Bill Peters' Power Play Approach Already Working for Carolina Hurricanes

From his first day with the Carolina Hurricanes on, new head coach Bill Peters has stressed the importance of the power play arguably above all other aspects of the sport.

Three games into the preseason, the effects of Peters' focus are already highly evident.

The 'Canes have scored seven total goals so far; a whopping five of the seven have come on the man-advantage.

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The team is 5-for-15 overall on the power play, including two conversions in Sunday's loss to the Blue Jackets and three in Wednesday's win over the Islanders. Jeff Skinner and Ryan Murphy have each already tallied a goal and two assists while working the unit, while Andrej Sekera has scored twice from the blue line—including a 5-on-3 goal on Long Island.

It's not just luck that has helped Carolina to its 33 percent conversion rate, either. The 'Canes are producing a plethora of scoring chances on the man-advantage, as well.

Their average of 1.28 shots per minute of 5-on-4 time is a massive jump over last year's regular season rate of 0.85 shots per minute in the same situations. While regression is inevitable and the preseason is far from a tell-all, the improvement is nonetheless impressive.

Statistic	2013-14 Season	2014-15 Preseason
Conversion Rate	14.6 percent	33.3 percent
Goals per Game	0.50	1.67
Shots per Minute	0.85	1.28

Peters has frequently mentioned the power play as his top area of concern since arriving in Raleigh last June. 

When asked at his introductory press conference about what most needed fixing with the 'Canes, Peters listed the power play No. 1, per team reporter Michael Smith. “We have enough skill to have a good power play," he said.

At a Q&A with fans in July, the 48-year-old boss called Eric Staal's one power play goal in 2013-14 "unacceptable" and laid out bluntly his plan for the first man-advantage unit, which included the surprise of Alexander Semin manning the point.

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During the first two practice days of training camp, solid chunks of time were spent both days "on power play breakouts and positioning," per Smith. Said Peters to Smith:

"

On the power play breakout, I want to make sure we’re all together and efficient. I want to make sure we have more than one or two ways to enter the zone. Once you’re in the zone, you...have to shoot it, and you have to retrieve it. The best power plays know what they’re going to do. 

"

Despite coming from an assistant coach job in Detroit where he "worked mainly with the defense and penalty kill," according to Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, the offensive side of special teams has clearly captured Peters' attention this past offseason.

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He is, after all, inheriting a Hurricanes team that ranked 28th in the NHL in power-play efficiency last season and hasn't finished higher than 18th in such regard since 2007-08.

Conversely, Carolina did enjoy the ninth-most power plays last season. Given their relatively plentiful opportunities and the league-wide conversion rate of 17.9 percent, the 'Canes should've scored nine or 10 more man-advantage goals than the 41 they actually did. And considering the team's mere minus-23 goal differential for the year as a whole, those additional conversions could've made a very significant difference. Had the power play been an above-average unit, the difference could've been even more substantial.

That's surely Peters' dream and plan for the 2014-15 campaign, in which he'll have to overcome extremely low expectations to help Carolina end its painful five-year playoff drought.

The transformation from 2013-14's underachieving Hurricanes to 2014-15's expectation-shattering Hurricanes may well have to revolve around a power-play revitalization.

Mark Jones has been a Carolina Hurricanes Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report since 2009. Visit his profile to read more, or follow him on Twitter.