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Dallas Stars: The Implications of The League’s Worst Penalty Kill

By Tom Dorsa

Mar 24, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars right wing Adam Cracknell (27) and defenseman Esa Lindell (23) and left wing Remi Elie (40) and defenseman Greg Pateryn (29) celebrate Cracknell scoring his first career NHL hat trick during the third period against the San Jose Sharks at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeat the Sharks 6-1. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 24, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars right wing Adam Cracknell (27) and defenseman Esa Lindell (23) and left wing Remi Elie (40) and defenseman Greg Pateryn (29) celebrate Cracknell scoring his first career NHL hat trick during the third period against the San Jose Sharks at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeat the Sharks 6-1. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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Hockey coaches and experts contend that penalty kills will forever remain perhaps the most important way to either lose or win a close game. The Dallas Stars fail to see the light in this.

I’ll start by telling you, the kind reader, something you probably already know: the Dallas Stars’ penalty kill is appaling. It is visually, systemically, and statistically hideous.

Perhaps it pertains to the awry personnel the Stars coaching staff is forced to deploy, largely due to the absence of penalty killing mavens Vernon Fiddler, Jason Demers, Colton Sceviour, Alex Goligoski, or Johnny Oduya.

It very well could be coaching itself, as the foundation of the penalty kill and the system they play in an attempt to prevent opposing goals is gruesome and ghastly.

At any rate, the Dallas Stars penalty kill is… well, the 5th-worst in officially-recorded NHL history (the league began to track penalty kill rates in 1987-88 because it really doesn’t care about its fans).

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They are the NHL’s lowest-ranked penalty kill by, what is statistically, a country mile (2.4%). Dallas’ penalty kill percentage is exactly 74.0%, while the Colorado Avalanche – who, might I remind you, have 30 fewer points than the Stars – are the next closest at 76.4%

“You don’t become the worst penalty killing team in 20 years unless everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong”

– David Castillo, Austin American-Statesman

Some teams can compensate for an awful penalty kill with a variety of different redemptions…

Such as, the Buffalo Sabres, whose penalty kill is fourth-worst in the National Hockey League, given their position as a bottom-dwelling, rebuilding club. The Sabres’ penalty killing issues (77.3%) are masked by having the top power play unit in the game.

Buffalo’s man-advantage compiles a 25.3% success rate, so they’re practically scoring once every four attempts. The Stars rank 20th in power play percentage (18.3%) throughout the league; they can’t wash up their penalty killing woes with power play prowess.

Same goes for Central Division rivals Chicago – the Blackhawks have the sixth-worst PK in the league, but their overall team save percentage (.918) is fifth in the NHL in addition to having scored 234 goals, which ranks sixth in the game.

Chicago’s five-on-five excellence means their special teams struggles are dimmed; whereas Dallas’ team save percentage is 29th in the league at .895 and they’ve only scored the 17th-most goals in the league (207).

Next: Dallas Stars Have Nothing Left To Play For With Season Winding Down

Maybe it’s a lack of something to distract us from how miserable the Stars penalty-killing has been, or just the fact that this season and its dreadful nature has shined a light on literally every flaw this team has, but we’ve had enough.

Please, Dallas Stars, if you’re reading this, beef up the shorthanded units and save us. I love y’all.

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