Penalty killers getting in sync
New personnel led to struggles, but the results have improved
After a poor start that was not unexpected with so much personnel turnover, the Pittsburgh penalty kill has looked drastically different the past three weeks.
And if you ask Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, that unit feels a lot different, too.
“When you have a little bit of success, I think it breeds confidence,” Sullivan said after Tuesday’s practice at PPG Paints Arena. “So I think the players go over the boards with a jump in their step, that they’re confident they can get the job done. And that’s a whole different feeling now than it was earlier in the year.”
A good example of that came in the third period in Chicago, as the Penguins clung to a one-goal lead. The Blackhawks had two power plays and momentum on their side. But with the help of blocked shots by Ryan Poehling and Josh Archibald and a few timely clears, the Penguins survived those two penalties.
“It was huge,” said Kris Letang, who took one of the penalties that put the Penguins on the PK. “We always relied on the PK in the past to give us momentum. And I think [Sunday] we did a great job.”
It is night and day for that unit compared to the first few weeks of the season.
The Penguins gave up 11 power-play goals in their first 11 games and had a 71.1 penalty-kill percentage that was one of the NHL’s five worst at that point.
In their past eight games, that unit has stabilized. The Penguins have allowed only two power-play goals on 25 chances and were a perfect 10for-10 in their past four games, with key kills in all three victories on their most recent road trip.
That had pushed them all the way to 14th in the league entering Tuesday.
Getting Teddy Blueger back from injury has certainly provided a boost. He is one of their finest in the faceoff circle, he is a smart player who is rarely out of position in all three zones and he uses an active stick to prevent seam passes.
But it is too simplistic to say the resurgence of the penalty kill is all because of him. The unit as a whole has improved in several key statistics, including shots allowed from the inner slot, clear-out rate and time spent defending in their end.
“I don’t think it’s any one thing that’s allowed us to have success,” Sullivan said.
All four of the team’s most notable offseason acquisitions play on the penalty kill. They are Poehling and Archibald and blue-liners Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta.
Plus, Marcus Pettersson for the first time in his Penguins career is being deployed as a regular on that unit. He has taken on much of the PK time forfeited by Letang, as the Penguins lessen the load of their 35-year-old No. 1 defenseman.
So, naturally, the penalty kill struggled in the early going as newcomers got used to the aggressive way assistant coach Mike Vellucci wants them to play and all of the killers became more familiar with each other. After being out of sync early, the Penguins are more often moving in unison to defend the zone.
“When you’re down a man, the biggest thing is everyone has to be on the same page,” Poehling said. “We had a few guys picking up a new system. We’ve settled in and are playing more direct and striking faster.”
Pittsburgh’s pressure up the ice, a hallmark of Vellucci’s units in his three years on the staff, has been obnoxious. Speedy forecheckers such as Poehling and Archibald are all over opponents when they try to set up their breakouts.
“We want to get them out of their set breakouts, the breakouts they’re normally used to doing,” Archibald said. “Once we do that and they start thinking, it’s tougher for them to get into the zone. The pressure up-ice has been a big part.”
The Penguins keep the pressure on in the neutral zone – one area where they also excelled early on.
“[In Vellucci’s system], we’re staying on them, staying on them, which is really nice. We’ve done a good job,” Poehling said. “Any power play, when they can’t get in the zone they get frustrated. And that leads to more chances for us, too.”
Pittsburgh had two shorthanded breakaways in the 5-3 win in Chicago.
If the other team is able to get the puck into the zone cleanly and set up their power play, chances are they first had to expend time and energy. That is a key factor in the Penguins spending only 60.4% of their PK time in the defensive end, per Sportlogiq. They have jumped from 23rd up to fourth in that category.
Also, over this strong eightgame stretch, the Penguins allowed fewer shots from the inner slot and gave up only 1.2 scoring chances against per two minutes of PK time, which ranked third in the league over that span, per Sportlogiq.
“They’re getting in shot lanes and blocking shots, Sullivan said. “They’re doing what it takes to keep the puck out of our net.”
Since Nov. 5, they are the NHL’s best in both turnover percentage and success rate on dump-outs, getting it out on 84.4% of clearing attempts. They’re getting to 20% more rebounds and are working much better together to get clears.
“You see some where we’re just jumping on a loose puck and sending it down,” Petry said. “But there are times when it’s a battle and you have [a teammate behind you providing support] and it’s just a little pop play, and he has a clear lane to shoot it down the ice.”
All of these factors have the Penguins feeling much more confident in their kill.
“There is always room for improvement. Last game, we gave up a few chances where they would have [completed seam passes against] us,” Poehling said. “So we just need to improve in little areas and keep going in the right direction.”