When a team has a power play in hockey, it has a personnel advantage over its opponent. Instead of playing with five skaters and a goalie, the team that receives a penalty is skating with four skaters and a goalie. That leaves its opponent on the power play. This advantage often leads to goal-scoring opportunities. When a team can score while on the power play, it creates momentum in addition to putting a goal on the scoreboard. A team that can stop its opponent from scoring while on the power play can shift the momentum in its favor.
Minor Penalties
A team gets a power play when its opponent commits a minor penalty. When the referee blows his whistle because a player has committed a penalty such as roughing, tripping, cross-checking or slashing, a player is sent off the ice and the opposing team goes on the power play. Not only is the player forced to sit in the penalty box for two minutes, that team cannot replace him until the two minutes are up or the opponent scores a goal. If the team scores a power-play goal, the penalty is over and the player may return to the ice.
Two-Man Advantage
A team on a power play can skate with two more players than its opponent. If a player on team A gets called for holding at the 11:01 mark of the first period and then another player on that team gets whistled for roughing at 12:01, than team is down two players. That gives team B a 5-on-3 skating advantage for one full minute. If a team scores with a two-man advantage, the first player penalized comes back on the ice but the second player continues to serve his penalty.
Major Penalty
A team can gain a five-minute power play if the opponent commits a major penalty. For example, if one player takes the butt-end of his stick and attempts to jab it into his opponent's ribs, the referee may rule that this was a serious attempt to injure another player. That player will get a five-minute penalty -- for spearing or roughing -- and may also get a game misconduct. The five-minute penalty will keep the offending player's team short-handed for that length of time no matter how many goals the opponent scores. The game misconduct penalty will keep the offending player out of the rest of the game but will not cause his team to play short-handed for any additional minutes.
Short-handed Defense
A team that is playing short-handed is primarily interested in defending and keeping the puck out of its net. It usually does this by positioning the four skaters on the ice in a box or rectangular fashion. The two skaters at the top of the rectangle attempt to block shots from the skaters near the blue line or intercept passes. When the short-handed team gets possession of the puck, it can immediately fire it down the ice behind the opponent's goal. If the team was not short-handed, this would lead one of the linesmen to blow his whistle for an icing call. But instead of stopping play and having a faceoff in the defensive zone, play continues and the team on the power play has to chase down the puck to restart its power play.
Short-handed Scoring
A short-handed team can score despite being a man down. If one of the two players at the top of the box come up with the puck, it often leads to breakaway, which puts the skater in alone on the goalie. A team may score while short-handed. A short-handed goal does not end the power play. It can be embarrassing to give up a short-handed goal, but all NHL teams both score and give up short-handed goals throughout the 82-game regular season.
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