He did it a lot earlier in his career and filled that role often enough in 2021-22 to prove that he’s still adept at it, averaging 46 seconds of shorthanded work over 60 games. There is no question about Rust’s ability - or willingness - to kill penalties. Josh Archibald, signed as a free agent from Edmonton, likely will be in the mix, along with Brock McGinn and Blueger, and possibly Carter.Īnd top-six right winger Bryan Rust might be a candidate to turn up there on a regular basis, as well. 1, will have that part of his workload reduced to try to keep him relatively fresh.įiguring out how to lift the penalty-kill out of its rut figures to get a lot of attention when the Penguins convene for training camp next month. Two of the forwards deployed most often when the Pittsburgh Penguins were down a man, Aston-Reese and Brian Boyle, no longer are on the payroll, and it’s conceivable that another frequent penalty-killer, Jeff Carter, who will be 38 on Jan. The Penguins didn’t fare any better during their Round 1 playoff series against the New York Rangers, either, yielding six goals in 19 shorthanded situations over seven games. The penalty-killing rarely regained its rhythm during the second half of the season - it had only one truly strong run, snuffing all 15 power plays it faced during a five-game stretch from March 11-19 - and slid to seventh place in the rankings, with an 82-game kill rate of 82.3 percent. 23 game against Winnipeg with the NHL’s top-ranked penalty-killers, with a 90 percent success rate.īut a key penalty-killer, Teddy Blueger, had his jaw broken on a high hit from Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon, and by the time he rejoined the lineup 16 games later, another core penalty-killer, Zach Aston-Reese, was just a few weeks from being traded to Anaheim.
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