It’s easy to judge penalty kills by their kill percentages. But for the Calgary Flames, they were one of the teams in the National Hockey League that made opposing power plays uneasy. When the Flames were a man down, they were sometimes just as dangerous offensively as the team they were playing against. They’re hoping to maintain and enhance their dangerous penalty kill this coming season.
Flames forward Elias Lindholm was a big part of the PK’s success in 2018-19. Landing in an expanded PK role after playing a similar, if smaller, role in Carolina under head coach Bill Peters, Lindholm actually led all Flames forwards in shorthanded ice time. He provided an assessment on what made their kill so effective and what they can do to enhance it this season.
“The coaching the staff did a good job last year,” said Lindholm after an on-ice session at the Saddledome. “Obviously the playoffs [we] were a little too spread out, they were sitting around pretty good, but overall I think we did a good job, had a couple tough bounces. So I think our percentage deserved to be a little higher. I think what we can improve this year is more up-ice pressure, interrupt the breakout for the power play. Overall, just be aggressive and let the feet do the work – the feet and the stick.”
Percentage-wise, the Flames’ PK finished 21st in the NHL last season. They were part of a cluster of teams killing just below 80.0% of their penalties, just a notch below league average. Conversely, the Flames led the NHL with 18 shorthanded goals and were the first team to score that many while a man down since 2007-08. The key to a successful PK, according to Lindholm, is applying pressure.
“It’s all about time and space,” said Lindholm. “If you see, you can prepare good pressure. Guys are too skilled in this league, if you give them too much time they’re going to make a play. If the other team has too much time, we just try to stick together and not be too spread out. And when we see a rolling puck or a bouncing puck, we’ve done a good job with everyone’s recognizing that if one goes, everyone’s going. Overall, I think it’s only going to get better.”
The Flames utilized four common pairs last season on the PK. The defenders were Mark Giordano & Travis Hamonic and TJ Brodie & Noah Hanifin. The forwards were Lindholm & Mark Jankowski and Derek Ryan & Garnet Hathaway. With Hathaway’s free agent exit to Washington, that opens the door for someone else – potentially Sam Bennett, Dillon Dube or even Tobias Rieder – to enter the picture.
“Hath was a good player for us, especially on the PK,” said Lindholm. “He was always working hard. I think as a PK guy, you have to be ready to put the work down. I think as a young guy, if you come in and play you just got to be smart and when you’re in there be ready to go and be ready to work hard because sometimes it is tough and frustrating when you’re playing good power plays.”
The Flames begin their regular season on Thursday, Oct. 3.
