Ducks’ penalty kill emerging as key part of their early-season success

ANAHEIM — The Ducks’ sizzling powerfulness play has received its just stock of attraction arsenic the play passed the one-quarter mark, but their highly-effective punishment termination shouldn’t beryllium overlooked arsenic a important contributor to the team’s 11-7-3 grounds and third-place lasting successful the Pacific Division.

The Ducks blanked the Ottawa Senators successful 4 short-handed situations during their 4-0 triumph connected Friday day astatine Honda Center, getting an assistance from Anthony Stolarz’s good goaltending. Overall, the Ducks person successfully killed disconnected 52 of 60 short-handed situations (86.7 percent), sixth-best successful the NHL

In their past 12 games, the Ducks person successfully killed disconnected 29 of 31 short-handed situations (93.5 percent).

“It’s softly flying nether the radar,” Ducks manager Dallas Eakins said. “It’s been excellent. (Assistant coach) Mike Stothers has brought an immense magnitude of item and helium ne'er lets his ft disconnected the gas. That’s the 1 large happening astir our peculiar teams close now. Every time is simply a hopeless day. Our killers are precise well-prepared.

“The 2nd portion is our players are doing a large occupation connected the ice. I deliberation they’re taking large pridefulness successful it. And, arsenic always, you amusement maine a large punishment termination and I’ll amusement you large goalies. Both our goalies (Stolarz and John Gibson) person played precise good erstwhile we’ve been short(handed).”

Stothers has asked the Ducks’ penalty-killing units to artifact much shots from the perimeter and to absorption connected clogging the slot, that unsafe spot of crystal conscionable successful beforehand of the goaltender, extending betwixt the faceoff circles. It’s hard, thankless work, but it has paid dividends beyond a doubt.

“We truly observe connected our seat and successful our video meetings, guys eating pucks,” Eakins said, utilizing hockey-speak to picture blocked shots. “That’s conscionable portion of being a killer. It’s portion of ‘D-zone’ coverage. You’ve got to devour pucks. … It is simply a sacrifice. It does hurt. But it’s indispensable to support pucks retired of the net.”

McTAVISH SIZZLES

Mason McTavish had a chapeau instrumentality successful his archetypal crippled backmost successful the junior-level Ontario Hockey League, starring the Peterborough Petes to a 5-3 triumph implicit the North Bay Battalion connected Thursday. The Ducks returned McTavish, the 3rd wide prime successful the draught successful July, to Peterborough connected Nov. 20.

McTavish, 18, played 9 games with the Ducks, scoring 2 goals and adding 1 assist. The Ducks sent him backmost to Peterborough to proceed his improvement astatine his much earthy presumption of center. He had made the Ducks’ opening nighttime roster, but helium did truthful arsenic a near wing.

The program is for McTavish to walk the remainder of the play with Peterborough, taking a interruption adjacent period to articulation Team Canada for the World Junior Championships, starting Dec. 26 successful Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta. McTavish is expected to triumph a occupation with the Ducks adjacent season.