Penguins penalty-killers continue perfect streak taken at PPG Paints Arena (Penguins)

JEANINE LEECH / GETTY

Evan Rodrigues pressures Mat Barzal in the third period of Saturday's game against the Islanders

The three forwards who have been the most frequent penalty-killers for the Penguins this season have been Brandon Tanev, Teddy Blueger and Mark Jankowski.

All three were sidelined for Saturday's game against the Islanders at PPG Paints Arena.

Blueger missed his seventh consecutive game with an upper-body injury. Tanev, who was put into COVID protocol on Saturday evening, missed his fifth in a row with an upper-body injury. And Jankowski missed his first after also being added to the COVID protocol list.

Despite three key penalty-killing forwards being out of the lineup, the Penguins' penalty kill went a perfect 4-for-4 on Saturday in the Penguins' 6-3 win over the Islanders.

Saturday's success was par for the course as of late. The penalty kill hasn't allowed a goal in the last five games, successfully shutting down 17 power play opportunities in that span. Colton Sceviour, Freddy Gaudreau, Zach Aston-Reese, and now Evan Rodrigues have been the forwards to step up while shorthanded after the Penguins' string of injuries, and they've done the job well.

I asked Kris Letang after Saturday's game just what the key has been for that unit coming together and finding success the way they have during this stretch.

"I think it's to have all four guys on the same page," he said. "When it's time to be aggressive, it's all four guys. When we're trying to protect the house, we need guys to sacrifice their body, blocking shots, to make sure we're all in-sync. Whoever is going out there, they know they have to do their job. It's the same for everybody."

Brian Dumoulin leads with two blocked shots on the penalty kill over these last five games.

The Penguins have won some important draws while shorthanded over this span, too. They've deployed Sidney Crosby in a limited shorthanded role, sending him on the ice for the occasional defensive draw and swapping him out for a different penalty-killing forward after he's won it. He's taken two shorthanded faceoffs over the last five games, and won both. Rodrigues is 2-for-4 on draws on the penalty kill, which is above the league-average success rate of 45 percent for shorthanded faceoffs. Gaudreau has been tasked with the most draws while down a man with 15. He's won seven of them for a 46.67 success rate, also above average.

The Penguins have recorded a total of eight shorthanded takeaways over the last five games, and three of them have come from Gaudreau, two in Saturday's game alone. Gaudreau has had some penalty-killing experience at the AHL level, but none at the NHL level until now. It'd be fair to say that he's handled the new challenge well. 

"It's new to me at this level," he said. "It's a good way to bring momentum to the team and bring yourself some momentum too. It's been good, and obviously the guys I'm playing with too are experienced guys. They help me a lot with their cues on the ice."

The Penguins' penalty kill has been better than perfect over the last five games. Not only has the unit not allowed any goals, they've also scored a goal, and it was one for the highlight reels. Gaudreau's great individual effort set up Aston-Reese for a shorthanded goal against Buffalo on Wednesday. Gaudreau intercepted Taylor Hall's pass out of midair then dangled the puck around Rasmus Dahlin to get a breakaway:

"Honestly, I had no idea he was going to give me the puck," Aston-Reese said after that game. "I was in awe of the play he made, it was a really nice play."

Gaudreau spoke with reporters on Saturday morning and recalled the play he made.

"It all happens fast," he said. "I just tried to do my job in the zone. Once I caught that pass in the air, I just thought that I could try something offensively. I saw Zach out of the corner of my eye on the left side there, I felt he was coming with me too. Once I figured out I didn't have a shot at the goalie, I knew he was right there. It happened quick, and he was in a good spot."

When Mike Sullivan has talked about the penalty kill's success earlier in the season, he's credited the unit's strong play to "collective pressure." In this run that the shorthanded unit has been on with some new forwards stepping up, it's been collective pressure that's led to their success too.

"I just think these guys, they're working at it," he said after the last game. "They're working at just the process of working together, knowing where the pressure points are, and making good decisions. You know, when we do pressure, we pressure in numbers. It's cooperative pressure, it's collective effort. That's what it takes to be successful on the penalty kill. The players, they're the guys that go over the board and get the job done. It's hard work, it's sacrifice, it's blocking shots, it's doing a lot of the little things. It's the wall battles, it's winning faceoffs. It's the thankless jobs, but they add up to winning. They add up to success. I think we're getting that on the penalty kill right now from a number of different guys."


Loading...
Loading...