The Wild hoped this year's penalty kill would be better, that isn't the case but 'it's a process.'
ST. PAUL - In the first 19 games of the 2023-24 season the Wild gave up 23 power-play goals on 69 chances. The penalty kill ranked 32nd last year while converting at 66.7 percent.
The PK, and the Wild's 5-10-4 start, led to the eventual firing of two Wild coaches.
With John Hynes as the head coach and Pat Dwyer as the new assistant the Wild's penalty kill was 22nd in the league (77.3%). Because of their bad start, they finished the season with the 30th (74.5%).
During the offseason the Wild hired Jack Capuano to be one of their assistant coaches. His job was to help on the penalty kill and work the defensemen along with Dwyer.
They also acquired forward Jakub Lauko from Boston to help on the penalty kill and signed forward Yakov Trenin to a four-year deal to help.
The Wild entered Sunday's game 14-for-21 on the penalty kill which is a 66.7 percent clip. Last year in 19 games the Wild's PK converted at a 66.7 percent rate which was on pace for an NHL record for worst penalty kill in a single season.
After their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Wild's penalty kill dropped to 15-for-23 which is a 65.2 percent conversion rate. They are taking less penalties than last year but they haven't been any better when it comes to killing them.
"I feel like coming into the year that this was going to be a process with the kill," Hynes said. "We spent a lot of time on it in training camp. We continue to spend a lot of time on it, but it all comes down to the discipline of details. We don't have to get into every goal against but to me, in the penalty kill of all situations, the structure is critical, because you only have four guys.
"I think right now sometimes what's happened is we've made an individual mistake or a misread, you know, and then all of a sudden, bang, you get five top offensive players and they're scoring. I like what's going on there. I know it needs to be better, but it is. It is a process, and I feel good about what it is."
The Maple Leafs came into Sunday's game 3-for-38 on the power play which was dead last in the NHL at a 7.9 percent clip. They scored their first road power-play goal of the season on Sunday on their second opportunity of the night.
The Leafs are now 1-for-20 on the power play this season in road games and 4-for-40 overall. So is this a problem that the Wild let up another power play goal and one to the worst power play in the league?
"No, I really like our structure," Hynes said on if the PK is a problem. "I spent a lot of time yesterday going back through it because we have given up some goals on it, but more often than not, they're individual. They're mistakes that need to be better."
At the end of the day, the structure and formation of the penalty kill can be the best and well thought out plan in the world but it is up to the players to go out and stick to it. To execute it and so far, they haven't but it is a process. A process that Hynes believes will produce a good penalty kill soon.
The good news is, even with a penalty kill converting at 65.2 percent, the Wild are 8-1-2 and are one of the best teams in the entire NHL.
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