That's not horrible, and it certainly is unexpected from an expansion team. It's a problem. Special teams are more important than ever. Expansion has dispersed talent and created more parity. The best power plays are built on skill.
Penalty killing is a different story.
The Blue Jackets have had bona fide penalty killers such as Kevyn Adams, Robert Kron and Bruce Gardiner since the get-go. You have to outwork the other team's skill. As hard as they've played, as well as they've played, there's no doubt that their league-worst kill rate has cost the Blue Jackets some precious points. No doubt at all. The penalty kill is huge for us,'' coach Dave King said.