Caps drawing life from solid penalty kill

‘Controlled aggression’ key for 8th-ranked unit

WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals’ mentality on the penalty kill is fairly simple: If you catch a power play that is tired or has a sloppy pass and you get the chance to go, then go. Go and make it hard on the opposition by anticipating the next play and use your aggressiveness and quickness to your advantage.

But don’t forget, when you decide to go, to make sure you’re playing with a “controlled aggression.” If the opposing power play is content with playing on the outside, know when to make your move. If they are creeping in, make the correct read and you’re given the green light to attack.

“We’ve done a good job at getting our looks and knowing the right time to attack and try to score and there are other times when we need to get our bodies off the ice and get fresh ones out there,” said Capitals assistant coach Scott Arniel, who is in charge of the penalty killing unit. “The guys have been very good in that department.”

While the Capitals lost penalty kill stalwarts Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik in the offseason, it gained skilled penalty killers with Carl Hagelin, who was acquired at last year’s trade deadline, Garnet Hathaway, Radko Gudas and Jonas Siegenthaler. Siegenthaler, Gudas and Hagelin lead the team in shorthanded ice time and the combination of personnel and a tweak in the system has the Capitals’ unit clicking.

Through 17 games, the Capitals’ penalty kill ranks eighth in the league, killing off 85.7 percent of opposing power plays. Since Oct. 29, the Capitals have killed off 15 of 17 opposing power plays (88.2 percent). Through the same amount of games last year, the Capitals were ranked 28th in the league, only killing off 72.7 percent of opposing power plays.

The switch in effectiveness started to increase after the Capitals acquired Hagelin, with the penalty kill unit ranked 13th in the league during the final 22 games of the regular season. Washington ultimately finished 24th in the league on the penalty kill (78.9 percent).

In the Capitals’ 5-4 overtime win Thursday against the Florida Panthers, the unit allowed only one goal despite being forced to kill off back-to-back penalties twice in the second period. The one tally finally came on the fourth kill of the night.

“It starts with the mind-set, guys that really want to kill and do it for the team and take pride in it and I think it starts there,” Hagelin said. “Then once you start feeling good and the season rolls on you need your goalie to make key stops on the PK and sacrificing your body.”

Before acquiring Hagelin, the Capitals went into last season wanting to bring more aggressiveness to the unit, but soon realized at times it was too aggressive, which ended up with opportune chances for opposing power plays. Arniel described the unit as “all over the map.”

“Just an all-out blitz all the time, it didn’t work so good for us at times last year so we found a real good balance there,” Arniel said.

The Capitals are tied for fourth in the league with three shorthanded goals. Arniel said a good example of a systematically sound penalty kill was last season’s Phoenix team, which had 16 shorthanded goals. Calgary led the league with 18.

“I think we got it,” Arniel said. “They are recognizing. We aren’t telling them go here or you shouldn’t go here.”