The Man Advantage: Hot Teams and the Power Play

This week, we look at four of the hottest teams in the NHL, how their power plays have contributed -- or not -- to their recent success and which players are worth mentioning from a fantasy perspective.

As most of you know, the hottest team in the NHL is none other than the Anaheim Ducks, winners of 11 consecutive after beating L.A. Kings on Saturday in a much-anticipated battle for first place in the Pacific Division. Who would have thought the Ducks would wind up posting such a remarkable turnaround after limping to a 1-7-2 record in their first 10 games in October? One factor behind the Ducks' rapid improvement this season is the team's power play, which is firing at a ridiculous 41.4 percent success rate (17 for 41) over its winning streak -- pretty amazing considering the team scored just three PP goals in its first 30 chances in October. This latest run has vaulted the Ducks to third overall in the NHL's power-play standings (23.0 percent), just slightly behind the Capitals (24.1 percent) and Blackhawks (23.5 percent) for the league lead. The Ducks' hottest PP players include Corey Perry (5G, 2A), Ryan Getzlaf (2G, 5A) and practically the team's entire defense corps, including Sami Vatanen (3G, 5A), Cam Fowler (1G, 7A) and Hampus Lindholm (1G, 4A). The recently acquired David Perron (2G, 3A) has also fit in nicely since coming over from Pittsburgh via trade in January.

The second-hottest team in the league - winners of eight straight entering Saturday - are the Tampa Bay Lightning. Oddly enough, the Bolts have one of the weaker power-play attacks in the league this year with a mediocre 17.5 percent success rate (22nd overall). Furthermore, the Lightning have scored just three PP goals in 27 opportunities (11.1 percent) over their latest eight-game win streak, and they've given up three short-handed goals over that stretch, so you sure can't single out special teams as one of the reasons behind their recent success. Chalk it up more to good goaltending, as the tandem of Ben Bishop (1.20 GAA, .962 save percentage in eight games) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (2.27, .932) have been rock solid. The only two Lightning players worth (barely) mentioning over the past two weeks are Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan (each with 1G, 1A in eight games) and Anton Stralman (2A). The rest of the team is stone cold as far as PP production goes, including the usually-dependable Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson, Valtteri Filppula, Alex Killorn and Victor Hedman. It's hard to say exactly why the Bolts have been such a poor PP team this season. The NHL doesn't track PP shots taken, but the Bolts are sixth in the league in total missed shots, some of which you would think would be occurring on the power play. A look at some of the NHL's "enhanced stats" also offers some clues -- it seems the Bolts are firing a ton of blanks these days. They have shot the puck over the net 124 times this season -- tops in the league, and they are also near the top of the league in several other missed-shot categories, including shots off the crossbar (nine, 6th) and shots off the post (36, tied for 4th).

Meanwhile, in the Western conference's stacked Central division, which is dominated by three powerhouse teams -- the Blackhawks, Stars and Blues -- it's easy to overlook a team like the fourth-place Nashville Predators. That said, don't underestimate them. With a 7-0-3 record in their last 10 games, the Preds are very quietly closing the gap on the aforementioned frontrunners, and their power play has played a big part in their recent hot streak, firing at 28.5 percent (8 for 28). Leading the charge has been 21-year-old Filip Forsberg, who is emerging as one of the seriously elite, up-and-coming young talents in the game. Forsberg has 19 points in his last 13 games, including two hat tricks -- the first player in Predators history to record such a feat in a single season. Seven of those 19 points have come on the power play, as Forsberg makes a run at the career-high 63 points he posted last season. Complimenting him on the Preds' first PP unit are Mike Ribeiro (1 PPG, 5 PPA in his last 14 games) and Craig Smith, who has been quiet on the PP this year (just four points all season), but at even strength he's been dynamite lately, with 11 points in his last nine games. On the back end, Shea Weber is now tied for first among NHL defensemen in PP goals with 12, and Roman Josi (5 PPA in his last 10 games) is tied for fourth in PP assists with 17. Now, if coach Peter Laviolette can somehow find a way to get Ryan Johansen going again (16 points in his first 16 games as a Predator, and just one in his last nine), the Preds could finally be ready to take a shot at a deep postseason run.

Also in the Central, it's hard to ignore the Blues and their recent 7-3-0 run in their last 10 games, and 9-4-1 since the beginning of February. At first glance, you wonder how the Blues have been as successful as they've been this season (37-20-9) with a razor thin plus-4 goal differential. If you look a little deeper, the Blues play a strong puck possession game, with the second-fewest giveaways in the league (374, less than six per game) and eighth-best faceoff-winning percentage (50.9 percent). The Blues' power play has also been very steady all season, fifth in the league with a 21.8 percent hit ratio, and 28.9 percent (13 for 45) in the last month. Naturally, Vladimir Tarasenko has been his usual dominant self with the man advantage, tied for fourth in the league in PP goals with 12, and five PP points in his last 12 games (4G, 1A). With top center Jori Lehtera (upper-body, possible concussion) out for the past three games, David Backes has been centering the first PP unit with Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz, but has only managed two PP points in his last 23 games, and is clearly not the answer. Schwartz, meanwhile, who just recently returned from an ankle injury that has kept him out for most of the season, has been excellent in the 10 games he's played since mid-February, scoring nine points, including one PP goal and two helpers. On the blue line, Kevin Shattenkirk has become known as more of a power-play specialist the past few seasons, as roughly 60 percent of all the points he's scored over the past three years (72 of 122) have come with the man advantage.