Key To Fixing Penalty Kill For New Jersey Devils Is Taking Fewer Penalties

By Nick Villano @nick_villano on October 27, 2014

The New Jersey Devils had the best penalty kill in the NHL in two of the last three seasons. Last season, they had a 86.4 percent PK. This season has been the exact opposite.

The Devils’ 68.6 penalty kill is the worst in the league. They have seen a lot of change on the defensive side, which could explain the change. They lost Anton Volchenkov, who was by far their best penalty killer. He struggled in most other scenarios, but he was great on the PK. They also lost Mark Fayne, who was serviceable with a man down.

Even with those two losses, the Devils should not be nearly as bad as they have been to start the season. Two players should not turn them from first to worst.

The only way the Devils can help this is if they stop taking penalties in general. They have been shorthanded 35 times in eight games. That is more than four penalties per game. I’m not sure if this is a coincidence or not, but the Devils allowed five goals with only nine penalties against at home. They are killing less than 50 percent of penalties in the Prudential Center. If the season ended today, the Devils would be less than one percentage point from the worst PK of all-time. They broke the record for best PK ever in 2011-12.

The Devils have a more offensive backend this season. They cannot afford to go shorthanded nearly as often as they do. They replaced Volchenkov and Fayne with Damon Severson and Eric Gelinas. They are both going to add scoring, but they aren’t the best choice for PK.

The two who have struggled the most on the PK are surprising. Bryce Salvador is the Devils captain. He had a disappointing season in 2013-14. He is continuing that this season. He is on the team mainly for his ability to kill penalties, but he has 14 penalty minutes of his own. When he is on the ice, the other team is still scoring. He is in the wrong position to help Cory Schneider on plays.

The other is Andy Greene. He is supposedly the Devils’ best defenseman. He needs to start playing like it if he is going to gain the respect of this young group.

The penalties should lessen with Jordin Tootoo being placed on injured reserve. Tootoo has 13 penalty minutes on the year in just six games. Of the 19 forwards who have played at least three games, only two have kept out of the penalty box. The Boston Bruins, who have more total PIM than the Devils, have eight such players.

With so many players gaining penalties, it may be something that Peter DeBoer needs to fix. Whether he has to tweak his scheme or change up how he practices, something needs to be done to keep five players on the ice during the game. If the team starts to keep it 5-on-5, then the Devils can build on what they have. They are 4-2-2 with a terrible PK. They can be even better once it gets fixed.

Nick Villano is the New Jersey Devils writer for Rant Sports.  He also adds to the site’s NBA, MLB and NFL content.  You can follow him on Twitter or add him to your Google circle.