Much has been made of the 1-3-1 power play formation, about how if it is executed correctly with the proper personnel, it can be damn-near impossible to stop. This has been the case with teams such as the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning, who each employ shot threats all over the ice. I’ve written about how these power plays work briefly here, within the context of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Regardless, here’s a quick breakdown:

1 player at the top of the ice – usually a D-man

3 players in a line across the face-off circles, usually one passer and two shooters

1 player in front of the net

Now, the idea is to take away time and space while not getting beat by a pass. That might seem counterintuitive, as it requires a contrasting blend of conservative and aggressive styles. These power plays often elect a designated passer, or essentially a quarterback. The team works hard to get him the puck, so that he can snap it onto someone else’s tape. He’s the straw that stirs the drink. To kill this power play, you will have to identify who that is on the other team. Nicklas Backstrom, Claude Giroux, Mitch Marner. So you take away his time and space. This is what that looks like.

You, F1 that is, take a route up and out pressuring their D-man and forcing him to get rid of the puck while staying in his shooting lane until he does, at which point you get in between this half-wall quarterback and his point-man, who’s his relief valve once he gets pressured. Now apply passive pressure, funneling him toward the corner. Your goal is to block that direct pass to the D-man, or in the worst case be able to chase down a bank up the boards. This is known as a Czech Press. While staying in that passing lane, force him to do something – you’re not giving him the time and space for that perfect pass to open up. Head on a swivel, active stick.

Next, the other forward, F2, will go no higher than the top of the circles. Your job is to stay in between their quarterback and their biggest shot threat at the opposite circle. Alex Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos, Patrik Laine. You also need to be as close to their high slot guy as possible, ideally right on him and hopefully no more than a stick length away. If this slot player tries to draw you out of that east-west passing lane, prioritize the passing lane and just stay between him and the net if he goes up high, or if he drops down low, another player should be able to jump him if the puck gets to him. Now, here’s what that looks like.

In the event that F1 chases their setup man low and the puck finds its way back to the top of the zone, F2 will replace him taking the same route up at the D-man, since he’s closer to the shooting lane, and in that passing lane as F1 originally went, while F1 will retreat to the high slot and man the duties of F2. In terms deployment, these forwards should be two things: smart and quick. They must have the defensive instincts to stay within their respective passing lanes and at the very least get a touch on the puck if that pass is made. They also need to be quick enough to force the other team and replace each other when necessary. Head on a swivel, active stick.

That leaves us with two defensemen. These players will almost mirror each other. As our strong-side D-man, you will do a similar job as F2, however you’re staying between the puck and the net while the setup man has it, while trying to stay as close as possible to their net-front guy. Take away the shooting lane and discourage the shot. If he does shoot it, you need to be able to block it. This player will have a harder time getting the perfect shot off, since F1 is hounding him and forcing him to a weaker shooting angle. If he’s forced to a sharp enough angle, say, lower than the top of the circle on the boards, let the goalie take the shot and just take away the direct pass to the net-front guy by tying up his stick. Our weak-side D-man will also try to stay as close as possible to that same net-front guy, but will always stay between their opposite-circle triggerman and the net. Your main goal is to just take away his shooting lane, and block it if he tries to shoot it through you, but ideally you get stick-on-puck or stick-on-stick on this guy. You can afford to cut down more on his angle, as he’s your first priority. Here’s what that looks like now.

This is a wedge +1 formation. The quarterback is being pressured from up high toward the corner, the direct pass to the point is taken away, the ideal cross-seam pass is neutralized, the two guys in the slot have a guy right on them, and taking the shot risks having it blocked and going the other way for an odd-man rush against. His two safest plays are to rim it around the back and hope one of his guys gets to it first, or a bank pass to the point, who is the only guy without someone in his kitchen. That’s by design. Shots from the point go in somewhere around 2% of the time, and you can allow the other team to take their chances with that.

In the event that there is a loose puck, every killer on the ice needs to make a quick read. Are we able to be the first to the puck? If so, be an option. Most often, loose pucks are coming off of a rebound, a dump in, or our F1 has forced their half-wall player to bobble the puck. This puts the majority of loose pucks in the corner or at least low in the zone. If we can be first on it, we need to provide that player with support to ensure we get that puck out and down the ice. Here’s what that looks like.

We have one guy collecting the puck, one guy covering the front of the net, one guy in the slot, and one guy on the hashmarks. If the first guy on the puck has a lane to shoot it all he way down the ice, he should do so. If he can’t, he now has three quick, short passing options. Either up to the hashmarks, a reverse behind the net (which the netfront defender should be able to get to), or a pass to the player covering the slot if all other options are taken away.

If we aren’t winning the race to the puck, you still need to pressure them and collapse. However, the difference here is the killers are trying to isolate the opposition by taking away his options. Heads on a swivel are an absolute must. Our one guy on the puck should be trying to pin their puck carrier. If he gets the puck stopped, we need two guys in. The guy on the hashmarks will drop down into the battle and try to win the puck and get it down the ice, while we still have two players occupying high danger areas. Generally speaking, any time we see an attacking player bobble the puck, miss a pass, or otherwise turn their back to us, we should be taking that opportunity to apply pressure from our closest killer and try to out-will them for the puck. If the other team is able to maintain possession, we get back into our structure as quickly as possible. If a shot makes it through, we need to have all four players collapse onto the net, clearing away and boxing out opposing players in an attempt to collect that rebound and send it down the ice as well.

Since the mainstream inception of the 1-3-1 in the NHL, teams have realized how useful and effective it can be. What makes it so effective is the fact that it forces the penalty killers to choose which players to defend. This penalty killing structure mitigates the effectiveness of each option, while simultaneously prioritizing the most dangerous options. No penalty kill will ever operate at a 100% success rate, however I believe this is the most effective way to limit scoring chances against on the PK. All told, here’s a great example of the Philadelphia Flyers shutting down the Washington Capitals’ power play using this method.