It is becoming rather obvious, after both last season and this season, that there is something drastically wrong with the Penguins power play. Yeah, yeah, make all the excuses you want about Gonchar being out. I am not buying it. Even last year with him on the point running the show the team struggled with the man advantage and they won the Cup inspite of the power play not because of it. All such talk is simply excuse making for a unit that drastically underachieves.

A lot of people have talked about changing the way the Penguins play with the man advantage and it is obviously a problem. Aggressive penalty killing units that go after Crosby or Malkin on the wall, where they seem to like to try to set up from, are causing them fits. Just like last year.

This article gets harder and harder to write each day. Now, with Jay McKee announced to miss two to four weeks it gets even harder. Every time I think about the solution another body winds up in the M*A*S*H ward.

While I think that changing up the mode in which the power play operates is ultimately the solution, I don’t think that it is going to happen with the units as they currently are comprised. This is because the number one unit is so powerful with both Malkin and Crobsy, that it just looks like they are trying to finesse every puck into the net making pass after pass until a lane opens up. Either that or they are taking ill advised shots which bounce away harmlessly because they are shooting into groups of three defending players and pucks never get on net.

The answer is to, I think, get Crosby and Malkin off the same unit. Ok, all you wannabes out there that think you understand hockey can yell at your computer screen all you want now. You can yell until you are blue in the face about how it is insane to not put together the “best” power play unit you can which means Malkin and Crosby on the same line. But I will simply point out that if the unit does not produce goals and continues to struggle so mightily it is obviously not the “best” unit that could be out there.

I honestly think the first unit tries too hard and baring some dramatic change in the heads of those out there on the ice it is going to continue to struggle.

My suggestion is two units, each one run by one of the Penguins biggest stars.

First Unit:
C – Sidney Crosby
W – Michael Rupp
W – Bill Guerin OR Matt Cooke
Point – Sergei Gonchar (he is expected back for the Ottawa game tomorrow)
5th man – Ruslan Fedotenko

Second Unit:
C – Evgeni Malkin
W – Jordan Staal
W – Craig Adams
Point – Martin Skoula
5th man – Bill Guerin OR Matt Cooke

I understand that doing this might put some players outside of their comfort zone. If so then get them used to it in practice. Drill and drill some more with these lineups. At least until the injury situation gets under control. These are much grittier units than we are currently seeing out of the Penguins and you have to play gritty, I think, on the power play to be consistent. You have to have someone willing to stand in front of the net and be a nuisance to the goal tender.

On the first unit you would have Rupp and either Guerin or Cooke to put two guys that could take turns swinging in and out of that area while Sid and Sarge work up high and Fedotenko roams, possibly even going behind the net to fetch pucks. He knows how to forecheck.

On the second unit you would have Craig Adams and which ever of Guerin or Cooke was not out there on the first unit to go down in front of the net while Malkin plays high with Skoula (our poor man’s Gonchar) and Staal going where he needs to go and fetching pucks or sneaking in for a redirect.

Basically I think that the Penguins need to stop trying to set up low along the boards and work high. I think they need to set up high where someone with the talent of a Malkin or a Crosby can survey the ice better. Right now they are getting hemmed in on the boards. And I do understand the concept of tying to set up low. If a puck is not handled cleaning it has a better chance of staying in the zone than a missed pass out to the blue line. I just do not think that it is working all that well.

Setting up high and letting skilled players dance with the puck and play catch at the blue line while preferably two players crash the net and draw defenders I really think would pay dividends compared to the perimeter power play the Penguins currently seem to be employing.

Once everyone is back healthy I would like to see everything look like this:

First Unit:
C – Sidney Crosby
LW – Michael Rupp
RW – Matt Cooke
Point – Sergei Gonchar
5th man – Ruslan Fedotenko

Second Unit:
C – Evgeni Malkin
LW – Jordan Staal
RW – Craig Adams
Point – Kris Letang
5th man – Max Talbot

The way I look at it is what do the Penguins have to loose? The power play is terrible right now and changing things up either produces the same results or something better. It certainly cannot get much worse!