Kill This (Penalty)!

Flannelman

Quiet, Gnashgab.
Dec 3, 2006
13,880
3,148
If there is already another thread on this, please feel free to delete this. I may have missed it, but I've only seen a thread on the PP. I figured we may want to keep track of the PK throughout the season.

The Penalty Kill this year has been great. They had a major brain fart against the Devils where they allowed 4 goals but since then, I believe, they've killed 22 straight penalties.

The PK to me is more of a barometer than the PP when I evaluate how well the Bruins have, or have not, been playing. Perhaps that's because we've won in the past without an especially strong PP.
 

Donnie Shulzhoffer

Rocket Surgery
Sep 9, 2008
15,601
11,004
Foxboro, MA
I have always had the stance that if nobody is talking about the penalty kill that it is a good thing.

People seem to only mention it when they give up 2 a night.
 

qc

Registered User
Aug 23, 2011
12,761
11
The PK looks tremendous. Loui seems to be getting more comfortable on it as well. As long as our best penalty killer (Rask) continues to dominate, we should expect to see a % in the top-5 of the league.
 

Sea Bass Neely

Registered User
Jun 6, 2013
866
20
Rhode Island
The PK looks tremendous. Loui seems to be getting more comfortable on it as well. As long as our best penalty killer (Rask) continues to dominate, we should expect to see a % in the top-5 of the league.

I would agree that Tuukka has been the best single penalty-killer on the Bruins... but it is worth noting that on some of these quality penalty kills, the PK players in front of Rask are (usually, putting the NJ debacle aside) not letting opposing power-play units get comfortable enough to allow more than a couple shots on goal during the PK.

Against Tampa Bay, we saw one of the best offensive teams in the league held to either ONE or ZERO shots on net during their PP opportunities.

Rask has been a stalwart not just on PK's but throughout these entire games. He is the ultimate PK'er but he is definitely getting some help from some high-quality PK units, keeping quality shots/scoring chances at a minimum.

It is the least this Bruins team could do for their goalie... who has been lights out and keeping them in games that they might otherwise be falling behind in.

I think the PK units will continue as they are now, just as i think Rask will continue his dominance. He just looks so damn comfortable and he makes great saves look easy (like Jack/Brick discussed last night against Tampa) by always being in perfect position, knowing when to stay in the crease and when to come out and shut down shooting angles, and always squaring himself to the shooter textbook-style.
 

qc

Registered User
Aug 23, 2011
12,761
11
I would agree that Tuukka has been the best single penalty-killer on the Bruins... but it is worth noting that on some of these quality penalty kills, the PK players in front of Rask are (usually, putting the NJ debacle aside) not letting opposing power-play units get comfortable enough to allow more than a couple shots on goal during the PK.

Against Tampa Bay, we saw one of the best offensive teams in the league held to either ONE or ZERO shots on net during their PP opportunities.

Rask has been a stalwart not just on PK's but throughout these entire games. He is the ultimate PK'er but he is definitely getting some help from some high-quality PK units, keeping quality shots/scoring chances at a minimum.

It is the least this Bruins team could do for their goalie... who has been lights out and keeping them in games that they might otherwise be falling behind in.

I think the PK units will continue as they are now, just as i think Rask will continue his dominance. He just looks so damn comfortable and he makes great saves look easy (like Jack/Brick discussed last night against Tampa) by always being in perfect position, knowing when to stay in the crease and when to come out and shut down shooting angles, and always squaring himself to the shooter textbook-style.

^ All true, for sure. It's wonderful to see how hard it is for opposing PPs to even gain our zone, and when they do, they're lucky to get a shot and rebound without having to abandon the zone. The Rask comment was more of me parroting the silly old adage about PKs only being as successful as their goalie. But you're definitely right, as good as Tuukka looks out there, he is certainly benefiting from our stellar PK units.
 

Sea Bass Neely

Registered User
Jun 6, 2013
866
20
Rhode Island
^ All true, for sure. It's wonderful to see how hard it is for opposing PPs to even gain our zone, and when they do, they're lucky to get a shot and rebound without having to abandon the zone. The Rask comment was more of me parroting the silly old adage about PKs only being as successful as their goalie. But you're definitely right, as good as Tuukka looks out there, he is certainly benefiting from our stellar PK units.

And i parroted the same sentiment, in line with that old adage, for that matter.

Because regardless of a PK unit's consistency, limiting opposing PP shots/scoring chances only matters if the last line of defense -- that of course being Rask -- ensures that even IF one, two or more quality chances are allowed in the course of a 2-minute PP... they are promptly turned away with A+ goaltending.

After all, it only takes ONE quality scoring chance/quality look to make an opposing power-play (or any PP) successful at the end of the day.
 

Paddington

Registered User
Mar 8, 2011
3,827
1,892
Toronto
Rask has been absolutely spectacular this year, which is reason #1 why the PK has looked good. The PK made me a little nervous when Loui was out though. As soon as he came back it looked much better. Losing him meant the B's had to go 1 more player deep on the PK depth chart, which may have hurt them. I know they have more than 4 capable guys ready for PK duty but it didn't feel the same without Loui.
 

Sea Bass Neely

Registered User
Jun 6, 2013
866
20
Rhode Island
Rask has been absolutely spectacular this year, which is reason #1 why the PK has looked good. The PK made me a little nervous when Loui was out though. As soon as he came back it looked much better. Losing him meant the B's had to go 1 more player deep on the PK depth chart, which may have hurt them. I know they have more than 4 capable guys ready for PK duty but it didn't feel the same without Loui.

I think the PK is one area where Loui has been quicker to show his worth to this team than his overall body of work. I think his offense will start to come as he clicks with his linemates and continues getting acclimated to the B's system... but his effectiveness on the PK is more obvious at this point early in the season.

The fact that the Bruins PK-unit hasn't allowed a goal since Eriksson's return to the lineup speaks volumes. He will definitely be a fixture on that PK-unit moving forward, at least i hope so based on the positive impact he's had on the PK.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->