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The Oilers penalty kill has been reinforced by the recent return of forward Mattias Janmark from a shoulder injury
Published Dec 04, 2023 • Last updated 5 hours ago • 4 minute read
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) saves the breakaway shot from Edmonton Oilers forward Mattias Janmark (13) in Winnipeg on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023. Photo by John Woods /The Canadian Press
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There is a line from Stanley Kubrik’s military masterpiece, Full Metal Jacket, which goes, “The Marine Corps does not want robots. The Marine Corps wants killers.”
Well, Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch might be the furthest thing from the Smokey-The-Bear-hat-wearing gunnery sergeant, played by R. Lee Ermey in the film, but he has enjoyed seeing his special teams killing it right now.
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Especially on the penalty kill, where the Oilers have set their sights on improvement since his arrival three weeks ago. Just one season removed from posting an NHL record 32.4 per cent success rate on the power play under then-head coach Jay Woodcroft, an Oilers squad that opened 2023-24 by falling short on pretty much every expectation has all of a sudden pulled up its socks when it comes to the bleakest of on-ice scenarios.
The team lambasted as one made up of nothing but two guys and a power play has built a foundation to make its way back to respectability (and, dare we say, maybe even a .500 record) by concentrating on defence, to the point where they finally saw their stretch of successful penalty kills end in their last outing, a 3-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets.
They came into that one having put together a stretch of 21 straight successful penalty kills over an impressive span of five complete games.
And to Knoblauch, it all comes down to his lieutenant, assistant coach Mark Stuart, who oversees the penalty kill.
“I think Stuart is doing a good job of getting a pretty clear message across on what to do, what the opposition’s planning to do and where their strengths are. That’s a big part of it,” Knoblauch said. “Another one is just how dialed in and focused the guys are.
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“And when they did score that goal (to end the streak), you could see the guys upset. They were, ‘Ah, man. We had a streak going.’ So, there’s a lot of ownership on that, I think that’s a very important aspect on having something that you’re good at, is you’re invested, you know the role and you’re most likely going to be executing to your best ability.”
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While it’s often said the goalie has to be the best penalty killer, Stuart Skinner is quick to disperse any accolades being pinned to the his chest.
“A huge credit to the guys in front of me. I’ve said this a thousand times, the PK has been really good, which is a huge, huge help in just being able to win games,” said Skinner, who has been a major factor in the Oilers going 6-3-0 under Knoblauch after getting off to a 3-9-1 start. “So, that’s a huge props to the forwards, the D who are on the PK and the power play. Just the game overall.
“We’re just being able to get the hang of (penalty killing) now. That’s a huge part of being able to win games, especially when it comes to crunch time.”
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The Oilers penalty kill has been reinforced by the recent return of forward Mattias Janmark from a shoulder injury.
“I don’t know why exactly of the timing, but I think you always go through stretches during the year where confidence is a big thing in the penalty kill, both from the goalie, the players,” he said of Edmonton’s penalty kill, which is ranked in the top 10 overall, sitting ninth at 75.56 per cent. “You’re just confident in what you can give up, you know where you’re going to get the saves from.
“And you also go through slides where it feels like whatever you do, the puck ends up in the back of your net. And we’re kind of on one of those confident hot streaks right now, and I think to keep that going, you’ve really got to bear down on the details. Sometimes those slip because you’re relying on the offence, or whatever.”
After the Jets scored on the power play, the Oilers came up with a pair of penalty kills to set their new streak at two going into Wednesday’s game against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes (7:30 p.m., TNT, MAX).
“We got scored on last game, so now we’ve got to get back to the details and look at what we can do better,” Janmark said. “Every team approaches it differently, but if you can disrupt their entries, that’s a big thing. If you can get on the puck right away that way, that helps. Any team in this league, if they can set up enough time, there are such good players on the power play.
“If, at the end of the day, you’ve got to give up some shots, then the goaltender has to be there to bail you out.”
E-mail: [email protected]
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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