Canadiens Seeing Results From Adjustments to Penalty Kill

After being dominated by the Boston Bruins in the first 10 minutes of the contest, the Montreal Canadiens tightened up their play and stood toe-to-toe against the rivals for the remainder of the night. 

Boston sealed the 2-1 win in the opening minute of overtime that made the large contingent of Bruins fans at the Bell Centre erupt. 

One of the reasons that the Canadiens managed to get one point against the team they now trail by 32 points in the standings is the penalty kill. The Bruins had four opportunities with the man advantage and failed to convert on any of them. 

"The penalty kill was great. They came out big when we needed it there late in the game especially. [Sam Montembeault] did well to keep it out as well. We need those guys to show up to win those type of games," said Alex Newhook evaluating the shorthanded units.   

"They had a few chances but the guys are dialed in, the guys are blocking shots and I'm really happy of the effort we did defensively," Sam Montembeault added following his 21-save performance.  

The key moment of the night came with less than eight minutes remaining when Nick Suzuki received a double minor for high sticking Charlie McAvoy. Montreal was already on the power play at the time and were shorthanded for three of those four minutes. During that sequence, Boston was limited to two shots on goal. 

"It was a huge part of the game. Late in the game, killing a four-minute call is always tough but we got it for our captain and we gave ourselves a chance to go get the extra point," said David Savard speaking about the importance of that stretch. 

Montreal's penalty kill has been the been in the bottom third in efficiency since the start of the season. 

Thursday's perfect performance shorthanded has been a trend as of late. Since February 27th, the Canadiens have allowed one power play goal to the opposition in 26 kills. Their 96.2 percent success rate ranks them first in the NHL since that date.

"It was a struggle for us early in the season. We did a lot of video and a lot of adjustments. The guys are more confident now, been doing a really good job and the guys are blocking shots," said Montembeault on the recent success. 

The Canadiens adjusted the strategy to be more aggressive and it has paid off. 

Joel Armia and Jake Evans deserve a lot of credit for the turnaround on the shorthanded units. The pair lead the NHL forwards for most ice on the penalty kill since February 27th. Evans' 55.9 percent success rate on faceoffs has been important to maintain possession. 

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