Why The Maple Leafs Have Been So Strong On The Penalty Kill Despite One Miscue Against The Senators

Following the first three games of this regular season, the Toronto Maple Leafs have seen some ups and downs in plenty of different areas with this new-look team. However, one particularly effective area thus far has been their penalty kill.

"I thought they've been really good," Maple Leafs coach Jim Hiller said on Sunday about the team's penalty kill.

To this point, the Leafs have not conceded a power-play goal, officially. Against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, Toronto did give up a goal as Kirill Marchenko was exiting the penalty box to join his team on the ice. But as of the official count, they've been a perfect 10-for-10 on the PK.

"I thought it's been pretty sharp," Colton Sissons said. He leads the team in shorthanded ice time among forwards, logging a total of 9:17 so far and averaging 3:06 per game.

"We've been doing a good job, and you know, you want your kill to step up at timely spots in games and give your team momentum. And I think we've done a pretty good job of that. I know last night, I think the one penalty just had expired, so we kind of escaped that one a little bit. But no, it's been really good."

Ten other teams in the NHL also have perfect penalty-killing records to this point, but what makes Toronto different in that territory is that they are tied for second with the most minor penalties taken in the NHL, with 13. So there have been plenty more chances for the Leafs' opposition to convert on the power play, but it has yet to happen.

It makes it all the more impressive to know that the Leafs didn't have much preparation for their special teams given the shortened pre-season.

"I think our energy's been good," Teddy Blueger said. "But I think just like everything, it's a bit of a process. You need more reps to kind of speed up the reads and get the chemistry going and get all together on the same page. Even pre-season, it felt like we didn't really have that many kills to really go off of. So I think there's still kind of like a period of adjustment and guys getting used to each other, getting used to the new system. And I think once you kind of get that dialled in, I think we got a chance to be better and make quicker reads and be more aggressive."

But what is making the Maple Leafs' penalty kill effective to this point? Especially with all the new personnel trying to get accustomed to each other with such a quick turnaround from the start of the pre-season to the regular season.

"Yeah, I mean, just kind of being predictable allows you to be fast within your kill, no matter how you do it," Sissons said. "I think when there's times to be aggressive and pressure. Teams when they're maybe not set up or there's some bobbled pucks, our D have been making really good reads, and then the other three have to be ready to go too. So I think that part of it's been pretty sharp."

"I think the aggressiveness that we're playing with," Brandon Duhaime said, on what makes the team's penalty kill successful. "I think we got good personnel. The D-core back there is blocking a ton of shots, and a lot of guys are buying into the system."

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