32 minutes and 37 seconds.
That is the amount of time the Columbus Blue Jackets have spent on the power play through the first seven games of the 2020-21 season.
They have one goal to show for it.
Tuesday's game was the latest example in a frustrating series of deficient special team play. Columbus went 0-for-6 on the power play, including a potential game-changing double-minor for high-sticking and a 4-on-3 advantage in overtime. The season total is now at a woeful 1-for-19. They lost the game in a shootout.
Somehow, the Blue Jackets are not the worst in the league on the young season. The Anaheim Ducks are without a power play goal in 16 attempts thus far. The Ducks, however, are in a rebuilding phase. The Blue Jackets are not, and are looking to make the Stanley Cup playoffs for a fifth consecutive season.
The inability to score on the man advantage is a monumental problem, but in acquiring Patrik Laine from the Winnipeg Jets over the weekend, the Blue Jackets have a way out of power play hell – and it may save the season.
| Non-Bubble Teams, 2019-20 | PP% | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Sabres | 18.9% | 20th |
| New Jersey Devils | 18.8% | 21st |
| San Jose Sharks | 17.5% | 23rd |
| Los Angeles Kings | 17.1% | 26th |
| Detroit Red Wings | 14.9% | 29th |
| Anaheim Ducks | 14.7% | 30th |
| Ottawa Senators | 14.2% | 31st |
| Blue Jackets: 16.4% / 27th (Qualified for bubble) | ||
The power play struggles for the Blue Jackets are nothing new. Last season, Columbus ranked 27th (16.4%) in the category, and 23rd of the 24 teams that made the postseason bubble. One has to wonder what Columbus could have done with even a decent power play: of the six losses in the bubble, all but one came by a single goal, including all four against the eventual champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning. What would just one or two power play goals have done in the series, specifically in the five overtime loss to open the series? Columbus left the bubble having gone just 3-for-34 (8.8%) when up a man.
The story doesn't end there. Despite advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in franchise history, the club ranked 28th in the league at 15.4% in the 2018-19 season. In 2017-18, the Blue Jackets' 17.2% clip was "good enough" to rank 25th in the league.
Here comes a hard-to-swallow pill: if you combine those three full seasons and the beginning of this season, no team has a worse power play percentage than the Columbus Blue Jackets. Yes, the team that has made the playoffs in each of those three seasons ranks 31st of 31 teams, at a dismal 16.0%.
There is hope for the Blue Jackets power play, though.
Laine. Yes, one man can make all the difference.
In 306 career games, the Finnish Phenom has 140 goals. 52 of them have come on the power play. Take a look at his 20th (!) and final power play goal of the 2017-18 season, and remember, this is from the teenage version of the now 22-year-old:
A few words come to mind. Ridiculous. Terrifying. Ovechkin-esque.
That scorching laser of a shot is now going to be the focal point of the Blue Jackets top power play unit, and at a time it's needed the most. We are already 1/8th of the way through the season, an odd thought given that the season is still less than two weeks old.
There will need to be a little give by Tortorella & Co. with an elite scorer like Laine, but the mere presence of Laine – even without the puck – should help the man-advantage.
"It'll give everyone a little more space on the ice and relieve some more pressure," said defenseman Seth Jones. "It's going to help our middle man because that guy (the opposing teams defender) is going to have to cheat over a little bit."
Assuming his visa issues get worked out and he clears COVID-19 protocols, Laine could make his debut in a Blue Jackets uniform in Sunday's game against Chicago or Tuesday at Nationwide Arena against Dallas.
When he does, it'll be well worth the wait.
