“Your goalie has to be your best penalty killer.”
This is one of those old hockey maxims that is inescapable during any discussion of penalty-kill systems. In reality, it’s completely wrong. If your goalie has to be your best penalty killer, then your penalty kill probably stinks.
While “stinks” is probably a little harsh, it’s no secret that the Montreal Canadiens’ penalty killing under Michel Therrien was, let’s say, suboptimal, and that it has significantly improved under Claude Julien.
Most of the discussion has centred around Carey Price’s short-handed “return” to form since Julien’s arrival.