And for his first taste of PK action, you have to go all the way back to his OJHL days.
"I think I got my most exposure to it in Junior A for the Aurora Tigers," Formenton said earlier this week. "Being a young guy in that league, they seemed to play the older guys more so I wanted to get my feet wet in the PK and I didn't get much power play time there so I wanted to specialize on the PK and help the team as much as I could."
His penalty killing experience continued thereafter in the OHL with the London Knights (where he scored seven career shorty's) and developed even more under Troy Mann with the Belleville Senators last season and into the start of this year. Now, in 14 games with Ottawa, Formenton is averaging 2:10 a night on the penalty kill at the NHL level. Since his season debut on March 24, the Sens have ranked 11th in the NHL with an 84.8 per cent kill rate.
With the Sens returning home from a four-game road trip with three wins in their pocket, you can largely thank the penalty kill. Over the course of the four games, the Sens killed all but one of the 16 opposing power plays they faced. They also got a short-handed goal, their fifth of the season, in Calgary Monday night courtesy of Connor Brown.
The 15-for-16 success also coincided with the NHL debut of Shane Pinto. The 20-year-old made his NHL debut last Saturday in Montreal and since, has been heavily involved on the penalty kill. He's averaged 1:57 a game when the Sens are down a man.
"Formy has been a stud on the PK for two years now and now he's finally showing it off at the NHL level," Colin White said. "He's almost getting two or three chances a game just on the PK and it's great to see.
"Pinter ... he's been unbelievable on it. He's got a great stick up top, intercepting a lot of passes and those two together are creating chances on the PK and that's all you can ask for especially at a young age for those two to be doing that."
When you factor in the pair only have 28 NHL games between them, Sens head coach D.J. Smith has shown great trust in two rookies and for Formenton, that's something he takes great pride in.
"It just became a role I wanted to try and perfect in the NHL."
