The shortened season is causing teams to break from the norm. In St. Louis, that means the squad will run three power-play units.
“We’re going to use three units, we’re going to use eight guys to kill penalties, that’s just the reality of the season and where everybody is at physically and mentally,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said.
“I think you just have to use as much of your bench as you can. It’s a little more work for everybody, but I think getting guys used to doing it is important.”
One power-play line features Alex Steen at the point and includes Chris Stewart, Vladimir Tarasenko, Andy McDonald, and Kevin Shattenkirk.
T. J. Oshie and Alex Pietrangelo manned the points of another unit that consists of David Backes, David Perron, and Patrik Berglund.
Finally, the third unit consisted of Matt D’Agostini, Jaden Schwartz, Vlad Sobotka, Kris Russell, and Ian Cole.
Although he admits it’s a risk, Hitchcock has already seen some “good things” by having forwards Steen and Oshie play in the back end.
“It looks like we’re a threat and that’s the key thing,” Hitchcock said. “I think this includes more players, it makes us more dynamic.”
The Blues had a mediocre 16.7% power-play success rate in 2011-12 and they weren’t much better during their subsequent playoff run.
