Warsofsky explains what’s special about each Sharks Penalty Killer

You can blame me.

On December 2nd, the San Jose Sharks penalty kill killed penalties at a historic rate. Since that Friday, they’ve been hitting at a league-leading 91.6 percent rate: Since this stat has been tracked since 1977-78, no PK had ever topped 90 percent by the end of the season, with the 2011-12 New Jersey Devils coming closest at 89.6.

That day, after practice in Ottawa, I spoke with first-year assistant coach Ryan Warsofsky and PK players Logan Couture and Marc-Edouard Vlasic about the Sharks’ PK success. Warsofsky leads San Jose’s kill and has a touch on the NHL’s second-best unit last season.

“For the forwards, for us at the top, there is a cutoff point where you press down in the zone, and that’s a different thing. Last year we pressured all the way to the goal line, now we stop in the hash marks and pass it to the d-men, San Jose Sharks captain Couture explained. “Neutral zone changed a bit. Stands [at the blueline] are a little different now. The teams are coming fast, so we changed to a 3-1 situation instead of a 1-3 situation.

“Everything else has remained unchanged.”

The next night, the San Jose Sharks gave up three power play goals to the Ottawa Senators in a 5-2 loss. In the next game, the Sharks gave up two power play goals to the Buffalo Sabers in a 6-3 loss. In the next game, the Sharks gave up two power play goals to the Vancouver Canucks in a 6-5 OT loss.

Oops.