Power Plays vs Times Short

As it seems to always be, the Isles look destined to finish with fewer power plays than their combined opponents... again.

They have been shorthanded more often than their opponents every season since having 27 more pp's than their opponents in 1996-97.
In fact, 1992-93 is the only other season in Islander history that they've had more pp's than their collective opponents.

Updating something I wrote last year, based on what's available on ESPN.com

It may make some of the conspiracy theorists on the list rest a little easier.

So for the 2000-01 to 2006-07 seasons:

Five teams have had more power plays that the opposition in each of the six seasons:
Tampa Bay
Carolina
Colorado
Minnesota
Ottawa

(three of these teams have won the Stanley Cup during these six seasons, and Ottawa has been to the finals)

Four teams have had more times short than the opposition in each of the last six seasons:

Chicago
Florida
NY Islanders
Washington
(Note: the Rangers fell off this list last season)

In terms of biggest power play difference (total power plays - total penalty kills)

Tampa has had the most power plays relative to their opponents= +339 (an average of 56.5 a season)

The remainder of the top 5:
Carolina280
New Jersey260
Minnesota180
Buffalo178

(again, three of the five have won the Cup in the last six seasons)

The bottom five is led by Florida. The Panthers have been short 378 times more than their opponents (an average of 63 per season)

The remainder of the bottom five:

Chicago-347
NY Rangers-262
Washington-250
NY Islanders-228
Boston-228

.

Since Montreal and Toronto have come up in these discussions in the past:

The Canadiens have had more pp's than their opponents in three of the last six seasons, and have had 53 power plays more than their opponents.

The Maple Leafs have had more pp's than their opponents only twice in the last six seasons, and have had 82 fewer power plays than their opponents.

The table below shows the entire league, in order of 6-year difference in power plays. The last column can be interpreted as "Seasons with more pp – Seasons with fewer pp – Seasons with pp total equal to opponent"

Tampa Bay3396-0-0
Carolina2806-0-0
New Jersey2604-2-0
Minnesota1806-0-0
Buffalo1785-1-0
San Jose1694-2-0
Nashville1524-2-0
Ottawa1496-0-0
Colorado1066-0-0
Dallas854-2-0
Los Angeles583-3-0
Vancouver534-2-0
Montreal533-3-0
Columbus464-2-0
Calgary333-2-1
Edmonton223-3-0
Atlanta214-2-0
St. Louis-352-4-0
Pittsburgh-422-4-0
Anaheim-442-4-0
Detroit-531-4-1
Philadelphia-672-4-0
Toronto-822-4-0
Phoenix-1681-5-0
NY Islanders-2280-6-0
Boston-2281-5-0
Washington-2500-6-0
NY Rangers-2621-5-0
Chicago-3470-6-0
Florida-3780-6-0

As for the current season (thru Wednesday):

Of the five teams that have had more pp's than their opponents in each of the last six years, only two are in good shape to do so again :

Carolina +30
Colorado +23
Minnesota +2
Ottawa -37
Tampa Bay -11

Of the four that have had fewer pp's that their opponents in each of the last six years, all have had fewer this season as well.

Chicago -16
Florida -44
NY Islanders -42
Washington -11

The Kings have the best differential (+56) while the champion Ducks have the worst (-46)

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.