The Whiteboard: Killing a two-man advantage

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This article was published 18/12/2014 (4003 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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The Jets:

31 – Ondrej Pavelec

19 – Jim Slater

4 – Paul Postma

63 – Ben Chiarot

 

SETTING THE SCENE:

It’s scoreless late in the first period of Tuesday’s 5-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres when Jets defencemen Grant Clitsome and Adam Pardy take successive penalties 11 seconds apart, setting up a two-man advantage for 1:49. The Jets penalty-kill unit, ranked 8th in the NHL at 84 per cent, first sends out Bryan Little teamed with Dustin Byfuglien and Mark Stuart with that crew replaced by Jim Slater, The puck remains in the Jets zone for most of the 1:49, but with Ondrej Pavelec making three huge saves and the PK unit pressuring the Sabres, no goal is scored. At the conclusion of the second penalty, MTS Centre erupts with a standing ovation.

Worth noting: the Jets have now been down two men on nine different occasions this season, totalling exactly seven minutes, but have yet to allow a goal.

 

J.P.’S KEYS TO KILLING A TWO-MAN ADVANTAGE

1. The Triangle: Puck high/two men high; Puck low/two men low: It can be exhausting work chasing an opponent with a man advantage for almost two minutes. One of the basics to remember is if the puck is high when two-men short, there should be two defenders up high as well to take away shooting lanes. And when the puck is low, one of the defenders slides down low to stop a two-on-one down low.
2. Stellar netminding: There’s an old saying about the best penalty killer being the goaltender and Pavelec was superb in the 1:49 two-man disadvantage. The last line of defence not only made three stops, but also moved around the net quickly to take away shooting options.
3. Pressuring on zone entries and face-offs: Making it difficult for a power-play unit to set up is critical and pressuring the puck carrier before entering the zone is especially important, as is the initial chaos right after a face-off. In Tuesday’s win, the Jets scramble to pressure the Sabres right off the face-off in their zone and while they don’t gain possession, do pressure the puck for several seconds before Buffalo can properly set-up their attack.
4. Pressuring ‘backs and bobbles’: A PK unit can’t just sit back and watch the opposition move the puck around. During this kill the Jets worked well at attacking any miscue by a Sabres player — a puck in the skates, a mishandling of a pass — and also pressured any player who turned his back to the play.
5. Active sticks in passing lanes/willingness to block shots: Any power-play wants to move the puck around quickly to provide for the best possible scoring chance. Keeping sticks in passing and shooting lanes — and dropping to block chances — are two basics in making a kill work. Just as critical is communication by the penalty killers, especially when switching from up and down or following a shooter.

 

J.P. Vigier, who grew up in Notre Dame de Lourdes, is a former NHL winger (Atlanta Thrashers, 2000-07) who finished his career in the Swiss league. He does Jets analysis for both TSN 1290 and Radio Canada and teaches power skating and skill development for kids of all ages (jeanvigier11@gmail.com).

— Ed Tait