{"id":409006,"date":"2026-01-15T15:34:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T15:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/409006\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T15:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T15:34:13","slug":"how-blackhawks-penalty-kill-became-one-of-nhls-best-units-after-a-system-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/409006\/","title":{"rendered":"How Blackhawks’ penalty kill became one of NHL’s best units after a system change"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Blackhawks<\/a> coach Jeff Blashill first began implementing his penalty-killing tactics during training camp, longer-tenured Hawks players were slightly skeptical.<\/p>\n

They remembered the penalty kill being a relative strength of the team the last few years while using a traditional \u201cdiamond\u201d system. This new variation<\/a> of a \u201cpush-down\u201d system was more complex, and they weren\u2019t sure why it was necessary to change what wasn\u2019t broken.<\/p>\n

Now, they thoroughly understand why. Blashill\u2019s changes have helped the Hawks\u2019 penalty kill emerge as one of the NHL\u2019s best \u2014 the same effect he had on the Lightning\u2019s penalty kill last season.<\/p>\n

The Hawks\u2019 85.2% kill rate ranks second in the league, behind only the Avalanche. And in January, they\u2019re a perfect 16-for-16, including two-for-two Monday against the Oilers\u2019<\/a> league-leading power play.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have really good defensemen who are long and know when to pressure,\u201d Blashill said Wednesday. \u201cI think that [means] whatever system we put in place, the penalty kill would\u2019ve been good. We\u2019ve got some really smart forwards who know how to kill.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a half-year to go, these things can go on runs the wrong way if you don\u2019t stay diligent with your details. I think [assistant coach] Michael Peca has done an excellent job of staying on them and continuing to look at all the little details within it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Count Connor Murphy, the elder statesman of the defense, as one of the converted skeptics.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like the most confusing part of the system,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cThe five-on-five stuff felt easier than the penalty kill. We were unsure, if someone [else was] pushing the pressure, where you\u2019re supposed to also pressure or sit back. We were giving up some big chances where I felt a little lost [during] the first stretch of games. But once we settled into it, it has felt great.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the diamond, only one defenseman was stationed in front of the net. Now, both defensemen usually hang near the net, clogging up the most dangerous scoring area.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re constantly watching, though, for opportunities to spring toward the perimeter of the zone to break up passes. Those are high-risk, high-reward, split-second decisions, but the very long reaches of their tall defensemen \u2014 Murphy, Alex Vlasic and Louis Crevier \u2014 are advantageous.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeca has talked a lot about reading their next outlet pass,\u201d Vlasic said. \u201cLike, if we have good pressure on two of their guys, they can only pass to one or two guys at the most at that point. So he\u2019s big on trusting your gut to read [it].\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the forwards are asked to do a ton of skating as they roam around the upper half of the defensive zone, constantly applying pressure on the puck \u2014 sometimes even from the top down. That\u2019s another key difference from the diamond formation, in which forwards are more stationary in their positions.<\/p>\n

It is beneficial, as Blashill mentioned, that the Hawks are flush with smart defensive forwards. Jason Dickinson and Ilya Mikheyev are usually the first two over the boards, while youngsters Landon Slaggert and Ryan Greene have lately been next up. Mikheyev, in particular, has been incredible.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce [Mikheyev] gets within stick length of a guy, the way he can disturb the puck is crazy,\u201d Murphy said.<\/p>\n

There are also some in-between areas where the Hawks\u2019 defensemen and forwards have to coordinate switches. Greene and Murphy had a communication breakdown with that Dec. 30, leading to an Islanders power-play goal from the high slot.<\/p>\n

The Hawks \u201cworked on that quite a bit\u201d afterward, Vlasic said, and they haven\u2019t allowed a goal since. They\u2019re also conceding the sixth-fewest shots per minute on the penalty kill this season.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting the Hawks\u2019 power play has also been good, ranking seventh with a 22.9% conversion rate. Combined, their special teams are the second-best in the NHL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill first began implementing his penalty-killing tactics during training camp, longer-tenured Hawks players were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":409007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-409006","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}