Luke Richardson talked a big game during training camp about the new way he’d run the Blackhawks’ penalty kill.
Five games into the season, the results have backed up Richardson’s words. The Hawks’ PK looks different than all 31 of its counterparts around the NHL, tenaciously forechecking complacent opposing power plays with two forwards as if not a man down at all, and the unique approach is working brilliantly.
Yet another shorthanded goal Sunday jumpstarted yet another multi-goal comeback en route to a 5-4 victory over the Kraken, the Hawks’ third win in a row.
“We’re never out of it,” forward Jujhar Khaira said. “But we’re relentless and we’re resilient. So we’re going to keep going.”
A sleepy start spotted the Kraken an early 2-0 lead as Hawks committed turnovers and lost puck battles left and right. But on a penalty kill late in the first period, Khaira forced a turnover in the neutral zone, found Colin Blackwell entering the zone and knocked in a rebound off Blackwell’s shot to give the Hawks life.
Tyler Johnson then potted two game-tying goals: First to level the game 2-2, then to tie it 4-4 with 7:03 left in the third period after a well-spotted and well-placed Jonathan Toews centering pass. Just 13 seconds later, Jason Dickinson buried what turned out to be the game-winner.
At 3-2-0, the Hawks are currently above .500 for the first time since March 6, 2021.
“Obviously, we’ve got to get to some better starts and hopefully play with some leads,” Johnson said. “But you’ve got to be happy with getting points and playing the way we are.”
Among all the Hawks’ surprising bright spots so far, however, the penalty kill stands clearly above the rest.
They’ve scored four shorthanded goals in three games, including Sam Lafferty’s pair against the Sharks and Connor Murphy’s long-distance wrist shot against the Red Wings. It’s the first time since February 2009 that they’ve scored shorthanded goals in three consecutive games, and the first time since March 1995 they’ve scored four shorthanded goals in a three-game span.
Even after Khaira’s goal Sunday, the Hawks effectively pestered the Kraken enough to kill off three more power plays, including a double-minor to Seth Jones during which the visitors struggled to enter their offensive zone and never produced a decent look.
The ‘PK’ forward duos of Lafferty-Dickinson and Khaira-Blackwell — all of whom are averaging at least 2:13 of shorthanded ice time per game — have been masterful on the forecheck, and the defensive pairs of Jack Johnson-Seth Jones and Murphy-Jarred Tinordi have been solid enough.
“You just find the right combinations where they can trust each other and work off each other,” Richardson said. “It’s very disruptive up-ice. The power plays do not like it. With our speed this year, why not take a chance, instead of just sitting back and letting the best players in the world come at you 100 miles an hour? Why not try to disrupt [them]…and maybe force bad passes, get them out of their routes?”
Since an admittedly awful debut against the Avalanche, during which they allowed four power-play goals, the Hawks have killed 14 of 15 opportunities and recorded a 19.4% shorthanded scoring-chance ratio, sixth-best in the NHL during that time span.
It’s a remarkable turnaround from last season when the Hawks ranked 24th with a 76.2% kill rate, 18th with a 12.2% shorthanded scoring-chance ratio and tallied only two shorthanded goals over 82 games.
“It’s just [about] reading off each other, trusting the three guys next to you and being able to know that if you’re going in [on the forecheck], there’s someone covering you,” Khaira said. “That’s the main thing.”
