Heading into the playoffs our powerplay is red hot and has been for the past month or so. Good news for a team that historically has had a piss poor powerplay every postseason.
However, the penalty kill has been an abject disaster. Operating at a dismal 77.8% on the season, 73.6% since the New Year, and if we want to get even more granular, it's been 71.1% over the last month.
For a team that hired a "defensive minded" coach and has spent lots of money and assets on players who should be great penalty killers, these results are terrible. Tanev, McCabe, and Carlo are all excellent defensive defensemen. The Leafs have forwards who should be good penalty killers in Matthews, Marner (these two have finished top three in Selke voting), Kampf, Laughton, Jarnkrok, and Lorentz.
All of these guys have played big roles on PKs that ranked highly in previous seasons. Laughton, OEL, and Lorentz were regular PKers for Philly (4th) and Florida (6th) last season. Tanev was a major part of the PK for Calgary and Dallas (9th and 8th) last year, and Carlo led the Bruins (7th) in shorthanded minutes per game last season. Kampf and Marner (and Jarnkrok in 22-23) were big parts of a Leafs PK that finished 8th and 12th in 21-22 and 22-23, and both years it clicked at above 80%. Stolarz and Woll for their part have been excellent and are arguably our MVPs for the season, giving us elite goaltending all year.
My point in all of this is to say that the ingredients for a good to elite PK are there. So the big question is WHAT ISN'T WORKING? Why is it that this team is good to give up at least one powerplay goal against every game? What is Lane Lambert doing back there? He coached an Islanders team that was 9th on the PK in 22-23 but more recently in 23-24 the Islanders were a dismal 29th (73.0%) on the PK under him before he was fired mid-January (though they didn't get any better when he left). Why did we put him in charge of this aspect of our game?
Is there any chance the PK figures it out in these final four games and goes into the playoffs on a high note? Or are we resigned to mentally spotting our opponents a goal as soon as we take a penalty in the playoffs?
However, the penalty kill has been an abject disaster. Operating at a dismal 77.8% on the season, 73.6% since the New Year, and if we want to get even more granular, it's been 71.1% over the last month.
For a team that hired a "defensive minded" coach and has spent lots of money and assets on players who should be great penalty killers, these results are terrible. Tanev, McCabe, and Carlo are all excellent defensive defensemen. The Leafs have forwards who should be good penalty killers in Matthews, Marner (these two have finished top three in Selke voting), Kampf, Laughton, Jarnkrok, and Lorentz.
All of these guys have played big roles on PKs that ranked highly in previous seasons. Laughton, OEL, and Lorentz were regular PKers for Philly (4th) and Florida (6th) last season. Tanev was a major part of the PK for Calgary and Dallas (9th and 8th) last year, and Carlo led the Bruins (7th) in shorthanded minutes per game last season. Kampf and Marner (and Jarnkrok in 22-23) were big parts of a Leafs PK that finished 8th and 12th in 21-22 and 22-23, and both years it clicked at above 80%. Stolarz and Woll for their part have been excellent and are arguably our MVPs for the season, giving us elite goaltending all year.
My point in all of this is to say that the ingredients for a good to elite PK are there. So the big question is WHAT ISN'T WORKING? Why is it that this team is good to give up at least one powerplay goal against every game? What is Lane Lambert doing back there? He coached an Islanders team that was 9th on the PK in 22-23 but more recently in 23-24 the Islanders were a dismal 29th (73.0%) on the PK under him before he was fired mid-January (though they didn't get any better when he left). Why did we put him in charge of this aspect of our game?
Is there any chance the PK figures it out in these final four games and goes into the playoffs on a high note? Or are we resigned to mentally spotting our opponents a goal as soon as we take a penalty in the playoffs?
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