How McDavid and MacKinnon Are Making Power Play Faceoffs Obsolete (Part 1 - McDavid)

Babcock and the Red Wings made possession the ‘next big thing’ in the early 2010s. It was a simple concept: if we have the puck, they can’t score. This put a greater emphasis on faceoffs and soon enough “faceoff specialists” got more attention like Zetterberg, Bergeron, and Kesler. 

Now on the PP scoring is of course the priority. And to score you need possession. So faceoffs are even more important right?

Not so fast!

What does the PK unit do immediately after winning a draw in the defensive zone? They send it full ice and pat themselves on the back, thus giving away possession for free. So does PP faceoff % matter less than we think?

Well it does and doesn’t. 

For teams who have a hard time with zone entries, faceoffs for sure matter. Nothing is more annoying than spinning your wheels in the neutral zone, trying to put your dough together, only to get stuffed at the blue line over and over.

Now let’s think: who doesn’t have issues with zone entries? EDM and COL, since they have the two very best in lugging the puck up the ice. 

The Avalanche were ranked first on the man advantage basically until Mack got hurt, which was a little more than a quarter through the season.


Shortly after Mack’s injury, the Oilers took over the top spot.


There would be no sense in writing this article if the data didn’t back my point. So you were probably able to guess that the Oilers and Avalanche are both in the bottom half in faceoff win % on the PP. Avs in dead last and Oilers in 18th.


So, what makes Mack and McD so good at lugging the puck up the ice that losing a faceoff doesn’t hurt as much—and might even help? To answer that we turn to the tape. We start with EDM and McDavid as he not only enters the zone but attacks. 

Practically every team utilizes the slingshot, but not every team has McDavid. He uses the extra space the slingshot provides to skate around what he’d call ‘cones.’


The disrespect here. Two Oilers players don’t even try to get involved. They know McD is going to deliver the goods.

Might as well get off for a change.

Next up, McD carves up the Leafs while isolating and buzzing right by Muzzin.


Now listen to the announcer on this one. EDM had nothing going on PP for 3 minutes until McD took matters into his own mitts (you can move on after the first 15s): 

To cap it off, we have McDavid using the slingshot but this time against five LA Kings. Speed and momentum kill even at even-strength for this guy.

You’ll have to wait until my next article to see how MacKinnon finds success, and what teams should start doing to defend against this.

Keep dangling,

Adam