WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Islanders are finally out of the NHL’s basement on the penalty kill.
And at least for now, they appear to have solved a problem that plagued them for two straight seasons.
“I think when things were going poorly at the start of the season, we obviously had no confidence in the penalty kill,” Adam Pelech said before the Isles went 2-for-2 on the PK against the Jets’ league-leading power play, albeit in a 4-3 defeat. “Right now, it’s the complete opposite. We have so much confidence in the penalty kill.”
It’s no coincidence that the turnaround at four-on-five has gone hand in hand with the turnaround of the season at large.
After Friday, the Islanders have killed off 27 of their last 29 penalties over their 15 games, a span over which they held an 11-4-0 record.
Calling it a sea change would be an understatement.
Over the season’s first 39 games, the Islanders only went consecutive games without allowing a power-play goal five times, and were on pace to be the worst PK since the NHL started keeping track in 1977-78.
“I think the biggest change is we’ve probably been a little more passive at times,” Pelech said. “We got in trouble trying to be too aggressive. You still need to be aggressive at the right times, if there’s loose pucks or puck battles, you need to be aggressive and get the clears. But I think we’ve done a good job of almost having discipline in the way that we’re passive. Not overextending ourselves and protecting dangerous areas of the ice.”
That is different — really, it’s the complete opposite — of what you usually hear about penalty killing, where aggression is often the name of the game.
“We’re talking a lot about putting pressure and being aggressive on the puck carrier, but penalty killing’s a little different,” coach Patrick Roy said. “Now, the guys want you to be outside them. So if you get outside, that opens up the middle and this is where you need to be patient. Our guys are doing that really well.”
Mike Reilly (heart) made the trip to Winnipeg with the team and was on the ice Friday morning.
However, there was no change in his status — Reilly did not take contact and was only on the trip because it finishes in Minnesota, where he is from, with the 4 Nations break immediately following.
