During the 2018-19 season, penalty killing woes in the first half of the season, especially in October and November, were an especially severe issue in why the team dug itself too deep of hole from which to recover.
Over the first 23 games of last season, the Flyers saddled themselves with an atrocious 69.7 percent penalty killing rate (53-for-76); worst in the NHL. The PK rate was submerged so deep under water that it was almost impossible to bring the full-season numbers up to respectability.
The rest of the 2018-19 season, from a penalty killing standpoint was a step in the right direction (although there was admittedly nowhere to go but up from where the team was through 23 games). There was a subsequent bump in the numbers especially after interim head coach Scott Gordon and assistant coach Ian Laperriere made some in-season tactical and personnel changes.
Over the final 59 games of last season, the Flyers killed penalties at an 82.7 percent rate (ranked 9th in the NHL over that span). Due to the horrific start to the season, unfortunately, it was only good enough for the Flyers to rank 26th in the league (186-for-237). Philadelphia scored four shorthanded goals; all of which came from December onward.
After the season, the Flyers brought in Alain Vigneault as head coach and reorganized the assistant coaching staff personnel and duties. Mike Yeo, who had a past track record of success in a penalty killing coach capacity, was brought aboard as a new assistant coach while Laperriere focused on prescouting opponents.
This season, the Flyers rank 11th in the NHL with an 81.8 percent success rate on the penalty kill. While there have been a few individual games where things went off the rails and the month of December was a rough patch on the whole, the team has enjoyed greater overall consistency than it did a year ago. The process as a whole has been better. As a not-insignificant bonus, the club has also doubled its shorthanded goal output from a year ago.
Here is month-by-month statistical breakdown of the Flyers' penalty kill until the NHL pause for Covid-19.
If and when the NHL is able to return to play, and the Flyers embark upon a playoff seeding round-robin and then the Stanley Cup playoffs, the team will have to recover its form after the long layoff. There is always room for improvement, and a high level of sustained success on the penalty kill will be one of the keys to making a deep run in the postseason.
Here's a look inside the numbers at the adjustments that have led to the team's improvements, and the areas to watch if and when the Flyers return to complete the current season.
1. Aggressive puck pressure
One of the key adjustments made last season that started to pay dividends over the second half of the season was an increased emphasis on strong-side puck pressure in the defensive zone. Previously, much of the emphasis was keyed on taking away the middle of the ice to seal off cross-seam passes.
This season, the Flyers have generally done a good job at pressuring the puck all over the ice -- not just challenging the puck carrier in the Flyers' defensive zone but also more aggressively taking away carry-in attempts at the blue line, making it tougher to generate speed through the neutral zone and even creating up-ice forechecking pressure.
On the shorthanded goal depicted below, Washington's Evgeny Kuznetsov passed the puck around the boards to teammate John Carlson at the point, where Scott Laughton aggressively stepped up and bumped Carlson off the puck and into the boards with a clean hit. Hayes pounced on the loose puck and skated off on a breakaway. Moving to his right on the backhand, Hayes pulled the puck around goalie Braden Holtby and deposited it in the net.
In the next example, the Flyers do not get a shorthanded scoring chance. But they swarm the strong side effectively, outnumbering the Washington attackers. The result is an easy clear for the penalty killers.
In this example, the Flyers PKers swarm the strong side effectively, outnumbering the Washington Capitals attackers. The result is an easy clear for the Philly penalty killers. pic.twitter.com/AxYPIJj3jM
Sean Couturier and Ivan Provorov have been Flyers penalty killing mainstays long before the current season, and remain two of the club's most vital individual PKers. Provorov leads all Flyers players with an average 2:45 of PK ice time per game, while Couturier leads all Flyers forwards (except trade deadline acquisition Nate Thompson, who had only a seven-game sample size) with an average 2:02 of PK time per game.
In the meantime, the Flyers PK has benefited from an infusion of acquisitions who were not with the team one season ago: Matt Niskanen (2:38 TOI on the penalty kill), Kevin Hayes (2:01), Justin Braun (1:55), Tyler Pitlick (1:03) and trade deadline acquisition Derek Grant (1:07).
Among holdover penalty killing regulars, Scott Laughton (1:42 TOI) has had a very strong season in that facet of the game, despite dealing with injury issues that kept him out of the lineup for a combined 20 games. Michael Raffl (1:16 TOI) also remains a frequent part of the PK rotation.
Killing penalties can wear down a team or a player; it's the epitome of what coaches call "hard minutes." The influx of new talent into the PK rotation, has enabled the Flyers to reduce the penalty killing burden placed on Claude Giroux (0:56 of PK ice time this season, largely in situations that start with a defensive right circle faceoff, after averaging 1:44 of PK time last season). The addition of Hayes in particular has also helped to somewhat decrease the burden on Couturier (down 17 seconds on average from his 2:19 PK ice time average in 208-19).
In the meantime, both defenseman Travis Sanheim and left winger Oskar Lindblom (prior to the Ewing Sarcoma diagnosis that ended his season abruptly) became important contributors on the penalty kill. In Lindblom's case, the shift happened in the second half of the 2018-19 season under Gordon and Laperriere, and rolled over into 2019-20. In Sanheim's case, his biggest usage jump this season has been on the penalty kill; averaging 1:55 per game in 2019-20 after playing an average of 33 seconds on the PK per game last season.
3. Goalie play and shot suppression
A team's single most important penalty killer will always be its goaltender. A very important piece of the Flyers' post-November improvement on the PK was the greatly increased stability provided to the team by then-rookie Carter Hart (.906 penalty killing save percentage in 31 games) both overall and on the PK.
The other seven goaltenders who appeared for the Flyers in 2018-19 had the following PK save percentages in descending order: Anthony Stolarz (.902 in 12 games), Brian Elliott (.845 in 26 games), Michal Neuvirth (.800 in seven games), Alex Lyon (.800 in two games), Calvin Pickard (.775 in 11 games), Mike McKenna (.750 in one game) and Cam Talbot (.714 in four games).
Keep in mind, however, that goaltending and team defense walk hand in hand. Each one's success is affected by the other, and can either help lift the team GAA or draft it down.
This season, Hart's penalty killing save percentage is at .849 in 43 games, while Elliott's is at .840 in 31 games. What's hidden inside these numbers: the Flyers' excellent shot suppression. Overall, the Flyers are the stingiest team in the NHL in terms of allowing the fewest opposing shots on goal.
Just as with a team's power play, rhythm and chemistry play an important role on the penalty killing side. Players have to make quick and accurate reads. In the clip below, the Flyers are down on a two-man disadvantage to the Rangers; a situation that calls for more of a bend-but-don't-break approach. An outstanding defensive play near the net by Couturier prevents what otherwise would have been a likely goal.
Hart has only faced 126 shot on goal with the Flyers on the PK, while Elliott has seen 100. Viewed in the bigger picture of play across all game situations, Hart has a .914 save percentage (including a stellar .929 overall dating from January 8 onward) and Elliott is at .899 (.908 since Jan. 8). The bottom line is that the Flyers players have confidence playing in front of either Hart or Elliott. The latter is healthy this season after injury setbacks the previous two campaigns. When a big save has been needed, the Flyers goalies have quite often delivered.
4. Faceoff dominance and puck possession
The Flyers were an excellent faceoff team even a year ago, topping the NHL with a 54.7 percent winning ratio on draws. This year, the team leads the league at 54.6 percent.
In theory, being a dominant faceoff team should be a contributing factor in having a strong penalty kill. That was not necessarily the case in 2018-19 because the team failed to execute in other areas after enemy power plays eventually got puck possessions. This season, the Flyers have had more sustained puck possession on the PK and fewer turnovers on clearing opportunities.
In the clip below, a clean faceoff win on a left circle defensive zone faceoff leads directly to a zone clear all the way down the ice.
The additions of Hayes and Pitlick in particular have been vital to the Flyers spending more time occupying the puck -- both excel in puck protection once they have possession -- and the efficiency of Niskanen in calmly getting the puck out of harm's way have been noticeable factors in this area of improvement by the team.
