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Detroit's Gustav Nyquist, right, and Tomas Tatar struggled on the power play during coach Jeff Blashill's first season. (AP files)

It's no secret many of the Detroit Red Wings struggled to produce this season under first-year coach Jeff Blashill. After having four players surpass 50 points under Mike Babcock during the 2014-15 season, only one player (Henrik Zetterberg) reached that mark.

Two of the bigger underperformers were Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar.

Last season, Nyquist and Tatar continued to show growth and improvement since being brought up to the Red Wings full time. Nyquist had 27 goals and 27 assists in 82 games, and Tomas Tatar had 29 goals and 27 assists in 82 games during the 2014-15 season.

The 2015-16 season was set up to be a breakout season for Nyquist and Tatar, especially considering Blashill helped develop both players in Grand Rapids.

However, both players regressed during Blashill's first season. Nyquist had 17 goals and 26 assists in 82 games, and Tatar had 21 goals and 24 assists in 81 games.

Their roles under Blashill were similar with Babcock, including seeing significant time on the power play. So why did both players regress?

Both players struggled on the power play.

Take a look at the chart below, which highlights important power-play stats during the 2014-15 and 15-16 seasons for both players:

Power play Nyquist (14-15) Nyquist (15-16) Tatar (14-15) Tatar (15-16) CF60 92.48 94.34 93.75 86.78 iCF/60 17.57 13.59 25.38 13.28 iSF/60 10.98 8.16 15.00 8.65 G60 3.42 1.90 2.31 1.58 Primary points/60 3.90 2.45 4.04 1.85 High-danger scoring chances for/60 26.5 23.4 25.3 19.7 Scoring chances for/60 57.0 59.3 57.5 49.5 Total TOI (minutes) 245.88 220.69 208.00 194.29

As you can see, Tatar and Nyquist took less shot attempts individually (iCF/60) and registered less shots (iSF/60) per 60 minutes during this past season than they did in 2014-15. This could be due to both players opting to pass rather than shoot and/or spending less time in the offensive zone, as the team struggled with zone entries under Blashill.

Nyquist had an individual Corsi for per 60 minutes of 17.57 in 2014-15, and it went down to 13.59 the next season. Tatar's drop off was even more drastic, going from 25.38 to 13.28. Tatar was taking about 12 less shot attempts per 60 minutes this past season on the power play. His significant dip in team Corsi for per 60 minutes (93.75 to 86.78) shows how much the second power-play unit struggled to get off shot attempts.

Both players regressed in high-danger scoring chances for per 60 minutes, and Tatar regressed in scoring chances for per 60 minutes.

As a result of taking less shot attempts, both players were not able to produce as much offense. Nyquist had 14 power-play goals and 23 power-play points in 2014-15 and had seven power-play goals and 11 power-play points the next season. Tatar went from eight power-play goals and 18 power-play points to six power-play goals and 12 power-play points.

As far as even strength goes, most of the differences are negligible:

5 on 5 Nyquist (14-15) Nyquist (15-16) Tatar (14-15) Tatar (15-16) CF60 54.41 55.57 62.35 57.91 CA60 48.19 46.36 43.38 44.52 CF% 53.04 54.52 58.97 56.54 iCF/60 14.4 11.64 17.02 14.58 iSF/60 8.11 6.97 8.36 8.11 G60 0.65 0.51 1.04 0.86 P1/60 1.23 1.41 1.38 1.52 HSCF60 9.7 10.6 11.4 11.3 HSCA60 9.0 9.9 8.1 10.3 SCF60 26.5 27.3 30.1 28.8 SCA60 23.1 23.2 21.1 22.4 TOI/game 12.7 11.6 12.9 11.4

Nyquist improved his Corsi for percentage slightly, and Tatar's dipped a bit. However, each player produced more points despite scoring less goals. Both players had their ice time reduced this season, as well.

Adjustments already have been made to the Red Wings' coaching staff, as Pat Ferschweiler, who ran the Red Wings' power play, will watch games up in the press box rather than assisting Blashill on the bench.

The Red Wings are looking to get more experience behind the bench, which should have a positive effect on Nyquist and Tatar's production.

Note: All data taken from Corsica.hockey and War-on-ice.

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