- Editor's Note: Sheng Peng will be a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
OTTAWA -- Of course, the Sharks' penalty kill wasn’t going to keep cheating death.
Before the Sharks’ 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, they were leading the NHL with a likely unsustainable 91.6 penalty kill percentage. Since 1977-78, no team has cracked a 90 percent kill rate, with the 2011-12 New Jersey Devils the closest at 89.6.
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Even after giving up three power play goals to the Sens, the first time they’ve given up two PP goals or more in a game since Mar. 24 last season in Edmonton, remarkably, the Sharks' PK still leads the league with an 88.2 PK percentage.
It was simply the law of averages.
On a penalty kill, you’re down one or two men. That means, pretty much at all times, someone on the power play is open.
“Some nights, that’s the way it goes,” captain Logan Couture lamented. “They picked us apart a little bit there.”
