Photo: Alex Brandon
The Caps power play entered Tuesday’s game against Columbus having converted 28 percent of their opportunities so far, good for second in the NHL, behind only Pittsburgh. A quick look at their PP shooting, 16.7 percent, might suggest that their success is unsustainable. While maintaining their current conversion rate over a full season is unlikely, there is reason to believe this power play could still one of the best in recent memory by the time this season is over.
The reason for the optimism is the incredible rate of unblocked shot attempts the Caps are generating. Can they keep it up? Maybe not. But if they do, it will be the second best shot-generating power play since 2005, when the NHL started tracking shot attempts.
| Team | Season | Unblocked Shot Attempts/60 |
| San Jose | 2010-11 | 102.20 |
| Washington | 2014-15 | 101.84 |
| Detroit | 2008-09 | 95.81 |
| San Jose | 2011-12 | 90.22 |
| Washington | 2009-10 | 89.62 |
| San Jose | 2013-14 | 89.06 |
| Anaheim | 2008-09 | 88.97 |
| San Jose | 2009-10 | 88.44 |
| Pittsburgh | 2014-15 | 87.85 |
| Pittsburgh | 2011-12 | 87.34 |
(Side note: San Jose has had an okay PP for a while now.)
Shot attempts are good. While goals are the purpose of any PP, goals can be pretty fluky, so generating attempts is the name of the game.
The Caps ought to keep Mike Green on their first unit. When he is on the ice with the man advantage, the Caps see 115.92 shot attempts per 60 minutes, a big jump over John Carlson (94.27) and Matt Niskanen (74.12).
It remains to be seen if the Caps can keep this up, but if they can, this power play could be an even bigger strength than we had expected.
