The Penguins' penalty-kill was a certified mess to start this season.
Through the first 11 games, the Penguins surrendered at least one goal while short-handed nine times, and in two of those games they surrendered multiple goals while short-handed.
They weren't getting the goaltending they needed from either of Tristan Jarry or Casey DeSmith to come up with the big stop when it was needed most, but the skaters in front weren't doing them any favors, either, as they were doing a putrid job of keeping opposing power plays from getting quality scoring chances at the net-front and in the heart of the slot.
While frustrating, struggles were to be expected as several new additions, Ryan Poehling, Josh Archibald and Jan Rutta, went through an adjustment period. The absence of one of the league's best penalty-killers in Teddy Blueger only made that adjustment period more glaring.
After a perfect three-for-three night on the kill in their 2-1 shootout victory over the Flames here at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday night, the Penguins have now gone five games in a row without giving up a goal while short-handed, and they have killed 17 of the last 18 penalties over the past six games.
The penalty-kill's performance on Wednesday was clinical. In every aspect:
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that winning faceoffs is all that important in the grand scheme of things -- or at least more important than the dozens upon dozens of loose-puck races and board battles that happen every game -- but if there's a situation in which faceoffs carry a little more weight, it's during special teams work.
The Penguins were money on the draw while short-handed in this one, and it's clear why that set the unit up for success right away, as they were immediately able to make the Flames retreat on a number of occasions.
As you can see above, when the Penguins win a short-handed faceoff straight back, the far-side forward sprints low to support a pass from the defenseman for a quick clear. It might seem simple, but this kind of synergy took some time to develop and was anything but a common occurrence in the early goings of the season.
I talked to Marcus Pettersson on Wednesday morning about his performance on the penalty-kill, and while he feels as if he's been steady, he gave much of the credit to the forwards for doing a good job of pressuring up ice and making it difficult on the opposition to transition the puck.
"I think, as a group, we've really come together," Pettersson told me. "I think we're clicking in a different way now than we were early in the season. You want to work as a four-man unit out there, and I think our forwards really set the tone for our kill with how aggressive they are up the ice and stuff like that and stuff we've been talking about."
Following the clear above from Brock McGinn, Blueger raced up the ice and applied pressure behind the Flames net. It was nothing major, but it was pesky. It was annoying. And that's all you can really ask. Just don't let it be easy for the opposition:
Blueger's intense pursuit and subsequent back pressure made the Flames attempt to transition in a hurry, but all they were doing was flying into a wall of coverage at the Penguins' blue line. They were forced to relinquish possession with a dump into the zone that took a considerable amount of time off their man-advantage, as the Penguins were just fine with keeping them pinned below the goal line.
Eventually, the Flames were finally able to set up, but they weren't able to get anything substantial going. The Penguins' in-zone penalty-kill coverage is a mix of a standard diamond coverage and something that's called a wedge plus one. The wedge plus one is a coverage in which the closest skater to the puck applies pressure while the other three skaters form a sometimes messy triangle to protect the middle of the ice.
When executed properly, it's pretty effective at limiting the opposition to low-danger attempts from the perimeter:
To pull that off, you must be intently reading off of the other penalty-killers and you have to be decisive about it. Blueger and McGinn did a great job of that all night while short-handed.
It almost seems as if the Penguins are having fun killing penalties right now. I mean, just look at the energy here from Archibald to get to the puck, clear it, then draw a high-sticking penalty:
Blueger's return from injury has obviously been an extremely positive influence on the penalty-kill, but the Penguins began to clean it up even before he made it back into the lineup.
Since Nov. 5, here's how the Penguins' penalty-kill is faring compared to the rest of the league ...
• Goals against per hour: 2.25 (first in NHL)
• Expected goals against per hour: 5.86 (second)
• Shot attempts against per hour: 86.9 (fourth)
They're even doing a nice job of generating some looks of their own, as their 1.55 expected goals for per hour ranks second in the NHL during that time.
The ability to create those looks, of course, stems from taking care of business defensively first:
No matter where the Flames tried to go on that entry, the Penguins had them covered. Pettersson stepped up on Tyler Toffoli at the blue line with just enough contact to separate him from the puck, allowing Blueger to snag the loose change and make a pass down low to Jeff Petry who took the ice in front of him to spark the breakout.
From there, it was all hustle and intensity from Blueger and McGinn that led to Blueger's chance.
After Evgeni Malkin took a tripping penalty over halfway through the third period with the game tied at 1-1, the penalty-kill didn't falter in the slightest:
Once again, absolutely nowhere for the Flames to go. They tried to force it anyway to no success.
The crowd loved every second of it, intensely booing the Flames as they possessed the puck and going bonkers every time the Penguins cleared the zone.
"I think they were crazy when I took the penalty," Malkin said of the fans after the game. "Like, crazy."
With the Penguins' penalty-kill chugging along as it is right now, Penguins fans should have plenty more to cheer about as things appear to be shaping up quite nicely after a fourth win in a row.