Per ESPN;
Teams continue to use the "power kill" strategy when killing penalties
Forget the conversation about whether or not "power kills" -- a strategy where a team tries to generate offense while killing a penalty -- are a trend. It appears to be a part of every contemporary penalty kill in the NHL, with the idea that those scoring chances could be determined by a number of factors. Gaining possession is a critical piece to the equation, but there are no guarantees it will amount to success.
On Nov. 26, the
Calgary Flames led the NHL with a 20.41% shot-attempt percentage on the penalty kill. Their three short-handed goals at the time were tied for the fifth most. Yet the Florida Panthers owned a 18.04% shot-attempt percentage -- the third highest in the league -- but were one of four teams to not score a short-handed goal. Maybe the most bizarre statistic of all could be the fact that the San Jose Sharks have the NHL's No. 1 penalty kill with a 90% success rate, yet have not scored a short-handed goal this season.
Golden Knights forward
Reilly Smith is one of the 56 players through Nov. 26 who scored at least one short-handed goal this season. What makes Smith different is he leads the league with three. Two of his goals, however, show how power kills can produce goals in a manner of ways. Smith's goal against the
Toronto Maple Leafs was a result of a breakout pass that was played when the Leafs were out of position. His goal against the Blues happened because of pressure that forced a loose puck in the other direction, which was finished after Smith took advantage of his surroundings by coming in as an unmarked trailer for a point-blank goal.
Reilly Smith leads the NHL with three short-handed goals this season. David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images
Will it continue?
This trend has been going on for some time. In the 2015-16 season, there were 14 teams that scored at least seven short-handed goals, with six of them reaching double figures. Since then, the only time there hasn't been at least nine teams with at least seven short-handed goals came during the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season and the contracted 2020-21 campaign.
Last season, there were 15 teams that scored more than seven short-handed goals, with five of them hitting double figures. Clearly, the teams that lead the NHL in short-handed goals must be either the best or one of the best PK units in the league, right? Not necessarily. The
Ottawa Senators led the NHL in short-handed goals in 2015-16 yet had the worst PK in the league. Of the five most recent 82-game seasons, there have been only two teams that finished with a top-10 PK unit and one of them was last season, when the Maple Leafs were eighth. --
Clark
