ST. LOUIS — There were 20 passes and two shots on goal during the power play that ended with a goal by St. Louis Blues defenseman Justin Faulk in Tuesday’s preseason game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
It was the fifth of seven exhibition games, which many consider meaningless, so Faulk’s power-play goal and $2 may only buy you a bagel. But boy, if the changes on the special-teams unit can produce the type of result we witnessed Tuesday, that could be the difference between making the playoffs and missing out in 2024-25.
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A year ago, the Blues were 45-for-250 (18 percent) on the power play, which ranked 25th in the NHL. They wound up missing the postseason by six points.
Drew Bannister’s team hasn’t spent much time on the power play in training camp, in part because the roster was split into three groups. But recently the coach gave us the first glimpse of the two units, and while the faces are familiar, there are a few players in new spots and some noticeable systematic tweaks.
“Similar to what we saw last year with our group, minus Torey (Krug),” Bannister said. “We haven’t had a lot of time to work on it with the groups, so (Tuesday) was probably the first time. It was good to get some touches in on both units. We’re going to rotate some players in and out here, so over the next two (preseason) games, you’ll probably see those units start to come together.”
Here’s how the personnel was divided Tuesday:
• No. 1 unit: Faulk (point), Robert Thomas (flank), Jordan Kyrou (flank), Pavel Buchnevich (bumper) and Jake Neighbours (net front).
• No. 2 unit: Scott Perunovich (point), Brayden Schenn (flank), Zack Bolduc (flank), Alexandre Texier (bumper), Brandon Saad (net front).
The biggest change is having Faulk in the spot where Krug played the past four seasons. Krug is out for the 2024-25 season following ankle surgery, which left the Blues looking for an experienced replacement. Faulk has gotten some power-play ice time in his five seasons with the club, but before coming to St. Louis, he was a staple at the point of the Carolina Hurricanes’ unit.
“The ability to shoot the puck the way he does, that’s something we didn’t have a lot of last year,” Bannister said. “Having that shooting threat always opens up space for the skill players on the flanks and down low. A big part of our success will be his willingness to take the shots when he has lanes.”
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That’s what happened when the Blues’ top unit took the ice Tuesday, with Faulk picking up the team’s lone goal in a 3-1 loss to the Blue Jackets on a one-timer. But you have to roll back the video to see a lot of good movement and smart decisions before he scored.
The Blues entered the offensive zone with 17:24 left in the second period, and by the time the puck hit the back of the net 45 seconds later, all five players on the unit touched it. In fact, Faulk had the puck on his stick six times.
There were seven passes before Kyrou took the first shot, nine more before Neighbours took the second shot, and four more before Faulk got the goal.
“They moved the puck well in that situation, and they got rewarded,” Bannister said.
When the Blues began celebrating, Thomas and Kyrou, the two flanks, were on the same side of the ice, which isn’t common, and Neighbours had moved from his net-front spot to the corner, where he set up Faulk for the primary assist.
POWER shot on the POWER play 🔋 pic.twitter.com/15ghgLcIuA
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) October 2, 2024
Again, in a week, any success the Blues had on their power play in the preseason won’t matter. But they believe that if they’re able to build on the way they finished the 2023-24 season, which means a continued focus on shooting the puck more, they can make more of their opportunities count officially.
It’s been well-documented that the unit improved when Bannister replaced former Blues coach Craig Berube last December. To recap, it was 7-for-83 (8.4 percent), which ranked 31st in the league, before Berube was fired. It then went 38 for 167 (22.8 percent), which ranked 13th in the league, under Bannister.
Some of that uptick could be attributed to the Blues taking more shot attempts. According to Natural Stat Trick, they averaged 47.97 shots per 60 minutes on the power play under Berube, and that jumped to 53.98 shots per 60 under Bannister.
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Thomas, who’s had a reputation of passing up shots in the past, led the Blues with 52 attempts on the power play last season, followed by Schenn (50), Buchnevich (47) and Kyrou (44). Perhaps not coincidentally, three of those players finished in a four-way tie for the most goals on the man advantage, with eight.
“When you look at last year, it started out slow, and we were trying to be too cute,” Thomas said. “But there’s also times when you’re getting good looks and it’s just not going in. I think we allowed ourselves to get frustrated last year, so staying patient is important.
“But we also should have been quicker to adapt to a different playing style (of the penalty-killing units they faced). PKs used to be ‘trap-down,’ and now they’ve switched to ‘diamond.’ So it’s getting comfortable and finding ways to beat both of them.”
In a diamond, the four players on the PK position themselves in a diamond shape, with one at the point, one at the net, and the other two in the middle. Those two are responsible for defending the one-timers from the flanks.
“They flex out on the shooters quite a bit,” Schenn said. “You look at Alex Ovechkin, he doesn’t get as many one-timers anymore because everyone plays the diamond. So you’ve got to be able to get pucks through from the top, and it’s got to be more low plays and aggressive plays to the net. You’ve got to have an attack mentality. I find when you have an attack mentality, you’re able to find holes and break down PKs better, which gives you opportunities to shoot.”
That’s how Neighbours found his niche in a net-front role. He also finished in that four-way tie with eight power-play goals on 35 shots last season.
“It’s just being direct,” Neighbours said. “It should be one or two passes and try to get it to the net, whether it’s a jam down low or top shot or flank shot. That’s one thing we’re talking about this year, just moving more. You might see guys in different spots. I might be up on the flank and (Thomas) might be down low. That just creates uncertainty and makes it harder for PKs to kill.”
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On the second unit, Perunovich ran the point Tuesday, but he may not be in the Blues lineup on opening night — or even on the roster. If he’s not playing, Bannister said the club would consider defensemen Nick Leddy, Ryan Suter and even newcomer Philip Broberg as possibilities.
“(Broberg) could be somebody that we give an opportunity to there and see how he does,” Bannister said. “We know that we have options if we have injuries or guys don’t perform up to what we expect them to.”
Bolduc, like Perunovich, is a player who was on the second unit Tuesday but needs to make the roster. His one-timer is one of the best on the team.
“It’s a threat,” Schenn said. “But we’re going to have to find ways to find him other than from the top down because, like I said, those one-timers aren’t always open anymore. So we’ve got to find seams and different ways to get him the puck.”
If given the opportunity to be on the Blues’ roster, Bolduc believes he can be effective on the unit.
“I consider myself a shooter,” he said. “I see those passing lanes, so when I can, I want to take that puck to the net. Pretty much all the teams are playing ‘diamond’ now, so you’ve just got to find the open lanes and hit the net.”
That shooting mentality will be the key.
“Don’t try to score perfect goal, like tic-tac-toe,” Buchnevich said. “If it’s there, you can make it, but I feel like we have to start from the shots on net. Every (penalty-killing unit) watches the video right now and they know when we’re on the power play, our D basically never shoot, so they leave the D open, and it’s hard to score (because other players are covered).
“We have to start from shots and retrieval, and after retrieval, the other team will try to put pressure on you. If you make a couple of passes, it’s a scoring chance. You just have to shoot, (retrieve) and work hard.”
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Blues associate coach Steve Ott will continue to work with the power play, and veteran assistant coach Claude Julien will have input, too. Julien was the head coach of the Boston Bruins from 2007 to ’17, and in that decade, the Bruins had the eighth-best power play percentage (19 percent) in the league.
Of course, having Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, David Krejci and Krug didn’t hurt Boston’s production.
“Ultimately, it’s up to the players on the ice,” Thomas said. “You’re the ones out there making the plays. So I think it’s much more on the players.”
And now that the Blues’ personnel has spent some time together, the team hopes to create some consistency that will lead to power-play goals in the regular season — not just the good-looking one we saw in Tuesday’s preseason game.
“I think familiarity with each other, knowing this was the unit last year that had some success down the stretch, it’s nice,” Neighbours said. “We know each other’s habits and tendencies, and being able to work together through camp and preseason is going to help.”
(Photo of Justin Faulk being congratulated by Jake Neighbours and Pavel Buchnevich after a power-play goal: Jeff Curry / USA Today)
