The Blackhawks' power play struggles have been well-documented. They finished tied for third-worst last season with a 16.0 percent conversion rate.
To help change their fortunes in that department, the Blackhawks switched to a 1-3-1 formation to emulate what worked so well for the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals.
The results haven't paid off yet. The Blackhawks have had 10 power-play opportunities through three games and haven't been able to cash in on any of them.
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"We've got to get that power play going," Patrick Kane said after Tuesday's practice. "It's a work in progress for sure, I think we're 0-for-10 right now, so it'd be nice to just kind of settle it down, get some puck possession, get moving around, get some shots, keep the momentum in the game. It's still early on in the season, but that was one of our goals this season, to improve the power play and be able to produce in that regard, especially with the way we're producing 5-on-5, you'd think we'd be able to come over to the power play.
"Worked on it pretty good today, thought it was moving around pretty good so we've got to put that in our game situation now and be able to have that be an effective part of our team game, is being good on the power play and special teams, so hopefully we can improve on that for sure."
Henri Jokiharju was promoted to the top unit while Brent Seabrook was removed from it entirely. The four forwards stayed the same with Alex DeBrincat, Kane, Nick Schmaltz and Jonathan Toews, but it was DeBrincat that was in the slot and Schmaltz at the left faceoff circle. A little swap in places
On the second unit, Erik Gustafsson was running the point while Duncan Keith was in the slot, Dominik Kahun was at the left faceoff circle, Brandon Saad on the right and Artem Anisimov in front of the net.
Putting Saad at the right circle rather than the slot could help give him a better chance at teeing up a one-timer.
"Yeah, for sure," Saad said. "I think in general with our power play as a whole with getting more shot opportunities, whether it's supporting the puck better, calming down with it. We seem to, like the [defensive] zone even, I don't know if it's just guys are a little nervous or the pressure that teams gave us but just knowing where each other is, being able to move the puck quickly and avoid that pressure and then obviously capitalizing on our shots."
NHL
Often times last season the Blackhawks' power play was a momentum killer, whether it was because of failed zone entries, not generated enough quality shots, or just the volume in general. On Sunday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, they had three opportunities, one of them a four-minute, and they actually gave up more scoring chances than they did themselves with the man advantage.
But overall, it wasn't terrible in the first two games and the Blackhawks aren't too worried about it going forward.
"The power play is going to be fine," Toews said. "I think we've got two confident units. At the end of the day we know it's about getting pucks back and supporting each other and eventually just generating more shots and once that comes, puck are going to go in and you get results you just relax a little bit more.
"There's no point in getting antsy just because we haven't scored in three games. I think there's a lot of good things that we're seeing already that is showing improvement from last year so we'll just focus on those positives and keep working at it."