Thanks to the commitment and competence of Barrett Jackman, Lee Stempniak, Dan Hinote, Jamal Mayers, Dennis Wideman, and a few other standouts, the Blues have kept most of their games close, with the real difference each night coming on the powerplay.
In 10 of the Blues' losses (including OT and shootout losses), the deciding margin has been two goals or less. In five of those games, the Note went "0-for" on the powerplay. In fact, the team has failed to score a powerplay goal in an amazing 13 games this year.
That type of failure cannot be attributed to just one player, but it's hard not to notice that there is one player whose on-ice time and productivity stand in stark contrast to each other.
The numbers are difficult to argue with. Doug Weight sees more icetime on the man-advantage than any other Blue, yet he has notched only three powerplay points.
That's the same point total as Petr Cajanek, who plays a full minute less on the powerplay each night, and a point less than Lee Stempniak, who hits the ice for two full minutes less on the PP each night.
Each of those players also outscores Weight overall, despite seeing less ice time (three minutes less for Cajanek and five less for Stempniak) each night.
Cutting Weight's powerplay minutes isn't guaranteed to pep up the man advantage, but it can't hurt. The team already has the league's third-worst powerplay rating (11.5%). Shifting Weight's minutes to Cajanek or Stempniak shouldn't result in anything worse than that.
In fact, minimizing the veteran's shifts might rejuvenate him and enable him to contribute more in other facets of the game.
A successful powerplay is the difference between making or missing the playoffs in the new NHL.
