After some early season struggles, the Oilers look to have improved their powerplay efficiency as the club currently ranks 9th overall at 89.5%. Worth noting that their shooting percentage with the man advantage is hovering around  14.8%, which is just slightly above the league average of 12.7%.

This is all well and good until you dig in a little deeper and examine their rate of shot generation. For powerplay analysis, I prefer using Fenwick For/60, or the unblocked shot attempts per hour (FF/60), for a couple of reasons. Assistant coach Jay Woodcroft, who manages the team powerplay,  emphasized last season, and again this past week, the importance of shots getting through and to break down the opposing team’s penalty kills by sustaining pressure (Source: Inside Sports, 630 CHED). Fenwick For/60 has also been shown to be a good predictor of future success with the man-advantage (Source: Objective NHL), with the majority of successful powerplay teams being able to maintain their rate of unblocked shot attempts through a season.

The Oilers currently rank 22nd in the league when it comes to FF/60 on the powerplay. Their 65.5 unblocked shot attempts per hour is below the league average of 73.2, and well behind Washington and Los Angeles who are generating more than 90 shot attempts per hour with the man advantage.

Full article is at The Copper & Blue.