Stars on the PK

[PensHckyFan79]

Something I notice on most of the teams that are still playing is they have stars playing on the PK which provides a little something extra for the PP unit to think about in case of a mistake. Now Staal I would consider a star but what about Malkin on the PK. I think that is something that FHCMT was starting to do. I look at LA and see Kopitar, Brown, and Richards on the PK. NY has Callahan, Boyle. NJ puts Kovy and Parise out there. I dont think that this will really solve any big problems, but I wonder why the Pens do not do this. I also think that Malkin on the PP for 2:00 minutes is a bit crazy too. I wonder if they would play more consistent shifts throughout the game if they would play differently. Sid and Geno sitting on the bench for 5 minutes for a Major or a string of PK's does not help the team. I can remember some of Mario's best goals were shorties.

Thoughts.

[FallenHero96]

I'm for giving stars some penalty kill time. When Dave King was Malkin's coach in the RSL he used Malkin on the PK and said he was awesome at it.

[Streaks House]

Agree with most of this. I think the biggest concern is that 87/71 would block a shot causing injury. I'm not advocating 87/71 becoming full-time PKers, but I certainly wouldn't be opposed to 30 seconds here or there, especially towards the end of the PK when the opposition PP may be fatigued. Having Crosby or Malkin on the PK gives the opposition one more thing to worry about. I don't think Craig Adams on a breakaway is a concern to an opposition PP, Crosby and Malkin is a different story.

[SteelCityFan]

I believe that if you have two of the best players in the world you give them as much ice time and opportunities as is humanly possible. Staal's been killing penalties his entire career and, off the top of my head, I can't remember him suffering any significant injuries due to being on the PK.

[Froggy]

I believe that if you have two of the best players in the world you give them as much ice time and opportunities as is humanly possible. Staal's been killing penalties his entire career and, off the top of my head, I can't remember him suffering any significant injuries due to being on the PK.

I understand this line of thinking, but its flawed logic. If they killed penalties, they wouldn't be playing MORE minutes, they'd be playing DIFFERENT minutes. personally, I would rather them not risk injury in any way while at the same time, not using our best offensive players in situations that are almost exclusive of offensive opportunities.

What's the payoff here? Our pk has been great the last couple years, so we don't really need the help defensively, and we are decent at shg's, so any boost to the offense would be negligible.

[ivand87]

Other stars not mentioned in the OP... Zetterberg for Detroit... That one guy who wears #28 for Philadelphia, kinda forgot his name since he's never done any damage on the PK against the Pens that I can remember.

[SteelCityFan]

I believe that if you have two of the best players in the world you give them as much ice time and opportunities as is humanly possible. Staal's been killing penalties his entire career and, off the top of my head, I can't remember him suffering any significant injuries due to being on the PK.

I understand this line of thinking, but its flawed logic. If they killed penalties, they wouldn't be playing MORE minutes, they'd be playing DIFFERENT minutes. personally, I would rather them not risk injury in any way while at the same time, not using our best offensive players in situations that are almost exclusive of offensive opportunities.

What's the payoff here? Our pk has been great the last couple years, so we don't really need the help defensively, and we are decent at shg's, so any boost to the offense would be negligible.

The payoff could be a better PK unit, a more dangerous PK unit and it gives the opposing PP something to think about. Just because we might be near the top of a specific aspect of the game doesn't mean we can't improve on it.

[steelhammer]

Before this goes any further, do you all realize that the Flyers had 6 short-handed goals (tied for 13th) during the regular season with a PK of 81.8% (tied for 17th)? The Pens on the other hand had 11 short-handed goals (3rd) with a PK of 87.8% (3rd). The league leaders were the Devils with 15 short-handed goals and an 89.6% PK. Don't let the noise of a few playoff games mess with success.

Edit: to have finished 1st overall in the PK during the regular season, the Pens would have had to surrender 5 fewer goals while on the PK.

[PensHckyFan79]

I'm not saying that this is the answer to fix our playoff problems and I have been thinking about this for quite some time just decided to post about it now. There are different opinions and I like that. The Pens PK has been great the past few seasons and they have scored some big goals. I also agree that these would be "different" minutes for Malkin/Crosby if they would play on the PK, but this would also allow them to take regular shifts every ~3 minutes instead of having to ride the pine for long periods if the Pens get into PK trouble. I just feel that maybe adding Malkin on the PK could change things for a greater positive, maybe it would hurt the team who knows.

[Sarcastic]

I would love to see Crosby on the PK sometime. With his speed and vision, you know he'd get the puck away and zoooooom to the other side of the rink.

[Sarcastic]

The Devils allowed 3 goals on 19 Philly PPs. Someone go study the tapes and see what the difference was then come back and tell me. I know the Devils pressured a whole lot. Anything else?

Somewhere else I read that they had 15 shorthanded goals during regular season. Let's study that too.

[zarleyzalapskisarmy]

Lemieux is 4th all-time in shorthanded goals. Seemed to work out pretty well for him.

[Idoit40fans]

Its rare that they each go 2 minutes without being on the ice. No reason for that to change when the pk is happening.

[Pavel Bure]

I'm for giving stars some penalty kill time. When Dave King was Malkin's coach in the RSL he used Malkin on the PK and said he was awesome at it.

Yep and when Malkin was on team Russia during the Olypmics shortly after he came into the NHL he was on the PK and was very good. I'd like to see them both out there on the PK.

[canaan]

There needs to be some aspect of making the top talent grind at times and not make the grinders do the work for them. Maybe malkin wouldn't take so many dumb stick penalties if he were put there having to dig out for other peoples mistakes. Basically, anything that makes the /superstars/ on this team to realize they are just as valuable as a 3rd liner is a good thing in my book.

The pk being good/don't mess with it thing annoys me. The pens have plenty of opportunity to force the opposing PP into mistakes that lead to SHG--something that they need to work on for the postseason

[KennyTheKangaroo]

There needs to be some aspect of making the top talent grind at times and not make the grinders do the work for them. Maybe malkin wouldn't take so many dumb stick penalties if he were put there having to dig out for other peoples mistakes. Basically, anything that makes the /superstars/ on this team to realize they are just as valuable as a 3rd liner is a good thing in my book.

That's a very yoda esque, cerebral coaching move.

[farnham16]

I'm all for using Malkin and Sid on the PK. There is no reason not too. Putting one of them or both out there against Philly on the PK might have changed the series. Who knows.

[Krom]

Dave King coached Malkin with Magnitogorsk and said he was the best penalty killer in the league.

[Pitt87]

I'm for giving stars some penalty kill time. When Dave King was Malkin's coach in the RSL he used Malkin on the PK and said he was awesome at it.

Sid and Geno are awesome at everything, but can't be expected to play 30 quality minutes a night. Perhaps its something to do with minutes that those guys are on the ice in the defensive zone, but honestly I would like to see Sid & Geno play more 'stationary' minutes and maybe create some opportunities as a result.

[Rylan]

Malkin should be on the penalty kill. Sid I am fine with not being on the kill, but afterwards resulting in that still ever dangerous shift after the kill.