The Maple Leafs have been running their first power play unit with five forwards in a couple of practices, and everyone is abuzz about this. They actually have tried it long before now at least once for a short period of time, but it wasn’t noticed by many people. They used it for large chunks of two power plays against the Capitals.
We aren’t all that far away from the days when every team always used two defenders and three forwards on a power play, and some teams still do. The Leafs often do on the second unit, likely because there are times Timothy Liljegren is a better shooting option than available forwards, but it’s rare to see a team use two defenders on the top unit.