Aho, Teravainen short up penalty kill
One of the crucial moments of the season was a decision by coach Rod Brind’Amour to use offensive stars Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen on a struggling penalty kill.
In his first two seasons, Aho rarely saw the ice when the Canes were shorthanded, logging 17.9 minutes as a rookie and just 3.0 minutes all of last season. This year, that number jumped to 91.3 minutes on the kill.
In his first two seasons in Carolina, Teravainen saw a combined 2.1 minutes of shorthanded ice time. This year, that number jumped to 73.2.
Watch this @SebastianAho goal and have energy for the rest of the day pic.twitter.com/SEKf0aTM3M
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) March 2, 2019
The Finnish duo became mainstays on the penalty kill down the stretch, and the unit turned into one of the team’s strengths, ranking eighth in the NHL with an 81.6 kill rate.
During the first 13 games, the Canes allowed 15 power play goals on 45 opportunities—a pitiful kill of 66.7%. For the rest of the season, Carolina killed off 85.1% of opportunities, better than Tampa Bay’s league-leading 85.0%.
Inserting Aho and Teravainen on the penalty kill played a crucial role in this turnaround.