Entering their weekend series against the Huskies, the Hawks were struggling on special teams. The numbers weren’t good. The Fighting Hawks were ranked 43rd nationally on the power play 7/51 (13.7). The penalty kill was even worse, they were 51st nationally 43/55 (78.2).
In 11 games, the Hawks had given up 3 shorthanded goals, that ranks them 55th nationally.
Last week, the Hawks spent some time working on their special team’s play in practice. That hard work appears to have paid off. Last weekend against the Huskies, the Hawks special teams play improved drastically. They killed all eight of the Huskies power play opportunities. On the power play, the Hawks went 3-8.
After the weekend, UND is now ranked 31st nationally on the power play 10/59 (16.9) and ranked 39th nationally on the penalty kill 51/63 (81.0). Finally, the opposition is cashing in on 18.8 percent of their power play opportunities. For those keeping track, that’s an improvement in all three areas.
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