Blackhawks penalty kill stifling Lightning power play
TAMPA — For the first time since 1968 and third time in NHL history, all four games of the Stanley Cup Final have been decided by a single goal. When you’re in a series as tight as the one the Chicago Blackhawks and Tampa Bay Lightning are battling in, your special teams success/failure can be a gamechanger.
As the Finals shifts back to Amalie Arena for Game 5 Saturday night, the Blackhawks penalty kill has done its job when needed, killing off 11 of 12 Lightning power plays. Seven times in this series Tampa has failed to capitalized on extra man opportunities to either tie the game or take the lead, including a second period 5-on-3 for 1:26 in Game 3; a game which they would eventually win 3-2.
“Every series has been different. We didn’t mind the way we killed in all the rounds to date,” said Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville. “The efficiency didn’t show that in a couple of rounds. A couple of goals that you could explain the score and things like that.
“But I think when the games have been on the line, we haven’t given up the timely power-play goal against. The penalty killers have done a good job of being aware of the details and what our opponents are up against.”
Currently ranked 10th among all NHL playoff teams with a 78.3-percent success rate, Chicago’s kill has done its job over the last 11 games. Going back one round to the Western Conference Final against the Anaheim Ducks, assistant coach Mike Kitchen’s unit has not allowed a goal on 24 of their last 27 chances.
That kind of success has only inspired confidence as the Blackhawks deal with the power play threat that the Lightning possess.
“I think Kitch does a great job on penalty kill,” said Brandon Saad. “The more you play a team throughout a series, the more you get to learn their habits, obviously watching video before the series. But being a part of it, seeing how they react, their tendencies, things like that, we’ve done a good job all playoffs. I think we feel pretty strong about our special teams.”
The Lightning power play unit has scored 17 goals on 83 opportunities (20.5-percent) this postseason. We’ve seen what can happened when the floodgate finally breaks. For Tampa, it’s just a matter of time and adjustments.
“I think we know we haven’t scored on the power play at the clip that we wanted to in these Finals,” said Steven Stamkos, whose two power play goals all came in the Eastern Conference Final. “Sometimes when you’re pressing, you’re not confident in taking a shot, make that extra pass, trying to get a nice goal. The old cliché, but when things aren’t going well, try to get more pucks to the net. I think we’re guilty of just trying to make that pretty pass.”
With the series now a best-of-three, this is no time to get pretty. Any type of goal at this point of the year is welcomed, and as Alex KIllorn noted earlier this week, the Lightning have had a tendancy to be too confident at home and have tried to make too many plays instead of just mucking it up and scoring by any means necessary. Tampa has managed 12 shots on their 11 power play attempts in the Final, according to War on Ice.
“I tell our guys, you don’t have to score every single time, but don’t let it swing the momentum of the game” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper.
“I don’t feel like in this series either special teams has swung the game. May it in the next couple? Sure. But we’ve got to do better, there’s no question. I don’t think we’ve gotten near the looks we can. You got to give them credit, they got four guys and a goaltender that are trying to keep the puck out of the net.”
– – – – – – –
Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY:
