The power play. Everyone who follows the NSL knows it and loves it at this point. What you may not know is that coaches can not call power plays inside the final four minutes of a period. This rule has swung matches this season in ways no one anticipated. The obvious example? Greenwich vs Newport on April 11th. Period 3 of the Greenwich vs Newport match contained a four minute rally between Mostafa Asal and Yahya Elnawasany, during which the clock ticked below four minutes. Greenwich could not call their final power play, and the match was out of reach. 

The “four minute rule,” as I’ll call it from here, may seem like an insignificant addendum to the NSL rulebook. Most of the time, it is. But, poor decision making surrounding the four minute rule can cost teams matches. I doubt an instance as absurd as Greenwich’s loss to Newport happens any time soon. That said, the four minute rule can still rear its ugly head in subtler ways. Last weekend’s match between the Philadelphia Lightning and New York Knights was one such instance. Let’s talk about it. 

The Situation

In Period 2, New York led 24-15 with 6:09 on the clock. Star player Ean Yow Ng was on court against Marwan ElShorbagy, and thoroughly outplaying him. Ng outscored Marwan 5-2 in their shared court time. Philly still had their power play, but it felt like New York was firmly in control of the 2nd period. The Knights ended up losing 32-31. How’d that happen?

Well, at that 6:09 mark, New York subbed on Adegoke Onaopemipo (world #183). The likely logic behind the change was managing Adegoke’s minutes. I imagine New York wanted Adegoke to get close to the required 15 minute threshold and preserve flexibility for the third period. With a nine point lead, New York likely saw this as an opportune time to balance preserving the lead with getting Adegoke his minutes. 

A couple problems with that. First of all, New York needed 3 or 4 period points to have a chance at the playoffs. They lost Period 1, so Period 2 was the last chance to fight for playoff contention. Second, this was not the time to interrupt Ean Yow Ng’s dominant play. Keep the four minute rule in mind. Had New York played him for just two more minutes, Philly would have had to call their power play against Ng instead of a cold Adegoke. That’s a much tougher proposition for Marwan. There was only so much time left in the period for Philly to call the power play, and New York could have ensured Ng was on court for it instead of Adegoke. Obviously it didn’t play out that way. 

Philly wasted no time calling their power play. Marwan scored six points during the power play and trimmed New York’s lead to just three. Had Ng stayed on court through the four-minute mark, New York would have dulled the impact of Philly’s power play. They could have subbed on Adegoke immediately after, adding four minutes to his total and giving him more of a cushion to close out the period. 

Defending a Lead Using the Four Minute Rule

New York made a critical error by giving Marwan an extra two minutes against a cold Adegoke Onaopemipo to chip away at the lead. Philadelphia Lightning co-owner BG Lemmon admitted the team’s surprise at New York’s management of the period on the National Squash League Podcast: “If they left Ean Yao out for just an extra two minutes, which he could have done, we’re probably not gonna call that power play and New York might have had a better shot.” 

We’ve already discussed what New York should have done differently, and BG’s quote highlights it once again. Subbing on Adegoke while he was still vulnerable to defend a power play proved a divisive error. With four minutes on the clock, the variance of outcomes in an NSL period drastically decreases. The scoring margin isn’t likely to change much with no power plays remaining and not a ton of time left. Put differently, each NSL period has a four minute margin of safety built in. 

That margin of safety could have been a real defensive resource for New York. In some ways, it still was! They had a chance to win the period despite their player ranking 174 points behind Philly’s. The difference between a win and a loss in Period 2 was depriving Ean Yow Ng of two more minutes of play, thus bringing New York to the four minute threshold with what you could only assume would be a larger lead. 

New York’s situation: six minutes left, a sizable lead, a weak link that needs minutes, and their opponent hasn’t called the power play, is fairly common in the NSL. It was no secret that Philly was hunting the Adegoke matchup for their power plays. They held on to the power play for the whole second period waiting for him to get on court. New York didn’t have to afford Philly the opportunity for their dream power play matchup, yet they did anyway. 

Teams can use this match as a cautionary tale for how not to manage this situation. This is another example of the NSL format rewarding teams that deeply understand its nuances and punishing those that don’t. The Philadelphia Lightning have never lost an NSL match because of their command of the format. New York was strategically outclassed by both Atlanta and Philly on their way to an 0-2 season. 

Last weekend was another strong signal to players, coaches, and executives across the NSL. Strategic play and command of the NSL format is THE competitive advantage that drives winning in this league. New York provided a concrete data point for how mismanaging a seemingly innocuous rule can go wrong. The question is whether teams will adjust accordingly.