Golden Knights’ penalty kill turning into strength

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Words can hardly describe how poor the Golden Knights’ penalty kill was to open 2020.

Toothless. Putrid. Lacking a spine.

Yet, in the past five games, the Knights suddenly are walking a little straighter. The penalty kill has gone from a massive weakness to a strength under coach Peter DeBoer, whose philosophical changes seem to be taking root.

The Knights’ PK was always going to rebound from its dismal start in January. But its rate of recovery has been astonishing and a key reason the team has won two straight, including a 3-0 win over Nashville on Saturday night.

“I think every rep we get out there, guys get a little more comfortable with it,” DeBoer said. “We’re taking too many penalties. I think that’s something that we want to avoid, but it’s helping us win games right now.”

The Knights were last on the penalty kill in January when DeBoer was hired. Opponents had eight power-play goals in 14 tries. Their PK percentage (42.9) was nearly 20 points lower than 30th-place Anaheim (61.5).

Then DeBoer arrived and his systems served as a life vest for the team’s sinking play. DeBoer, who has overseen strong PKs in San Jose and New Jersey, inverted the Knights’ previous penalty-kill philosophies. Instead of pressuring high, the team started forming a wall at its blue line to deny opponents offensive-zone entries.

Then if opposing teams gained the zone, the Knights started aggressively hounding the puck rather than staying in a consistent defensive shape.

“It wasn’t major changes but just little tweaks,” rookie center Nicolas Roy said. “The guys are just buying in, and it’s been good.”

Roy represents the other key difference in the Knights’ penalty kill. DeBoer has been much more egalitarian than predecessor Gerard Gallant when it comes to awarding shorthanded playing time.

Rookies Roy (0:57) and Zach Whitecloud (1:08) were given significant run on the penalty kill against the Predators. Right wing Alex Tuch (0:46) played plenty, too, despite never playing shorthanded under Gallant this season.

DeBoer still has his penalty-kill stalwarts. Top units featuring forwards Reilly Smith, Paul Stastny, Mark Stone, Chandler Stephenson, Cody Eakin and Tomas Nosek remain intact. The new coach is more willing to add in other players to give his top PKers rest though.

The results have been staggering.

The Knights are 15-for-17 on the penalty kill under DeBoer. In their latest performance, they gave up only four shots on goal in five power plays in Nashville.

“The guys blocked a lot of shots and cleared a lot of pucks,” goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said. “We didn’t give them too many scoring chances.”

The Knights’ penalty kill hadn’t been a critical weakness earlier in the season, but its 19th-place ranking when DeBoer was hired pointed to it not being a strength either. That may no longer be the case. The Knights have turned into an impressive penalty-killing team, even with one of their best shorthanded players, center William Karlsson, sidelined with an upper-body injury.

“I think guys are starting to understand it more,” Stephenson said. “(It’s) going to get better every game.”

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.