Ilya Kovalchuk and His Contributions to the Devils Penalty Kill

by Tom Stivali on Jan 12, 2012 1:16 PM EST in Devils Issues, Views & Analysis

Last night, Ilya Kovalchuk scored his second short handed goal of the season in the Devils 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Kovalchuk, not the person you would normally think about as a 'penalty-killer' has been in the Devils rotation of forwards used on their league best penalty kill. After forward pairs Adam Henrique/Zach Parise and Patrik Elias/Danius Zubrus, Kovalchuk is typically he in the third forward pairing on the ice, usually with Ryan Carter.

Kovalchuk's contribution on the penalty kill is something that simply hasn't been a constant in his career. Let's look at his short-handed ice-time (SHTOI), short-handed goals/points (SHG/SHP) and the percentrage of his total ice-time (TTOI) that he spends on the penalty kill (SHTOI%).

As you can see, before this year he only had one season ( 2003-04) where he came close to averaging the SHTOI he is now. This year, Kovalchuk is spending nearly 5% of his ice-time killing penalties. That sure doesn't fit the Kovalchuk 'terrible defense' narrative, now does it?

With his increased ice-time he has also been able to augment his scoring. With three short-handed points this year Kovalchuk is already half-way towards his previous total career number of six. And while he is not the most instinctive defender, he is good positionally, has an active stick and like all good goal scorers can, he can sniff out scoring opportunities for himself.

Speaking of scoring, let's look at Kovalchuk's contributions another way. Right now Kovalchuk has 38 points and is 24th in the NHL in scoring (despite missing 5 games). There are a select group of players who have more points than Kovalchuk AND have contributed more time on the penalty kill.

Scoreres_medium

And yes, before you ask...Kovalchuk is averaging more SHTOI than Pavel Datsyuk.

If you were to look at players who average more points per game AND more SHTOI than Kovalchuk that list becomes much smaller. Only Claude Giroux, Marian Hossa and Jason Pominville meet that criteria.

Of course as I write this Kovalchuk was just snubbed for inclusion into the All Star Game. Considering his offensive contributions, new-found defensive contributions and being the league's best shootout participant (hey I know it is a gimmick but it still generates points in the standings) he should have been included. But that's a debate for another day.

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Before we jump to conclusions about Kovalchuk being snubbed, it’s entirely possible that he didn’t feel like going to Ottawa to participate in a meaningless hockey game.

Kovalchuk is still not great on the penalty kill, but it does play to his strengths. Being a great penalty killer is not about defense per se – it’s about staying in one’s lanes and keeping one’s skates and stick active. Kovalchuk is okay at these things, but he can get way out of position if things go awry. On the other hand, he is always a threat to capitalize on an opponent’s mistake. Pavel Bure has 34 career short handed goals, and I don’t think he got them by being a great defender.

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by Triumph44 on Jan 12, 2012 1:39 PM EST reply actions

Before we jump to conclusions about Kovalchuk being snubbed, it’s entirely possible that he didn’t feel like going to Ottawa to participate in a meaningless hockey game.

Unless we hear something different he was snubbed. That’s much more likely than not wanting to play.

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by Tom Stivali on Jan 12, 2012 1:59 PM EST up reply actions

Well, I guess Nicklas Lidstrom was snubbed. Tough break for him.

There are plenty of guys who would rather be elsewhere.

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by Triumph44 on Jan 12, 2012 2:08 PM EST up reply actions

Don’t doubt that, but we can’t conclude or assume that happened simply because we don’t know.

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by Tom Stivali on Jan 12, 2012 2:12 PM EST up reply actions

I think it’s been confirmed that Lidstrom requested to be left out of consideration for the game several weeks ago.

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by Alamoth on Jan 12, 2012 3:33 PM EST up reply actions

Getting close to the halfway point of the season and amazingly Kovy’s heating up…. lulz wadiz zat

He’s taking more and more pucks away from the opposition and If I recall correctly he saved our butts a few times with good backchecking lately. I think he’s totally buying into Deboer’s system now.

He’s doing a very good job on the PK unit, love the way he’s harassing the point men, almost as good as Parise and Henrique. Playing this way with his offensive upside, Ilya Kovalchuk is an absolute steal at a $6.6 Millions cap-hit.

And with hindsight, besides Jmac’s brutal management, Kovy is a constant 1 Point Per Game Devils player, yeah since his trade in February 2010.

Though, He’s got to stop trying to win games by himself when things don’t go well, to stay away from turning the puck over and to permanently be a respectable 2 way player.

"It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win"

by Elektrostal_Kid on Jan 12, 2012 1:45 PM EST reply actions

Though, He’s got to stop trying to win games by himself when things don’t go well, to stay away from turning the puck over and to permanently be a respectable 2 way player.

At times I would say the opposite of this. He often makes the extra pass for no reason (the medical term for this is Sykora)

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by Tom Stivali on Jan 12, 2012 2:01 PM EST up reply actions

Given the preponderance of ’I’m just gonna shoot it’ guys in New Jersey, from Holik to Gomez to Langenbrunner to Rolston to Parise and Clarkson on our current team, I’m glad to see that there are actually players on the Devils who think to pass the puck in the offensive zone.

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by Triumph44 on Jan 12, 2012 2:39 PM EST up reply actions

No problem with passing, but sometimes the extra pass is unnessary. You can be too cute sometimes when setting up a play.

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by Tom Stivali on Jan 12, 2012 2:55 PM EST up reply actions

Absolutely, but that’s just going to happen with players who sometimes look to pass the puck. I’m sure Gretzky and Lemieux were ‘too cute’ sometimes. Whereas guys who pound it at the net rarely get criticized for not passing.

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by Triumph44 on Jan 12, 2012 3:02 PM EST up reply actions

Whereas guys who pound it at the net rarely get criticized for not passing.

I swear I would., So as a Devils fan I do often

"It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win"

by Elektrostal_Kid on Jan 12, 2012 3:06 PM EST up reply actions

Well Zach Parise doesn’t get criticized for anything. He’s Zach Parise dammit!

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by Tom Stivali on Jan 12, 2012 3:07 PM EST up reply actions

yeah I see the confusion. I just meant he’s putting too much pressure on his shoulders and tries continually to make a difference when the team is struggling, that often lead him to take too much risks = vulnerable to criticism = easy scapegoat,

In general I think in those conditions, he’s over-thinking ($100M man etc,etc).

"It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win"

by Elektrostal_Kid on Jan 12, 2012 2:55 PM EST up reply actions

Kovy is looking comfortable and confident and you can really see his game changing to fit in with our style of play. He;s getting better every game. Class Act!

Steve S.

by sjdevil on Jan 12, 2012 1:59 PM EST reply actions

Kovy is Confidence Bi-Polar. When he’s got it, he’s an absolute monster, and when he doesn’t, he’s a trainwreck. He’s approaching full beast-mode, and it’s so very fun to watch.

I’m not going to lie to you. It felt good and I’m going to do whatever is in my power possible to stay there as long as I can. - Petr Sykora on playing on a line with Elias and Parise.

by Murdoc on Jan 12, 2012 2:40 PM EST up reply actions