There are a number of common traits shared by Stanley Cup-winning teams. One is ranking generally among the top penalty-killing teams in the NHL. That's not good news for the Penguins. Just looking at the overall numbers, they're 21st and have killed only 79 percent of their penalties this year.
Those numbers are a huge drop from last season, when the Penguins were fifth in penalty killing at 84.4 percent. They also suggest the Penguins' chances of repeating are in jeopardy considering the numbers are way below the average for killing penalties _ 84.3 percent _ of the past 11 Stanley Cup champions. Eight of those past 11 were in the top eight in the category, and none of the 11 finished outside the top 15. The Penguins are 16-11-1 (.589 winning percentage) when they give up a power-play goal but 17-2-4 (.826) when they don't.
So, just looking at those numbers, I'm here to tell you the Penguins will not repeat as Stanley Cup champions if they don't improve at killing penalties. Before you start frothing at the mouth and screaming about me being a hater, let me add that there has been some really good news in recent weeks. True, the Penguins' overall numbers aren't great, but they have become excellent at killing penalties of late. That isn't by coincidence; it has been a point of emphasis from Mike Sullivan down to the last man on the roster, so sustainability of that recent success seems plausible. The Penguins have killed 20 of their last 23 penalties over the past nine games (87 percent), way above the average of most recent Stanley Cup champions and a level they hope to maintain. If they can keep that level, their chances of repeating will skyrocket.
"We have always had the personnel to be very successful killing penalties," defenseman Ian Cole said. "It was just a matter of figuring out how to best go about it. It's tough; you're playing the other team's five best players for two minutes and you're a man down, so it's a hard thing to do well and it takes time to figure out.
"Obviously, we weren't happy with where we were and we've gone out and tried to do something about it."
The Penguins have made some subtle personnel changes, but coach Mike Sullivan said, for the most part, it has been a commitment on behalf of the players to get better.
"I give the players a lot of credit," Sullivan said. "Overall, they have done a much better job. We expect to get better at every facet of our game, and that's an important one for us. We know that's an area of our game that has not been a strength this year. But in the past it has been, so we know we're capable of it and we need to just continue to build and get better."
After a nine-game sample, which is small, it's still clear the Penguins aren't likely to take a step back killing penalties any time soon. That will come in handy in the playoffs, when the ability to kill penalties and score on the power play are often the difference between winning and losing.
