What happened to Golden Knights’ formidable penalty killing?

It wasn’t agelong agone that the Golden Knights’ punishment termination was astatine the highest of its powers, striking fearfulness successful opposing powerfulness plays.

The portion produced 2 short-handed goals successful a nonaccomplishment against Anaheim connected Dec. 1 and led the NHL successful that category aft the archetypal 22 games.

But the Knights failed to travel up with punishment kills astatine cardinal times the past 2 games and were fortunate it didn’t outgo them much than 2 points successful the standings.

They can’t spend a akin letdown Sunday erstwhile Western Conference-leading Minnesota visits T-Mobile Arena for the last clip this season.

“Our punishment termination instauration has been truly bully for a agelong time,” manager Pete DeBoer said. “It’s ne'er perfect. But I’m not panicking astir it. We’re conscionable going done a agelong wherever everything that tin spell incorrect is going wrong. I’m existent assured we’re going to enactment our mode retired of it.”

The Knights person allowed goals 5 of their past six times short-handed and plummeted to 22nd successful the league astatine 78.4 percent. That has undone the fantabulous enactment the Knights person done astatine five-on-five recently.

Dallas’ powerfulness play ranks successful the apical 5 of the league and scored connected each 3 shots Wednesday earlier the Knights rallied for a victory. Philadelphia, which was 3-for-34 connected the roadworthy with the powerfulness play, converted doubly successful the 3rd play Friday.

Two of Dallas’ power-play goals came soon aft the Knights mislaid a defensive-zone faceoff and were incapable to use unit connected the constituent man.

They besides were victimized by a atrocious bounce disconnected the extremity boards starring to James van Riemsdyk’s extremity that enactment the Flyers up 4-2.

But the goaltending besides has been liable astatine times, according to DeBoer. He pointed to Sean Couturier’s go-ahead extremity aboriginal successful the 3rd play for Philadelphia connected Friday against Laurent Brossoit.

Robin Lehner besides was beaten from region by Dallas’ Jason Robertson connected Wednesday, though helium appeared to beryllium screened astatine the past moment.

“When you individually look astatine those goals against, you’re going to spell done points of a play wherever you’ve got seeing-eye pucks oregon bounces disconnected a backboard and takes a fortunate bounce. And immoderate of them you conscionable privation back,” DeBoer said. “The archetypal 1 successful the 3rd play (Friday), that for maine is connected our goalie. That’s a clear, unscreened one-timer that’s on the crystal successful the mediate of the net. There’s antithetic responsibilities everywhere.”

The Knights didn’t person Chandler Stephenson, 1 of their apical penalty-killing forwards, against Philadelphia for idiosyncratic reasons, and DeBoer said helium is expected to beryllium disposable against Minnesota.

The Wild ranked 23rd successful the league entering Saturday’s crippled astatine Los Angeles.

“We person to bash a amended occupation connected faceoffs, making definite if we’re losing, we person to astatine slightest scramble pucks and marque definite they’re not getting speedy strikes connected us,” winger Reilly Smith said. “But generally, we conscionable person to marque much plays. It seems similar erstwhile 1 idiosyncratic fumbles a puck oregon immoderate it is, misses an assignment, we don’t person anyone bail them out. We conscionable person to enactment amended arsenic a four- oregon five-man unit.”

Contact David Schoen astatine dschoen@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ connected Twitter.