The Colorado Avalanche want a better PK percentage going forward
The Colorado Avalanche have been dreadful when it comes down to penalty kills this season. You might want to sit down before you read this ranking: The Avalanche rank 25th in penalty kills, being able to kill off just 76.4%.
To put that into perspective, the “mid” teams at killing off penalties have a percentage of 80ish. The best team in the league at killing off penalties is the Nashville Predators, at 87.1%.
I’m done using the “new players on new lines” excuse. The Avs’ penalty kill units consist of Parker Kelly, Valeri Nichushkin, Keaton Middleton, and Devon Toews. The second unit consists of Logan O’Connor, Joel Kiviranta, Sam Girard, and Cale Makar. Just going strictly off of big names, the second line with O’Connor, Girard and Makar would appear to have the edge, but honestly I don’t have stats for that.
Watching the Avalanche this season, it has been evident that they have struggled tremendously at clearing the puck out of their defensive zone. That often leads to the other team getting possession of the puck, and often getting shots off. It makes a huge difference when you’re down a man. Two minutes can feel like 2 hours.
Last season, the team’s penalty kill was epic. At least through October.