How a Resurgent Dallas Stars Penalty Kill Prevented Any Shots on Goal from New Jersey's Power Play Last Night

Colin Blackwell and Sam Steel are really, really good at this

Broken Sticks and Broken Dreams: The New Jersey Power Play Story (last night, at least)

The Dallas Stars penalty kill is back. Has been for a while, in fact.

So today, we’re going to look at just how remarkable that comeback has been on a statistical level, a few of the people who have been driving it on a player level, and break down a few clips illustrating how Alain Nasreddine’s group have gotten the Stars’ PK back into its elegant, effective form.

What They’ve Done

Over their last 13 games, the Dallas Stars penalty kill has held opponents to just three power play goals in 41 opportunities: a conversion rate of 7%. Alain Nasreddine’s group went a perfect 11-for-11 in five games in mid-November before falling into a slump (by their standards) against Vancouver and Calgary, when they allowed three power play goals on 11 chances.

But they apparently took those two games personally. Because since that Calgary game (which featured a major penalty, as Mikko Rantanen may recall), they’ve gone six more games without conceding across 19 penalties taken.

That’s led to a remarkable jump in the rankings, as the Stars PK jumped from 70% on November 8 to 80% today, less than a month later.

To put that in perspective, it’s as though the Stars’ penalty kill over their last 13 games has turned whatever opposing power play it faces on a given night into something even worse than the 2020-21 Anaheim Ducks’ power play, which was the worst power play in NHL history. That’s a pretty nice magic wand to be able to wave, when the need arises.