Power-play boom, better positioning behind Nazem Kadri’s goal spike
TORONTO — Nazem Kadri tried to address the mechanics of his shot, increase his arm strength and fire the puck a bit quicker this year, all in a bid to score more often for the Maple Leafs.
But what’s really pushed Kadri to 20 goals— matching a career-high — after only 45 games is a spike in power play production. The 26-year-old is even with Sidney Crosby and Ottawa’s Mike Hoffman for second in the NHL with 10 power-play goals this season, eclipsing his old career-best of seven from a few years earlier.
“Obviously our power play has been huge for us,” Kadri said after scoring a pair of goals, including one on the power play, in a 4-0 win over Calgary on Monday night.
That wasn’t the case for the Leafs or Kadri in 2015-16. Kadri had only had only four goals in 76 games on the Leafs’ anemic power play last season, scoring two of them in the same March game against Florida. He had one power-play goal for the first five-plus months of the Leafs’ last-place campaign, finally scoring his second of the year on Mar. 24.