The NHL, and hockey in general, is a funny sport. It can have stats that don't make sense, and the category the Montreal Canadiens are prevailing in is one such instance. I wrote about the Canadiens' defensive struggles last week, as they were getting to the point that they looked unfixable. They ranked near the bottom of the league in almost every defensive category at five-on-five, but I didn't notice that their defense was doing great work in one other area: the penalty kill.
The Canadiens have the second-ranked penalty kill in the league. They have a whopping 90.9% success rate, beaten only by the excellence of the Dallas Stars and their 95.2% mark. It shouldn't be that surprising the Canadiens have an elite penalty kill. Jake Evans, Joel Armia, and Nick Suzuki are all masters of their craft at the defensive forward position. The defense gets plenty of hate thrown toward them, but Kaiden Guhle and David Savard are lethal in their zone. If all those players are combined, it is easy to see why they keep the puck out of their net for two minutes.
And for this one, it's not luck. They are preventing chances 24% above league average. pic.twitter.com/xvsBMWvXpG
— Data Puck (@DataPuck) October 20, 2024
The Canadiens' penalty kill unit is elite at preventing high-danger chances. They are 24% over the league average in preventing it at five-on-five, which DataPuck on social media correctly states is not luck. Montreal's ability to have an elite penalty kill while struggling at five-on-five is a stark reminder of why fans shouldn't be so quick to throw players like Armia and Evans under the bus. Fans named the players who could get traded this season to make room for other forwards, but Montreal will need an elite penalty kill once they start contending for a playoff spot.
Poor special teams can be the difference between contenders or pretenders in the postseason. The Canadiens should have elite special teams on both sides once they are ready for contention. If the core of the penalty kill stays together by holding on to Evans, the penalty kill will have success. By the time they contend, Michael Hage and Ivan Demidov should be on the roster, which will only improve the powerplay. It's far from fruition, but the Canadiens should be fine in the postseason special teams battle.