SUNRISE, Fla. -- "We're fine. You'll see."
That, from Patric Hornqvist, was absolutely the right answer.
I think.
The question, one I posed to him, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang in separate one-on-ones following the Penguins' practice Friday afternoon at BB&T Center, was this: Would more movement solve what's wrong with the power play?
My motivation for singling out 'movement' was that Mike Sullivan used the term the previous night following the 4-2 loss in Tampa, and it's not something I'd heard him cite often. In fact, it made me think back to those occasions when Phil Kessel would go rogue -- OK, even more than usual -- and foray all over the attacking zone.
And hey, when a power play's stuck in an 0-for-11, not to mention 17th in the NHL for the season at 19.2 percent, not to mention that fatal five-on-three flop in the final minutes against the Lightning, it feels acceptable to think rogue-ish thoughts, right?
Let's first dispense with three glaringly obvious points:
1. They don't shoot enough.
In 254 minutes, 39 seconds of power-play time, the Penguins have put 215 pucks on net. Doesn't take a math whiz to see that's markedly less than an official shot per minute. Which is almost as awful as the fact that they've attempted only 402 shots, or a measly 1.58 per minute. So it's not as if they're gunning but being blocked.
2. They don't practice enough.
No, I'm not talking about actual practice, because they do plenty of that, including an extra emphasis here on this day:
I'm talking about generating power-play opportunities in games. Their power-play ice time ranks 24th in the league and, beyond that, they've had scarce time together as a unit because of the scattered injuries to ... well, everyone involved.
3. No Jake Guentzel.
He's been out a month, and he's still tied for the team lead with six power-play goals.
All of the above applies, maybe even more than the movement thing. But I'd hoped to dig deeper, so this was the focus.
What movement, exactly? Who should be moving more? And how? Where?
"You know, it's got to be predictable for us and unpredictable," Crosby began our talk. "Yeah, I think that's the best way to describe it."
Oh, that's good.
"Sometimes it just comes down to that," he continued. "We had some really good zone time the last game, almost the whole time we were on the power play, so it's really just a matter of making the right play. I mean, you try to try to be good in every area, whether it's entries, supporting the puck, shooting when you get the opportunity ... you try to check all those boxes. And I think we have. But you've got to execute."
And how much might more movement contribute, maybe having, say, Crosby and/or Evgeni Malkin bounce about as Kessel once did? Not to mention how they'd just been doing a bit in practice on this day, with Malkin on the right half-wall at times while Crosby roamed over to the left?
"Yeah, to move around like that to different spots helps," Crosby replied before amending regarding Kessel, "Phil mostly stayed over on his left side. Four-on-three, he'd sometimes wind up through the circles and kind of take it through the middle, so it's not like there was that much. But yeah, we can definitely do more."
Bottom line?
"It's not going in. We've got to put it in."
Can't argue that.
Letang's also been one for movement on the power play, particularly when on the left point, where he's always been more comfortable drifting down the boards -- you know the look -- and creating as low as the goal line.
"For me, there's got to be a purpose to people moving, and that depends on the kind of team you're facing," he began. "If you're facing a really aggressive PK, you want to move the puck quickly and create lanes to skate through. If you're facing a more passive PK, all boxed up, you try to open up lanes, you try to move them."
Can't argue that, either. Though a pressuring penalty-kill is much more prevalent in the league these days, so, again, moving the player should be a priority over moving the puck. And if one watched only the loss to the Lightning, one would find that the visitors' feet might as well have been rooted in Florida swampland.
"Yeah, I think all the teams pressure so hard now, so everyone has to move," Hornqvist began, even while conceding that he'd move less than most as the net-front guy. "Sometimes, possession is better than position, and sometimes you have to move into positions we usually don't play, too."
Oh, that's good, too.
"But honestly, I think we've been doing a pretty good job and had good zone time. I had a few great chances in Washington. We had a couple more in Tampa and hit the post. If we keep doing the right things, those will just come."
None of this feels like a solution, though, does it?
Welcome to Sullivan's world. He's acknowledged repeatedly over the years that the power play is, pretty much by necessity, less strategized than most of his system, and he reiterated that on this day when I asked him to expound on what he hoped to emphasize with his 'movement' remark in Tampa.
"Well, I think we've all seen it when it happens," he responded. "Usually, it results in quality scoring chances or goals, and I think you know when when we're not at our best is when we get a little stagnant out there."
From the movement perspective, he meant.
"I think we're a little bit unique in the sense that, when you look at the personnel we have, you know that the strength of our group is their instinctive play," he continued. "And that's why, I think, some power plays might have less movement and play within more structure. Ours has a framework and there is some structure, but it's movement within that, I think, that helps us be at our best and create deception. Those guys, they see it, and they find that the quiet areas and see the opportunities that develop, and usually they're able to act on them."
All clear now?
No?
This is all I've got to add, then: At the least, Sullivan and Mark Recchi need to vary the alignments off faceoffs. Malkin's historically been at his best on the right half-wall, so give him time there, as occurred in this practice. Rotate Crosby around to the left, as well. Bryan Rust needs to be more of a rover/retriever, but encourage him to do so via more churning, less standing still. And finally, don't be shy about trying Justin Schultz on the top unit when shots aren't flying.
That, too, occurred in this practice.
"Tanger, switch!" Sullivan barked in mid-drill, assigning Schultz to take Letang's place on the right point. That's the norm in such situations, but it still seemed like an inspired idea for a power play that can't be timid anymore.
Get moving.
• Lousy news on John Marino. Caught everyone by surprise today, following the initial upbeat prognosis Thursday night in Tampa.
Not sure what even to say on this subject anymore. Just never ends.
• Marino didn't practice, of course. Neither did Rust for the second time in a week, because of what Sullivan again called a "maintenance day." Rust clearly has some issue -- he showed a slight limp as he passed by me in a hallway in civvies -- but not one the team expects to keep him out of games.
• Lines and pairings for the session:
McCann-Crosby-Simon
Agozzino-Malkin-Hornqvist
Aston-Reese-Blueger-Tanev
Galchenyuk-Lafferty-Angello
Johnson-Letang
Pettersson-Schultz
Riikola-Ruhwedel
I'd imagine those D-pairings will hold up with Marino out.
• Riikola never should've been getting scratched. It'll be good to see him back in action, even if the circumstance is, again, lousy.
• Matt Murray's fine, by the way, after the Lightning's Victor Hedman bumped his head and momentarily dazed him in Tampa. Practiced without issue, and told me afterward he's had zero issues.
• No one cares who's the first player on the rink for a practice, but I still thought this was neat enough to share:
He brought the bag of pucks out and everything.
• No one at all cares who performs well in practice, but Jared McCann was flying and finishing his shots with a fury all throughout. No small feat getting gung-ho after a tough night like the one he had in Tampa.
• Even if no one cares about any opponent, it's worth noting that Aleksander Barkov, Florida's most gifted player and a two-way force, will be back in the Panthers' lineup Saturday after missing three games to a lower-body injury, as Joel Quenneville confirmed after practice here Friday.
• Anyone up for a South Florida subscriber meetup?
I promise to make the process simpler than the Penguins' power play!