The New Jersey Devils had one of the worst penalty-killing units in history last season. The Devils allowed 43 goals on 148 power plays. It was horrendous, and it led to the Devils losing more often than winning. It obviously wasn’t the only factor, but it had a lot to do with why the Devils struggled so much last season.
This season started off as more of the same. The Devils allowed six power-play goals against in the first month, which is in the bottom ten of the league despite playing fewer games than most of the league. However, there was something that was standing out. It seemed like the Devils were getting much worse goaltending during the penalty kill than they were at 5v5. More goals were coming in from low-danger areas.
The Devils only allowed 11 high-danger chances over the month of October. That’s seventh least in the league over that time. Since Jonathan Bernier and Mackenzie Blackwood have returned to the lineup, the Devils have allowed five power-play goals in seven games. That’s not exactly great, but the Devils only gave up four high-danger chances in that same time period. That’s the fourth-best over that time period (thanks Natural Stat Trick for the information).
The Devils are still having issues in net when it comes to the penalty kill. Blackwood and Bernier are absolutely dominant during even-strength play, but they become human when the other team has a man advantage. The Devils have given up zero high-danger goals during the man advantage. That means all five goals against during the penalty kill are either medium or low-danger chances. The Devils cannot be giving up those kinds of goals.
Ryan Graves has done a lot to help the Devils penalty kill turn into at least league average. He’s the main key to this unit, but the forwards are doing a great job as well. Michael McLeod has been awesome on this unit. Jimmy Vesey completely changed his play style, and now he’s a regular in this lineup because he embraced the penalty kill. Nico Hischier is proving he can play a 200-foot game with his PK play.
Going back to Vesey for a second, he’s only allowed two power-play goals despite being on the ice for 31 minutes while the other team has the man advantage. That is insane. Those numbers just don’t match, but Vesey has been awesome when given the chance. The Devils brought in Vesey to play this role, and he’s done it masterfully.
The Devils penalty kill is not as bad as it was last year. That much is obvious. Their PK is still at 76%, which isn’t good on paper, but once the goalies get a little more used to the system, those low-danger chances won’t go in as much. That will lead to a much better unit overall, and the turnaround of the PK could be key in making the Devils an actual playoff contender.