Red Wings' Penalty Kill Becoming a Problem They Can No Longer Ignore

The Detroit Red Wings found a way to win on Saturday night. Unfortunately, they also found another way to make things more difficult than necessary. Despite overcoming a two-goal deficit in the third period to defeat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 in a shootout, the Red Wings' penalty kill once again left plenty to be desired.

The Sharks converted twice on six opportunities with the man-advantage, continuing a troubling pattern that has followed the Red Wings through the opening weeks of the season. Dmitry Orlov scored the Sharks' first power-play goal late in the opening period, erasing a 1-0 Red Wings lead. Ivar Stenberg added another early in the third, giving the Sharks a 3-1 advantage and putting the Red Wings in danger of another disappointing defeat.

Fortunately for the Red Wings, Emmitt Finnie and Alex DeBrincat provided the offense needed to force overtime, but the comeback shouldn't overshadow what happened earlier. The Red Wings entered Saturday's contest ranked 27th in the NHL in penalty-killing percentage, an alarming development for a team trying to improve its defensive play. The difficulties were evident almost immediately this season.

In their second game against the Winnipeg Jets, the Red Wings surrendered three power-play goals during a 3-2 loss. That performance led head coach Todd McLellan to acknowledge that his penalty killers had failed to get the job done, according to Jonathan Mills of DetroitRedWings.com. Nearly two weeks later, the same issue continues to surface.

The Red Wings have improved in certain areas, particularly their ability to limit opportunities at even strength. McLellan has also made adjustments to the team's defensive structure, attempting to make the Red Wings more difficult to play against. However, those changes become less meaningful when opponents repeatedly capitalize on penalties.

The problem isn't limited to the players responsible for killing them, but the Red Wings must also avoid putting themselves in vulnerable situations through unnecessary penalties. Against the Sharks, the Red Wings spent enough time shorthanded to give the Sharks multiple opportunities to establish momentum. That's hardly an ideal approach, especially against opponents featuring offensive players such as Macklin Celebrini.

There are also questions about positioning, clearing attempts and how quickly the Red Wings react when an opponent moves the puck through the offensive zone. These are areas that can be addressed through practice, but the improvements must become visible during games. The Red Wings don't possess the offensive depth to assume they can overcome multiple power-play goals every night.

If McLellan hopes to prevent that trend from continuing, improving the penalty kill needs to become one of his most pressing needs. Saturday's comeback was encouraging, but needing another one because of the same recurring problem would be considerably less so.

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