Penguins
New Names and Opportunities, Same Goals for Penguins Penalty-Kill (+)

CRANBERRY — Mike Vellucci doesn’t feel as if the Pittsburgh Penguins’ penalty-killing really imploded during the final few months of the 2021-22 season.
After all, sliding from first to third in the league rankings hardly constitutes a precipitous plunge into the special-teams abyss.
And it’s not as if there weren’t some obvious explanations for the drop in the Penguins’ efficiency when they were down a man.
There was the broken jaw that sidelined Teddy Blueger for 16 games, and seemed to affect him well after he returned. The trade that sent Zach Aston-Reese to Anaheim. The way Jeff Carter, who turned 37 on Jan. 1, appeared to wear as the season progressed.