Devils head coach Brent Sutter thinks his power-play unit is trying to be too perfect.
Maybe that’s why it’s struggling.
The 2-1 Devils travel to Atlanta tonight to face the Thrashers in the third contest of a four-game road trip (7 p.m.; MSG, WFAN-660 AM).
And so far New Jersey has sputtered with the man advantage, connecting on just 1 of 11 chances.
Sutter sees those numbers and gets concerned. And a little miffed.
“[Monday] night I thought the Rangers did a pretty good job blocking some shots,” the coach said.
“[But] you’ve still got to shoot the puck. You can’t not shoot the puck. But at times I think we get away from wanting to put enough pucks at the net, and we’re looking for the perfect play.
“It’s tough to score. Penalty killing in the league is pretty good for the most part. So it’s not going to be a perfect goal that always scores on the power play.”
The coach didn’t mince words, either, when it came to the urgency of the issue.
“Your power play has to produce for you,” he said. “It’s got to score goals.”
Sutter also said the Devils need to be smarter, noting where some of the power-play shots originated.
“The intelligence wasn’t there like it needed to be,” he said.
Center Brian Rolston sees the need to jump-start the unit, too.
“Obviously you don’t want to go 1-for-50 or something,” he said.
“That just can’t happen. But power plays are streaky, just like goal-scoring is sometimes.”
Sutter indicated that defenseman Andy Greene, who hasn’t played this season, may see some time in Atlanta.
The coach also said the game has been a little fast for first-year defenseman Anssi Salmela.