Success on penalty kill providing boost for Penguins during November hot streak

There’s plenty of reasons why the Pittsburgh Penguins rectified a slow start to the season and have rebounded with a five-game winning streak.

Look no further than Sidney Crosby.

The Penguins captain recorded a hat trick Tuesday night in Columbus, is riding a nine-game point streak and has 19 points through 14 games.

Hats fly in Columbus ???? pic.twitter.com/opVgdUNWvQ

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 15, 2023

Erik Karlsson increasingly is looking like the elite player the Penguins (8-6) imagined they’d be getting when they traded for him over the summer.

Karlsson, who scored on a rocket of a one-timer in the third period Tuesday, is tied for the NHL lead among defensemen with five goals and has 15 points.

Erik Karlsson extends his point streak to six games (4G-6A).

His streak is the second-longest active point streak among defensemen. pic.twitter.com/tx2aYFlzVy

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 15, 2023

He and Kris Letang have provided solid, responsible defense of late.

While the Penguins power play ranks 22nd in the NHL with an 18% conversion rate, the penalty kill has been strong this month. In November, the Penguins own a success rate of 89% (16 of 18) over their last five games and have killed 12 consecutive penalties dating to Nov. 4 at San Jose.

The Penguins’ 84.8% denial rate on the penalty kill ranks 10th in the NHL.

“I think the guys that are on it are doing a terrific job,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “They’re paying a price. They’re blocking shots and doing a lot of the little things that I think add up to success.

“I think our penalty kill has done a great job in just helping our team create momentum with some of the kills that they’ve had here most recently.”

Tuesday’s game served as a prime example of the penalty kill’s impact.

Awarded just one power-play opportunity themselves, the Penguins had to kill off four by the Blue Jackets, doing so in a game that was tied or a one-goal affair for the majority of the night.

Better communication and comfortability within the unit are key reasons for the recent success.

The roster moves began in the final months of the Ron Hextall era and continued as new president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas began his summer overhaul.

Of the Penguins’ leaders in short-handed minutes per game, five (defenseman Ryan Graves and forwards Noel Acciari, Matt Nieto, Lars Eller and Reilly Smith) are in their first season with Pittsburgh.

“A lot of teams do different stuff, especially up the ice: how you forecheck and how you come back,” said defenseman Marcus Pettersson, whose 2 minutes, 49 seconds of average penalty-kill time leads the team.

“I know a lot of guys probably haven’t played the way we play. It takes some time to get it. … On the ice, if you’ve killed one way for a lot of years, it’s tough to get that into you. When (the game) is that fast, it’s tough to be in exactly the right spot.”

Continuity among personnel and playing more games together has helped.

“I think that was the biggest difficulty for us, just kind of getting the system down,” Acciari said. “Now that we’ve been with the same pairs for quite a bit, I think we’ve been pretty good with knowing what the other guy’s gonna do. We’ve kind of hit our stride with that.”

Faceoff success also helps.

The Penguins are among the NHL’s leaders in faceoffs at even strength (55.4%, third) and on the power play (67.1%, second). On the penalty kill, the Penguins’ 51.3% faceoff win rate is tied for fifth.

Over the course of a season, fluctuation on special teams is to be expected.

But a stout penalty kill has provided momentum heading into a difficult stretch of games, starting Thursday when they host New Jersey.

“You’re going to go on streaks during the year where you’re better, you’re worse,” Graves said. “ … We’re just continuing to work at it, trying to get on the same page, trying to get better. We’re trying to apply pressure, make teams uncomfortable, just continually working at it.”