Being down two players on a penalty kill is typically a tall task to kill without at least the other team scoring one goal. The Boston Bruins have stood tall.
As of Sunday, the Bruins have faced seven 5-on-3 penalty kills. That's a lot of penalties right after another. The Bruins have 22 more minor penalties than the next highest NHL team. It makes sense as they have faced the league-leading seven 5-on-3 penalty kills. While they can kill the 5-on-3, their 5-on-4 could use some work. Or they could just stay out of the box.
The Seven Penalty Kills
The Boston Bruins have faced seven 5-on-3 penalty kills, two of which came in the same game. The longest penalty kill came on Sunday against the San Jose Sharks at 1:50 of 5-on-3, which is just 10 seconds shorter than just calling the penalties at the same time.
The other 6 times came against the Washington Capitals, Vegas Golden Knights, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, and L.A. Kings. The two penalty kills in one game came during the Bruins' 3-2 win against the Canadiens.
The Canadiens went 0-7 on the power play during that game, including the two-man advantage, of 1:27 and 1:49. The Bruins, on all seven, kept their sticks on the ground and were able to make sure that they were blocking everything and anything they could.
It has been a stark comparison to last season, where the Bruins were ranked 24th with a 76.3 success rate on the penalty kill. This season, they are 7th at 83%. They are killing the penalties, unlike last season, where it was definitely a contributing factor to the struggles, and right now, with all the penalties they have been charged with, there is a chance it ends up being a factor again.
The best players on the penalty kill have been Jeremy Swayman and Nikita Zadorov; even those once or twice Zadorov has been in the box. The Bruins need to work on staying out of the box, as continuing to kill 5-on-3 penalties is definitely not sustainable for an entire season.
For being 7-0 on the 5-on-3 penalty kill and only two of the seven coming during losses, the Boston Bruins have figured out how to manage when they are down and their backs are against the wall.