from Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province,

One-third of the way into the National Hockey League season, power plays are red-hot.

Going into this weekend’s action, NHL power play units as a whole had scored on 22.9 per cent of their opportunities this season.

It’s been decades since hockey fans last saw power plays finding this much success, you’d have to go as far back as the 1985-86 season to find teams scoring at a similar rate.

Yes, when goalies still stayed on their feet, wore heavy pads and ranged far from their crease. Penalty killers defended in a mostly static box, not like now with three defenders clustered tight in front of the net, the fourth skater trying to disrupt possession up high.

Goalies today are far better at their position. They’re bigger, fitter, with lighter pads and more disciplined technique.

Players too are fitter and faster, with a better appreciation for how to truly take away time and space.

For so much of the past 30 years, this all added up to a large advantage for defences.

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