The stat that’s carrying the Carolina Hurricanes to their near-perfect start
For penalty killers, a four-on-three power play is as much a matter of survival as execution.
And in overtime, a matter of winning or losing.
Carolina Hurricanes goalie James Reimer likened it to an “all-out battle” Sunday and talked about the sacrifices made by those on the ice. As an old life coach named Darwin once said, it can be survival of the fittest in a desperate situation when every second feels like five and two minutes can feel like 20.
The Canes topped the Dallas Stars 4-3 in a shootout Sunday as Reimer stopped two of three shooters — captain Jamie Benn being the last — and Dougie Hamilton and Vincent Trocheck scored for Carolina, with Trocheck credited with the winner.
But that came following an overtime in which defensemen Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce had a shift that lasted the full two minutes in a successful 3-on-4 penalty kill after Hamilton was called for holding at 2:13 of the extra period.
“They’ve got some iron lungs, those two,” said center Jordan Staal, who also logged time on that kill.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour did use a timeout during the kill to “give them a breather.”
“But they probably didn’t need it,” he added. “That was so huge, that kill.”
Through the first six games of Carolina’s 5-1-0 start, the Canes have killed 21 of 23 penalties and rank second — a shade behind Vancouver — in the NHL at 91.3%. The Canes killed all five penalties Sunday against a Stars team that came into the back-to-back set having the league’s best power play.
“Forcing them to make a really good play to get a really good chance fits into our style,” Staal said. “Our identity is to pressure, pressure.”
Some players take pride in being on the penalty kill. Skjei, Pesce, Staal, Trocheck, Jaccob Slavin, Brock McGinn ... they’re willing to get their hands dirty on the PK.
For others, it means more ice time. Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen have been used a lot in penalty killing, reacting quickly and getting sticks on pucks while being a shorthanded offensive threat. Martin Necas has done the same the past few games while the Canes wait out players returning from the NHL COVID-19 protocol list.
Slavin, Teravainen, Warren Foegele, Jordan Martinook and Jesper Fast have all been on the NHL COVID list and all are penalty killers. But Necas has jumped in — “It’s another feather in his cap,” Brind’Amour said — as has rookie forward Steven Lorentz, who has played his first three NHL games after coming up from the taxi squad.
Special teams deciding games
Special teams are deciding many games while NHL teams, after shortened training camps, grapple to smooth out their five-on-five play. The Canes scored three times on the power play Saturday in a 4-1 win over the Stars and Staal had an early power-play goal Sunday.
McGinn gave the Canes their first “shortie” of the season in the second period Sunday, a product of teamwork on the kill. Skjei poked the puck away from Benn as the Stars attempted a zone entry. Staal lifted John Klingberg’s stick in the neutral zone and swiped the puck, then made a quick pass to McGinn skating up the left wing into the zone.
McGinn did the rest, blistering a 5-hole shot through goalie Anton Khudobin. For penalty killers, it’s the ultimate moment: A shorthanded goal. But also a short-lived celebration. There’s more work to do to finish off the kill.
“They’re just working extremely hard,” Reimer said of the penalty killers. “They’re digging in and blocking shots and pressuring guys. It takes an incredible commitment to play that way on the PK and our guys are, to a man, buying in and sacrificing.”
Hurricanes at Chicago Blackhawks
Tuesday, 8 p.m., United Center
TV/radio: FS-CR, WCMC-FM 99.9 The Fan
This story was originally published February 1, 2021 at 11:14 AM.
