Chicago Blackhawks fix PK problem after rough start
About a week ago, I approached both Blackhawks goalies and asked them what they thought was the problem with the team's penalty kill, which allowed a whopping 14 goals in the first seven games.
Many of the scores were coming on shots from just inside the blue line and Scott Darling admitted it was tough to see exactly where the puck was upon release.
"We get a sense the puck's coming at us, but we don't know (exactly) where it's coming (from)," Darling said. "You've got a guy in front, a guy in the slot and our guy pressuring the puck up top. It's a lot of layers and … (when that happens) it can be pretty hard to make the save."
Darling said the solution was obviously for him and Corey Crawford to do a better job locating pucks through traffic, but he also put some of the responsibility on the four guys in front the goalie.
"We've got to block more shots," Darling said. "Some of the ones that aren't hard slap shots or wrist shots, guys can get in front of, knock 'em down, clear 'em out."
Well, don't look now, but that's exactly what has happened since that conversation, with the Hawks killing off 15 of their last 16 penalties. They've also killed off 9 straight while beating the Kings, Flames and Avs by a combined 12-1 score.
Marian Hossa, who scored twice in Thursday's 4-0 win over Colorado, said the PK unit is doing a better job of applying pressure at the right times.
"It's not just running around, but it's smart pressure," Hossa said. "When we can go, we go. Also we're in shooting lanes, too. We're blocking more shots and we go shorter (on shifts)."
The unsung hero Thursday was rookie defenseman Michal Kempny.
On Colorado's first power play, Kempny blocked a wrist shot with his right leg and later stole a puck. Both plays allowed the Hawks to clear the puck out of their D-zone.
On the second power play - after Crawford made a great pad save on a shot by Patrick Wiercioch - Kempny used some lightning-fast reflexes to whip the puck out of the zone just before Rene Bourque could unleash a shot on the rebound.
On the Avs' final power play in the third period, Hossa and Kempny both blocked shots and Colorado never had more than 15 seconds of sustained offensive zone time.
So after starting the season with a PK success rate of just 39.1 percent (9 of 23), the Hawks have seen that number rise to 61.5 percent. That's still worst in the league, though, and Jonathan Toews doesn't want his team getting cocky just yet.
"When you have a bunch go in the way we did - even if you feel like you're already doing things right - sometimes pucks just don't get out and they just end up in your net," Toews said.
"Now I think we got that confidence. We're working the right way, so we're definitely not taking it for granted knowing that we have a long ways to go to get our percentage where we want it to be."
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