The Penguins’ 2020-21 regular season was solid. But the penalty kill was anything but.
Pittsburgh finished with a penalty kill percentage at 77.42 percent, fifth-worst in the NHL.
And now, with the regular season just days away, and an offensive juggernaut in Tampa Bay as the team’s first opponent, the Penguins are hoping to iron out some of last year’s inconsistencies when a man down.
“We’ve worked on it,” defensive Brian Dumoulin said Wednesday. “From last year, obviously that was one of our areas we felt we could improve upon and help us get better as a team.
Last year, we didn’t have a great start to it. We had consecutive games where we were letting in goals, and that was being consequences, those were ways we were losing games, especially at the beginning of the year.”
Despite their struggles, the Penguins won the MassMutual East division. But a better penalty kill could have resulted in so much more.
“Coming into this year, that’s something we’re really, really focusing on, being on the same page and getting more reps at it,” Dumoulin added. “I think it’s just getting some more guys familiar with it.
“We have some new PKers coming into this year. So it’s just familiarity, getting reps and practicing it until we get into game, regular season action, and are executing our options.”
Penalty kill success isn’t exactly equivalent to overall success. Two division winners, Colorado and Carolina, finished in the top eight teams in penalty kill effectiveness. But Toronto, another division winner, finished 24th, and the Penguins 27th.
But what the Penguins did have was a strong power play, that finished fourth overall in the NHL last season.
To start this season, however, the team will be without it’s biggest power play guns. Sidney Crosby will miss the start of the year with a wrist injury. Evgeni Malkin will be out until at least mid-December, and Jake Guentzel is currently dating with covid-19 protocols after a positive test last week.
If the Penguins are to stay afloat, with what might be a lackluster offense, it’s going to be up to the penalty kill to keep them in games.
“Just being a little bit more aggressive,” forward Evan Rodrigues said. “I think that’s when our penalty kill is at its best, is when we’re pressuring up ice and pressuring in zone.
“Obviously, you can’t run around and chase the puck, but you have to be strategic in picking your spots. When one guy pressures, we all have to do it collectively.”