The Blackhawks power play isn't producing, here's how to fix it

The Chicago Blackhawks were off on a hot start, and like every good thing, there is an end. The Blackhawks embarked on their western road trip only to fall flat on their faces along the way. Following their 7-3 win over the Ottawa Senators, the Blackhawks returned to earth with a 6-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, followed by an overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers and a recent 3-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken.

There are a few reasons for this loss streak, but for the sake of word count, I will be covering only one statistic that the Blackhawks MUST improve if they hope even to sniff a wildcard spot in the playoffs: the power play

The last five games have seen these power-play numbers:

Vs Los Angeles: 0/5

Vs Ottawa: 1/1

Vs Winnipeg: 0/3

Vs Edmonton: 1/1

Vs Seattle: 0/3

Overall? This is a 2/13 success rate on the power play, a 15.38% conversion on the man advantage. Their season overall currently, according to Hockey Reference, is 17.5% while the league average is 21.7%. With plenty of offensive weapons and PP quarterbacks on the roster, this has been a bit of a head scratcher, especially with Connor Bedard out there to take up space for the other three guys cycling to get open.

How to Fix the Dismal Production

The main issue I see is the lack of desire to shoot the puck at the net despite having net-front presence and a known finisher near the crease in Tyler Bertuzzi. The power play seems to run through Bedard, which isn't a bad thing, but the unit should have another plan in place if Bedard is heavily covered (which is often). Maybe place him at the left face-off circle like the Washington Capitals have done with Alex Ovechkin? That would open up some ice for sure. Maybe put two guys in front of the net? Bertuzzi and maybe Foligno? Keeping Frank Nazar in the bumper is a good choice; however, he needs to see more looks. To make it harder for the opponent's game plan against the power play.

Another main point is that they need to get the shots on net from the point. The power play can't do well if the most basic strategy of shooting the puck and crashing the net doesn't work. The Kraken did a really good job on their power play, getting the puck on net quickly and setting up for rebounds or tips. This is also what the Blackhawks should do.

For Nazar, I would like to see him attempt to get open more in the slot as Bedard or Burakovsky cycles around the net. Bedard just has to continue being Bedard, but his teammates should look for their own chances, too.

The compete level has been a bit questionable in general, but there has to be more urgency to score on the man-advantage than what I have seen recently. The improvements should include having better net-front presence, crashing the net, using the point-man more, using Nazar as a threat, and not relying entirely on Bedard for the production. This team is built on speed, so use that more on the power play to create chances.