Faceoff Factor

Improvement of Penguins' PK Traces Back to Trade Deadline

Ben Schmidt | Pittsburgh Penguins

Apr 30, 03:32 PM | Hype this story!

In the regular season, the Penguins’ Penalty Kill ranked 23rd in the NHL with an 81.0% success rate. In the playoffs, their PK has simply been phenomenal. They rank first in the playoffs with a stunning 92.6% success rate. Looking solely at the numbers, it may look like the Penguins somehow flipped a switch for the playoffs, and improved dramatically.

As anyone who has watched the Penguins during the season knows, however, that’s not quite the case. Ever since the Penguins picked up Marian Hossa, Pascal Dupuis, and Hal Gill at the trading deadline, the penalty kill has seen dramatic improvement. So how do three players make that big of a difference?

Personally, I think the difference has been more than just those three players, especially since one of the Pens’ top penalty killers in Colby Armstrong was traded away in the deal for Hossa and Dupuis. In order to dig into the improvement, it is important to look at what has changed.

I’ll start with the most obvious change – the personnel. Earlier in the season, the following players were used on the Penguins’ penalty kill:
On forward: Colby Armstrong, Adam Hall (when dressed), Ryan Malone, Jordan Staal, and Max Talbot. Occasionally, Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin would receive a PK shift, usually in the last few seconds of a penalty.
On defense: Mark Eaton (prior to injury), Sergei Gonchar, Rob Scuderi, and Ryan Whitney.
In summary: 5 forwards and 4 defensemen saw regular PK duty.

During the playoffs, the following players have seen regular time on the PK:
On forward: Pascal Dupuis, Adam Hall, Marian Hossa, Evgeni Malkin, Ryan Malone, Jarkko Ruutu, Jordan Staal, and Max Talbot.
On defense: Hal Gill, Sergei Gonchar, Brooks Orpik, Rob Scuderi, and Ryan Whitney.
In summary: 8 forwards and 5 defensemen saw regular PK duty.

It wasn’t just the addition of Dupuis, Hossa and Gill that increased the number of penalty killers, but due to injuries giving a few other players a chance, the coaching staff discovered they could also rely on Ruutu, Malkin and Orpik during regular PK shifts. As a result, the team has four more skaters they could roll out on the PK.

Having four more skaters you can rely on during the penalty kill has the obvious benefit of being able to keep your penalty killers better rested in general. But it also seems to have had an effect on the way the team plays the PK.

Earlier in the season, the Penguins would always stay in their box. Opposing players could set up with impunity, pass around with impunity, and the only thing the Penguins’ PK units did was try to block shots, and get into some passing lanes. Giving an opposing team time to set up, and time to act meant that they tended to keep possession, and had more time to pick their shots. This resulted in a higher conversion rate for opposing power plays.

By the end of the season, and into the playoffs, the Penguins have been playing a much more aggressive penalty kill. They attack the puck handler, and force them to make decisions faster, often getting them to make a poor pass or a poor shot that is easily blocked or intercepted and cleared. They take away the time and space of the opposing power play, which has had a dramatic effect on the ability of opposing teams to convert.

Personally, I think the change in style is directly related to the change in personnel. The aggressive style wears players out faster. They need to be able to clear the puck and change lines frequently in order to keep it up. If there are only a few penalty killers on the roster, than even changing frequently won’t be enough, since it just means one or two shifts off before a tired unit has to head back out on the ice. The more static PK allowed the units to stay fresher, since completely wearing down all of the players on the PK would pretty much guarantee goals against. Once the team had more players to put on the PK units, they could rotate more personnel through the shifts, and give them more time to rest. More time to rest means more energy. More energy means a greater ability to be aggressive.

The entire PK has been more effective, not just when the new guys are on the ice. The change in style is as much to credit as the change in personnel, but the change in style would not have been possible without the additions to the PK units – both the players brought in from outside, and the guys who had been sitting on the bench earlier in the season.