jan. 27, 2004) were both unsuccessful in their penalty shot attempts.