Flyers' power play getting special attention
CHRIS PRONGER swears he is contrite. He promises not to cause a scene again in front of the opposing goaltender on the power play - or at least not to break any rules when doing it.
CHRIS PRONGER swears he is contrite.
He promises not to cause a scene again in front of the opposing goaltender on the power play - or at least not to break any rules when doing it.
"I will do everything within the letter of the law, as I have," said Pronger, who has been suspended on eight occasions by the NHL.
The last time we saw him on the power play, parked in front of Miikka Kiprusoff on Black Friday against Calgary, Pronger was whistled for the "Sean Avery rule" after Mike Richards' would-be game-winning shot hit the twine.
"Make no mistake about it, he's there to screen the goaltender," coach Peter Laviolette said after the Flyers' practice yesterday as they geared up for the Devils and Islanders this weekend in desperate search of points.
The Flyers fell behind Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Division on Thursday for the first time all season, having picked up just two out of a possible six points in their last three games. They've scored just three goals in those three games.
Laviolette broke the practice into two separate units. The power-play players were sent to the adjacent rink at the Skate Zone and the rest of the team remained on the usual practice rink. It's Laviolette's push to jump-start a power play that has cashed in just twice in its last 38 chances.
"Lately, we've been pretty static and stale and not scoring any goals on it," Pronger said. "We've been working on making the [opponent's] box move. If you are just moving the puck around the outside, the box doesn't have to move.
"All the things we were working on, traffic, movement, pucks to the net, when we were scoring goals on the power play and moving around, we were moving our feet, moving the puck, allowing the puck to do the work for us."
What Laviolette did not do was change the units. He said he flip-flopped them so often in the early part of the season that players thought that's what held back the power play to a 3-for-35 (8.6 percent) start. With consistency, it rebounded on a 14-for-43 (32.6 percent) run. Now it is back to 5.2 percent.
Claude Giroux, Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell make up one unit with Matt Carle and Andrej Meszaros, while Jeff Carter, Richards and Ville Leino are paired with Pronger and Kimmo Timonen.
Left off the units, and skating on the other rink, were Nik Zherdev and James van Riemsdyk. Laviolette had tested Zherdev briefly - a combined 2 minutes, 6 seconds over the last three games - but he has always been pulled off, losing out in the numbers game.
"It always comes back to if I put him out there, someone else has to come off," Laviolette said on Wednesday.
But he may be just what the Flyers' power play needs. Twenty-nine of Zherdev's 107 career goals (27 percent) have come on the power play. He scored 10 power-play goals in 2005-06 with Columbus, and seven in 2007-08. This year, he hasn't been given enough time on the power play to score. Overall, Zherdev's average ice time this season, 12:21 per game, is almost 5 minutes below his career average of 17:01.
For now, Laviolette may try moving Pronger back to the crease to try and rejuvenate the power play. Previously, Pronger was only in front on five-on-three and four-on-three advantages. Laviolette would not confirm whether he would do that this weekend in either of the back-to-back afternoon games.
"They're different setups," Laviolette said. "There's no pressure five-on-three. He is very good at what he does in front of the net."
"I feel like I know what the goalie doesn't want to see," Pronger said with a laugh. "I am not going to do anything different. My job is to screen the goalie and tip pucks. That's what I plan on doing."
Maybe this time they will count.
Slap shots
Dan Carcillo, who has missed 3 weeks with a sprained MCL, is available to return this weekend. Peter Laviolette would not reveal any lineup decisions yesterday . . . The Flyers are 8-0-2 when playing against teams with a losing record. The Devils and Islanders, this weekend's opponents, are a combined 13-29-7. The Devils (14th) and Islanders (15th) have been neck-and-neck for last place in the Eastern Conference all season. New Jersey was blown out by Montreal, 5-1, on Thursday night.
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