Golden Knights’ penalty killers earn stripes in postseason

Redemption comes in many forms. It appeared in the shape of a five-minute penalty kill for the Golden Knights on Friday.

The Knights’ penalty killers earned their wings in Game 7 against Vancouver and ensured the franchise avoided the albatross of losing a 3-1 series lead for the second straight postseason.

The Knights allowed one shot on goal during a five-minute Canucks power play after forward Ryan Reaves was assessed a match penalty for an illegal check to the head with 3:30 remaining in the second period.

It was fitting payback for a club that allowed four goals during a five-minute major in the third period of their Game 7 loss to San Jose last season.

Next up in the conference final is Dallas, which converted at nearly 40 percent with the man advantage in its seven-game series victory over Colorado.

“I think it’s just purely execution,” Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud said. “We’re given an outline of what we have to do, and obviously a part of that is getting in front of pucks and limiting entries as much as possible. Clean entries. And just doing our job when they get into our zone.”

The Knights struggled short-handed during the regular season (27th overall), and the changes to the system implemented by coach Pete DeBoer after he was hired Jan. 15 were slow to take root.

But DeBoer is known for teams with strong penalty kills and emphasized that area during training camp in July before arriving in Edmonton, Alberta.

The Knights were successful on 24 of 27 penalty kills against Vancouver, which posted the fourth-best power play in the regular season.

Whitecloud and defenseman Brayden McNabb did much of the heavy lifting in Game 7, as each logged more than seven minutes of short-handed ice time. Vancouver was held to two power-play shots in Game 7.

“I know (McNabb), he ate one in the throat there, and he got up and continued to play and battle,” defenseman Shea Theodore said. “It’s a treat to watch them out there. They work hard, and they get the job done.”

The Knights went 11-for-12 on the penalty kill against Chicago in the Western Conference quarterfinals and are at 87.8 percent (43-for-49) for the postseason. Of the teams that played 10 or more postseason games, only Columbus has a better percentage.

“Getting close. Definitely more seamless,” DeBoer said Thursday before Game 6. “I think the concepts, the responsibilities, definitely getting better. Wouldn’t say it’s exactly where we want it to be, but much improved from where it was prior to the pause. We’ve got to keep building on that because it’s a critical piece.”

Dallas is fifth overall on the power play and converted on nine of its 23 opportunities in the semifinals against Colorado.

The Stars create heavy traffic in front of the net with forwards Jamie Benn and Joe Pavelski, while defensemen Miro Heiskanen and John Klingberg quarterback the units from the point.

“I think we’re just aggressive,” Knights center Paul Stastny said. “I think with (Tomas Nosek) in the lineup, we almost did three and a half guys kind of rotating through, three and a half combos. So we just kept it short every time we were out there. We didn’t overextend it.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.