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Columbus Blue Jackets celebrate the goal scored by left wing Mason Marchment (Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images)

Blue Jackets Once Maligned Penalty Kill Becoming a Strength

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Mark Scheig | Last updated Jan 4, 2026 10:15 AM ET

The Columbus Blue Jackets ended the 10-game winning streak of the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. Five different goal scorers contributed to their 5-1 win.

A big part of this win for the Blue Jackets was their penalty kill. They killed all five Sabres’ power plays while outscoring them 1-0. Brendan Gaunce took advantage of Tage Thompson falling and beat goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen on the breakaway.

Remember how awful the Blue Jackets penalty kill was to start the season? It seemed like every power play against them would result in a goal against. It operated at 50% for a handful of games. It looked messy and discombobulated.

However, since the middle of December, it’s been a much different story for the Blue Jackets’ penalty kill. While they enter play on Sunday still 28th in the NHL at 76.1% on the season, that’s a noticeable improvement.

Since Dec 20, the Blue Jackets have killed 19 of 20 penalties for a 95% success rate. Going back to Dec 13, that rate is 89.3%. There is more flow to that area of their game as well as confidence.

What has gone into this turnaround? Defenseman Zach Werenski, goaltender Jet Greaves and head coach Dean Evason all shared their thoughts.

Player Perspectives

“I think we’re all on the same page right now,” Werenski said. “I feel like maybe early on, there was a little gray area, maybe a little miscommunication from guys. If there was one breakdown, it seemed like we’d compound it with more breakdowns. I feel like now we really have a grasp on what we’re doing out there and guys are reading off each other. They’re not compounding mistakes with other mistakes. And we’re just being patient and it’s working for us.”

“That’s a huge part of the game is the penalty kill, both special teams. Tonight, we only got one power play but I feel like our kill is a big reason why we win 5-1.”

Early on, it seemed like the Blue Jackets were reacting to plays letting other teams dictate the pace. Now, the Blue Jackets are being more aggressive and dictating the pace to other teams.

The Blue Jackets smothered the Sabres on Saturday. No matter who had the puck, a Blue Jacket was attacking. Even when the Sabres got setup, the Blue Jackets were in good positions to block shots and allow Greaves to see shots coming at him.

Greaves echoed Werenski’s thoughts on the penalty kill and what he’s seeing in front of him. In his mind, the team is more in line now than at the start of the season.

“I think there’s just a lot of cohesiveness right now,” Greaves said. “I think everyone understands what we’re supposed to be doing and I think it’s been effective. I think the compete level is good. And I think there’s a lot of those details that sometimes, you’re doing things well and pucks end up in the net. Sometimes, you’re doing them well and they don’t.”

“I think we’ve been having good results lately. But I think the process has been good too.”

Coaching Perspective

For Evason, he and his staff are constantly evaluating all areas of the penalty kill. Good teams are able to clear pucks with consistency. That has been a much-improved area in the head coach’s eyes.

“I think our clears have been way better,” Evason said. “I think when we were getting in trouble early in the year, we were struggling to get pucks out of our zone. We were giving them second, third opportunities. We’ve been able to get pucks down fairly early in the penalty kills that’s killing them 20 seconds or so. It’s a big chunk. If you remember earlier in the year, we were getting scored on right at the end there. If we could have bit off a little bit more earlier in the penalty kills, maybe that wouldn’t have happened.”

“But I think guys are very prideful. Obviously, it wasn’t good for a stretch there. I think they’ve really concentrated a lot on doing the right things to kill penalties.”

Final Thoughts

The resurgence of the Blue Jackets’ penalty kill has allowed them to get important momentum in games. Outscoring the Sabres 1-0 while shorthanded on Saturday puts that into perspective.

“I think we’ve been having good results lately. But I think the process has been good too.”

Coaching Perspective

“But I think guys are very prideful. Obviously, it wasn’t good for a stretch there. I think they’ve really concentrated a lot on doing the right things to kill penalties.”

Final Thoughts

The resurgence of the Blue Jackets’ penalty kill has allowed them to get important momentum in games. Outscoring the Sabres 1-0 while shorthanded on Saturday puts that into perspective.

This is a more confident group that better knows their assignments. It shows by how aggressive they are attacking teams not just in their own zone, but in all areas of the ice.

This area of their game will have to continue being a strength for them if they want to climb back into the playoff race. They will get a chance to do it again against the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team that is operating at 29.6% on the power play, third in the NHL.

Three weeks is a small sample size to be sure. But it does indicate that things are trending in the right direction. It’s also led to some important wins of late.

But if there is an important takeaway in this, it’s that the players believe they are on the same page now unlike earlier in the season. That should ultimately give everyone more confidence moving forward.