Power play, penalty kill something special now
Short-handed goals against lone negative
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A fairly consistent indicator of success in hockey is five-on-five goal differential.
Produce a positive number there, and chances are you’re going places. Of the 16 teams occupying playoff spots as of Monday morning, only two — Dallas and Minnesota at minus-4 — had a negative five-on-five goal differential.
While the Penguins fare perfectly fine in this area, with a plus23 mark that’s bettered by only two teams, there has been another facet of the game that has been driving their success: special teams.
A legitimate argument can be made that the Penguins are the NHL’s best when it comes to special-teams play. For sure, it’s one of the best seasons of the Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin era.
Entering Monday, the Penguins penalty kill was third at 84.8 percent and fifth on the power play (25.8). Only the Tampa Bay Lightning — first and seventh — fare better when you combine the two rankings.
“I think it’s a lot of things, but, at the end of the day, it boils down to the players getting the job done,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I give our players a lot of credit. They’re committed.”
As the Penguins have turned things around, a convenient
marking point to their season came on Thanksgiving Eve, at home. That was when they beat the Dallas Stars, 5-1, in one of their most complete performances of the season. The power play went 1 for 3. The penalty kill was 2 for 2.
Since that night, the Penguins have been fourth in power-play percentage (27.1) and first on the penalty kill (88.7). Their combined ranking (fifth) is better than second-place Tampa (11) by a wide margin.
It has held over this most recent stretch of dominance, too, where the Penguins have won 10 of their past 12 games.
When you look at how good both units have been, this is shaping up to be the Penguins’ best specialteams season since 2013-14, when their power play led the league at 23.4 percent, and their penalty kill was fifth at 85.0.
“I give the players a lot of credit because that commitment is what it takes to have success on both of those special teams,” Sullivan said. “They’ve been a big part of our success over the last month or so.”
Just how much have the Penguins been influenced by their special teams success? Take a look at some of these (rather stark) numbers:
• The Penguins are 21-6-4 (.742) when they don’t allow a power-play goal, but 4-8-2 (.357) when they give up at least one. Furthermore, they’re averaging 3.9 goals per game when they allow something on the penalty kill and 2.4 when they do not.
• On the other side, they’re 15-7-3 (.660) when they score at least one goal on the power play and 10-7-3 (.575) when they do not. Their goals-per-game average jumps from 2.9 without a power-play goal to 4.1 in the games where they get one.
While that might look like a mess of numbers, what it shows is this: If the Penguins are scoring power-play goals, their offense is clicking at a rate that’s nearly impossible to top.
Meanwhile, they’re not allowing other teams to change momentum with a big power-play goal or to gain any sort of advantage there.
“Overall, we’re a team that pays a lot of attention to details,” said defenseman Kris Letang, who plays on both units. “That makes special teams dangerous when we use it like that.”
The Penguins are a good special teams team for a variety of reasons.
First and foremost, players. Their collection of talent on the power play is basically an embarrassment of riches, while their penalty killers have a wide variety of skills.
Jack Johnson (team-high 2:19) and Matt Cullen have experience. Bryan Rust can fly. Brian Dumoulin has emerged as one of the league’s best shutdown defensemen. Letang is … well, Letang.
Lately, however, that unit has tried to pressure more, and it has helped. After failing to produce a short-handed goal in a 56game stretch, the Penguins now have five in their past 15 games.
Good thing, too, as the problem with short-handed goals allowed has been the one black mark on this power play.
“We’re trying to skate a little more, trying to be a little more aggressive up ice,” Rust said of scoring more short-handed. “I guess that’s just a product of that.”
The Penguins, it seems, have been a product of their special teams. And that unquestionably has been a good thing for them this season.
“Our penalty-killers are committed to getting the job done,” Sullivan said. “They pride themselves. They know it’s a vitally important part of our team winning games, and the powerplay guys are the same. They’re committed to try and be difference-makers.”