Mike Babcock rips Red Wings' 'paralyzed' penalty-killing unit

PHILADELPHIA – When the Detroit Red Wings began their season, their penalty kill was invulnerable.

Now as the playoffs approach, it's become porous.

The Philadelphia Flyers became the latest team to join the party of power players who've dinged the Wings over the past three weeks, scoring three times today at Wells Fargo Center in a 7-2 rout that left Detroit coach Mike Babcock blasting the penalty kill.

"I was real disappointed," he said. "Our penalty kill was our greatest strength at one point this year, and today we were paralyzed. We tried to take some seams away and we just stood there and weren't aggressive.

Over the past nine games, the Wings have allowed a dozen power play goals. Their penalty kill, in fact, has looked vulnerable for the past two months, giving up goals in 18 of the last 24 games. While there was no way they were going to sustain the 21-for-21 seven-game streak with which the penalty killers began the season, this much of a drop off, this late in the season, should be a concern.

"We've been really good on special teams," Henrik Zetterberg said. "But we have a tough stretch here. When that happens, it's easy to overthink."

Babcock zeroed in on the lack of aggressiveness when pressed about the PK woes.

"When we were confident," he said, "our penalty kill was dominant for us, absolutely dominant. We've come off it and now we are on our heels and we are not assertive. We're standing there, watch them shoot it in our net instead of going after them like we were. We have to get our confidence back and get aggressive."

Niklas Kronwall faulted the penalty killing units for "too much standing around, looking, not really trusting each other. We've got to get back to what we were doing in the beginning of the year, playing more aggressive and trusting in each other."

The Wings have been without one of their best penalty killers the last six games, as Darren Helm has been out with a strained oblique. Still, one absent player should not make that much of a difference.

The Wings have done better on the power play, scoring during man advantages in eight straight games.

Helene St. James writes for the Detroit Free Press, a Gannett property.