Ottawa Senators
How the Ottawa Senators Fixed Their Penalty Kill
After struggling through the first several weeks of the season, the Ottawa Senators have figured out a winning strategy with their penalty kill.

Win the special teams battle, win the game. That’s a little simplistic, but it often ends up being true. For the Ottawa Senators, that battle was lost a whole lot last season, when they had the league’s 23rd ranked power play and 29th ranked penalty kill. Through the first couple of months of this season, their power play was much improved, but the penalty kill remained a struggle. It seems like their kill hit rock bottom in their 4-2 loss to the New York Islanders on December 8th. The Islanders went two for two on their power plays that game. My article after the game was titled, “Great Effort Ruined by Penalty Kill.” Since then, their penalty killing has greatly improved. So what’s changed? Let’s dive into the details on how the Ottawa Senators fixed their penalty kill.
READ MORE: 82 Games of Stützle, Norris, and Pinto
By the Numbers
Here are the Ottawa Senators penalty killing numbers before and after that December 8th loss:
- 27 games: 74% penalty kill (25th), -19 shorthanded goal differential (28th), 1 shorthanded goal
- 24 games: 83% penalty kill (10th), -6 shorthanded goal differential (5th), 6 shorthanded goals
Statistically, this is incredible. The Senators have gone from being a total pushover on the penalty kill to the complete opposite. Not only has their penalty kill percentage gone up 9%, they’ve also become one of the most dangerous offensive teams while shorthanded during these last 24 games. How have they done it? Well, as any hockey fan should know, a great penalty kill starts with a great goalie.
Goaltender Penalty Kill Stats
Here are the numbers for the Ottawa Senators goalies while on the penalty before and after they figured things out:
- 27 games: 116 shots, 20 goals against, .828 SV%
- 24 games: 103 shots against, 12 goals against, .883 SV%
That’s roughly the same amount of shots per game being faced by the Sens goalies on the PK, but a huge jump in save percentage. The biggest improvement came from Ullmark. He had an .843 SV% in the first 27 games and a ridiculous .964 SV% since the improvement. Of course, he’s only played six of those 24 games. Leevi Merilainen’s .907 SV% has also helped the penalty kill improve. As for Anton Forsberg, he’s struggled all season on the penalty kill with a collective .803 SV%.
Penalty Killing Forwards
This is the other big change. The forwards seem to seek out offensive opportunities while shorthanded. There’s three that have done it best- Ridly Greig, Shane Pinto and Josh Norris. They’ve all scored two shorthanded goals. Their most recent game against the Washington Capitals is the best example of how dangerous they’ve become. Norris scored on a shorthanded penalty shot, Pinto scored shorthanded less than a minute later, and Pinto was stopped of a third shorthanded goal on his own penalty shot in the third period.
With all do respect to the likes of Michael Amadio and Noah Gregor, who were given more penalty killing minutes in the early part of the season, this trio of more offensively capable forwards is so much more effective. It’s not just about dumping the puck down the ice for them; they look to skate with the puck and generate offense while down a man.
Looking Ahead
The Ottawa Senators sit 18th on the penalty kill over the course of the whole season. However, when you include their success scoring shorthanded goals, their net penalty kill puts them at 11th. Here’s why it seems they’ve truly turned a corner with the penalty kill: the coaching staff has put full trust in Norris, Greig, and Pinto to each kill over two minutes per game over the last 24 games. They’ve benefited from Zub being back as a regular, as his defensive ability goes a long way while down a man. They are the best faceoff team in the league on the kill at over 55%, led by Claude Giroux.
With Ullmark set to return shortly, that’s just another key contributor to a much improved penalty kill. The likes of Thomas Chabot, Jake Sanderson and Nick Jensen have all shown great pride on the penalty kill during this improved stretch as well. Sure, they still have some issues giving up high quality chances in the slot, but this team’s penalty kill has become a key part to their winning identity.