In Saturday night’s defeat against the Boston Bruins, the Montreal Canadiens gave up three power-play goals, which ultimately led to their demise. Of course, that could have been avoided had the Habs played a more disciplined game. Still, hockey being a physical sport, it’s almost impossible to avoid penalties altogether, which is why it’s crucial to have a reasonable penalty kill.
Last season, the Canadiens ranked ninth in the league with an 80.9% penalty kill success rate, but this year they are 26th with a 76.5% efficiency rate. In 52 games, they’ve already given up 40 power-play goals and are on pace to surrender 63 man-advantage lamplighters. Last season, they had only given up 49 in 82 games.
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What has changed? Well, the Habs lost three of the eight players who were mainstays on their penalty kill. David Savard retired, Joel Armia walked as a free agent and signed with the Los Angeles Kings, while Christian Dvorak did the same with the Philadelphia Flyers. Armia currently plays on the Kings’ first penalty kill, but they are 25th overall in the league in that department, just ahead of the Canadiens at 77.3%. As for Dvorak, he’s not used on the penalty kill by the Flyers.
You don’t become a penalty killing specialist overnight. This season, the Canadiens have been relying on rookies Oliver Kapanen and Joe Veleno to play significant roles when down a man. Kapanen has done it overseas, but he understandably needs some time to adapt to the NHL’s power play. As for Veleno, he’s spending 27.4% of his time on ice on the penalty kill, which is almost double the amount of shorthanded time he had on the ice last season with the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks.
At the start of the season, Martin St-Louis also made it clear that he wanted Alex Newhook to become a PK specialist. In his 17 games this season, Newhook spent 33.4% of his time on ice down a man. His injury has no doubt been a big blow to the penalty killing unit.
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With Alexandre Texier coming back in the lineup for the game against the Bruins, the coach decided to scratch Veleno, who has not only been a regular on his penalty kill but also one of the centermen who can take the shorthanded draws. This season, he has won 51.2% of his draws, which is more than Nick Suzuki and Kapanen.
As things stand, Stephane Robidas is the assistant coach who’s responsible for the penalty kill. Is it time to perhaps explore another avenue? Earlier this week, the Ottawa Senators, who are currently 31st in the league when down a man, gave Mike Yeo the helm of the penalty kill unit instead of Nolan Baumgartner; the latter wasn’t fired, but the team felt the PK needed a new voice.
Perhaps it would also help to let Nick Suzuki back on the PK. Of course, you don’t want to overuse the captain, but with the second line making more of an offensive impact and having more ice time, it could be an idea.
Better goaltending would also help. While you generally won’t blame the goaltender for power-play goals, the best player on a successful penalty-killing unit is often the masked man. This season, that’s not happening for the Canadiens. Whichever way you look at it, good goaltending is a must in all aspects of the game.
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There’s no magical solution, but clearly something has to be done if the Canadiens don’t want to be fighting for a playoff spot until the very end, as last season. Special teams are a must for a successful team, and in an ideal world, nobody wants to wait for the last game of the season to know if they’ll be part of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
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