From front to back: a growing trend of putting scoring forwards on the blue line during the power play could be the secret to success down the stretch and in the playoffs - NHL

Standing inside the blue line, the forward swings his stick back, the blade pointing toward the ceiling of Toronto's Air Canada Centre as he winds up for the one-timer. Everybody watching the Senators and the Maple Leafs knows what will happen next, but none of the Leafs can do anything about it.

Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson watches the pass slide across the ice from defenseman Wade Redden. A flash of Alfredsson's slap-shooting silver stick later, and the puck is rocketing behind Leafs goaltender Ed Belfour and into the net. Yet another goal for the Senators from Alfredsson on the point on the power play.

Playing defense on the Senators' power play puts Alfredsson at the forefront of a hot trend: forwards dropping back to the point with the man-advantage. More than hall of the league's teams are doing it on a regular basis.

The reason is simple: There aren't enough great offensive defensemen to go around. In a league starved for offense, coaches are looking for ways to get the most ice time for their best scorers, who almost always are forwards.

"How many teams can say they have two good offensive defensemen to play the power play? Not many," says Thrashers coach Bob Hartley, who has employed wingers Ilya Kovalchuk and Dany Heatley on the point on the power play.

"I don't believe in using two units of five guys for a minute each. I want my best guys to be on the ice in those situations. Putting Heatley or Kovalchuk on the point on the power play gives us more firepower. It gives us a unit the other team has to respect."

And because so many goals are scored off shots through traffic or off rebounds capitalized on by players in traffic--and the power play is run from the point where a lot of these shots originate--teams are using forwards to generate offense as quarterbacks.

"The forward is capable of either shooting the puck better or moving the puck around," says Senators winger Peter Bondra, a stalwart on the point when he played with the Capitals. "You go out there to score goals. That's the natural instinct for an offensive forward. That's the difference between a forward and a regular defenseman."

But not just any forward can play on the point.

"You look for guys who can shoot the puck and have good vision," says Thrashers general manager Don Waddell. "You want guys who can make a play."

Having a forward on the point isn't without its risks. Even so, Lightning coach John Tortorella is willing to have defensive liabilities on the point to reap the offensive upside. He has used forwards Martin St. Louis, Brad Richards and, most recently, hard-shooting Cory Stillman at the point.

"I don't think Cory's the ideal guy for the point. We're going to give up some chances just because of his skating," Tortorella says. "But you have to assess your team. We were having trouble getting shots through on the power play, and we felt Cory is a guy who can get shots through. We tried Marty there for six or seven games, but we lost his strength, which is retrieving pucks down low."

Having players who can score and be counted on defensively makes the burden of risk easier to bear. "The real good forwards don't put themselves in bad spots," says Scotty Bowman, the NHL's winningest coach and a nine-time Stanley Cup champion.

Blues center Doug Weight is one of the best two-way players on the point because he spends time in practice playing defense in one-on-ones. He says the keys for a forward who's playing defense are to match the speed of the attacker and to stay in good position so as to not be susceptible to fakes.

"I think the scariest thing about playing the point on the power play is the fact that you're the last line of defense," Weight says. "You can look unbelievable on the boards when the puck comes to you, and you never miss a pass. But when that puck's coming to you and you've got a Joe Sakic killing the penalty or a Mike Modano, and you know you're the last guy, and you've got to come within 2 feet of his stick to draw him to you to make plays, you've got to be confident that way."

Attaining a level of confidence can be a great help to a forward while defending and attacking.

"As you get more comfortable, you get more aggressive," Weight says. "And if you find yourself being more aggressive on the power play, the more chances you're going to get."

"You definitely have to have a comfort zone," Richards says. "Patience is a huge factor, because if you panic it will ruin everything you are trying to do. A lot of guys panic when they're skating backwards and they have a guy screaming down on them."

And if that isn't enough, the forward also has to keep an eye on the clock so he isn't stuck playing defense when the penalty expires.

"It's discipline. You can't overstay," Bondra says. "When I'm on the second unit, I want to make sure someone gives me a yell 10 seconds from the end of the power play, so I have plenty of time to get to the bench to make sure (they) put a defenseman (out) there. Usually the other team is coming back with its best players, so when those guys jump in, you want to make sure you have a defenseman there."

Advancements in stick technology over the last five years have increased the pool of players who have dangerous shots from the point. Many of those players are forwards. Combine the forwards' offensive instincts, open ice and a big shot, and you have the perfect ingredients for a power-play quarterback.

Alfredsson says the biggest reason he has become successful on the point is because he uses a composite, one-piece stick that has boosted the velocity of his shot.

"My slap shot, I feel, is pretty good now, so I know I can blast it from the point, and with some traffic in front, we can get some goals that way," he says.

Before the new sticks became popular, Bowman, always an innovative thinker, experimented with forwards on the point in his coaching days. He says not every player is suited for the role.

"I found, when I first started, the good offensive players didn't play well on the point," he says. "Guy Lafleur was a hell of a player, but he wasn't so good on the point. He wouldn't shoot the puck. Those creative players always think there's a better play out there, so they don't shoot the puck. That's what makes Alfredsson so good. He takes shots."

In his Stanley Cup-winning years with the Red Wings, Bowman used Sergei Fedorov (now with the Mighty Ducks) on the point with defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom. Bowman also used center Steve Yzerman on the point, but on a limited basis because Bowman didn't like losing Yzerman's faceoff expertise. Again, it comes down to effectively managing your assets. Weight's asset isn't his shot, so he plays to his strengths.

"I try to use my skating ability to get the puck across the middle and try to pick guys apart a little bit, make passes, try to get (defenseman Chris Pronger) the shots when I can because he's got the big shot from the point" Weight says. "You try to draw guys to you as much as you can, and you use your passing ability to create two-on-ones for your teammates."

But, when it comes right down to it, using a forward on the power play is about giving a team options. And as the playoffs approach and goals become even harder to score, more and more teams are getting the point.

Chris Stevenson covers the NHL for the Ottawa Sun. Managing editor Paul Grant contributed to this story.

RELATED ARTICLE: The best of the bunch.

1 Daniel Alfredsson, Senators. The captain has one of the best one-timers in the league and isn't shy about using it. "I think he is (the best) because he shoots the puck," says former coach Scotty Bowman. "I don't see anybody better in that spot," says Peter Bondra, former Capital and now a teammate of Alfredsson's. "He has a shot; he can fake it; he can more the puck around. He's got unbelievable vision. He sees the players around him so well, and he can find somebody open."

2 Doug Weight, Blues. He's got tremendous patience," says Lightning forward Brad Richards. He sees the ice as well as anybody in the league." Weight relies on his patience to draw defenders and then uses his passing ability to maximize his teammates' effectiveness. 3Peter Bondra, Senators. "We used Bondra on the point because he might have the best one-timer I have ever seen," says Bruce Cassidy, a former coach of Bondra's with the Capitals who is now a Blackhawks scout. "It's not just that he gets it away, but it's accurate." Bondra likes to slip through the back door to use his one-timer from the off side.

4 Brian Rolston, Bruins. "He makes good decisions with the puck," says Thrashers general manager Don Waddell. Rolston also is blessed with tremendous speed, which makes him tough to beat one-on-one.

5 Dany Heatley, Thrashers, When Heatley is on his game, he keeps opponents guessing. He'll dart into the slot for a shot of stay back and pass. Honorable mention: Sergei Fedorov, Mighty Ducks; Ilya Kovalchuk, Thrashers; Miroslav Satan, Sabres; Paul Kariya, Avalanche; Scott Young, Stars; Ray Whitney, Brett Hull, Red Wings; Saku Koivu, Canadiens; Sergei Zholtok, Richard Park, Wild; Steve Sullivan, Predators; Alexei Kovalev, Rangers; Shane Doan, Coyotes; Cory Stillman, Brad Richards, Lightning; Brendan Morrison, Canucks.--C.S.

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