It wasn’t a fancy pass. Or a sizzling shot. Or even a dazzling one-on-one move. On the contrary, the pivotal play of last night’s 2-1 Penguins loss to Columbus occurred midway through the second period when Blue Jackets villain Scott Hartnell barged into the slot and flattened glamour boy Beau Bennett.
A red-alert scramble ensued. The free-for-all ended when Hartnell whacked the puck past Marc-Andre Fleury for the all-important first goal.
An old-fashioned power move by an old-fashioned power forward. Simple, brutal, and oh-so effective. The kind rarely seen at the CONSOL these days.
No less symbolic was a third-period scrum highlighted by a skirmish between Pens captain Sidney Crosby and one of the Jackets. Columbus captain Nick Foligno aggressively intervened and Sid turned tail, leaving teammate Eric Fehr to fend off a swarm of Blue Jackets on his own.
Which team do you think got an emotional lift? If you said our Penguins, you’d be wrong. Dead wrong.
I’d rather be the bully.
It isn’t that our Penguins don’t scrap and compete. As a rule, the black and gold is a hardworking, diligent bunch. One that isn’t easily intimidated.
Last night was an exception. Columbus played its trademark heavy game. (Mostly Penguin) bodies flew. The Jackets dominated in hits (38-20) and in the trenches. The places where you score.
It’s the strategy I’d employ if I were an opposing coach. Hit our Penguins hard and often. Grind ‘em down. Eddie Shore. Old-time hockey.
Especially since GM Jim Rutherford built a team that’s vulnerable to physical foes. On purpose, by all accounts. The mindset permeates to all levels of the organization, too. Down at Wilkes Barre? Tyler Biggs (6’3” 224) has played two games. Enforcer Tom Sestito five. Rugged Reid McNeill has been excluded from the defensive mix of late.
Show even a hint of aggression? You’re liable to be handed a one-way bus ticket to Wheeling. Or New Jersey.
I can’t believe owner Mario Lemieux endorses this turn-the-other-cheek approach. If so, he’s got a short memory. While former Pens Kevin McClelland and Marty McSorley served as bodyguards for Wayne Gretzky in Edmonton, Le Magnifque absorbed tons of abuse. By the time the Pens’ brass finally wised up and surrounded Mario with bruisers like Kevin Stevens and Rick Tocchet, he’d already suffered the debilitating back injury that dogged him like a pesky checker for the remainder of his brilliant career.
Back to the present. The Pens are a combined 3-6-1 against Columbus and the equally rugged Capitals since the start of last season.
Think they’d fare any better against them in the postseason?
I don’t.
Hey Rick,
I am afraid we are starting to sound like a two man choir.Singing the same song,but nobody listens.This team has problems.Real problems.In the wake of the New Jersey defeat,everyone wants to fire the coach.Okay,but which ones?
The power play has been a joke.Rick Tochett is the one responsible for the PP. So if you fire Johnston,you got to fire him as well.After all,he is the one who is responsible for the PP for the past two years.The PP was bad last year as well.
But that will not happen,because he is a local boy who has a history with the organization and a fan favorite.Fans will get upset and stop coming to the rink.Bad for business.They will never let him go.
So the fans blame Johnston and his system.Not a real NHL coach anyway they think.The truth is you need to change the team,not just the Coach.
My earlier point was….Does Johnston control the PP ? No !
Crosby,Malkin,Kessel,Letang….They control the PP. They are the real problem here? But to admit that, then you first must admit the TEAM is structurally built wrong! Three years ago,our team failed.Two years ago,the same thing happened.So,they fired the GM and the Coach and tried to get better ones.But what happened?The first choices declined. Why ? Smart people do not come to a sinking ship. Last year we finished 19 th in scoring. That is not an elite team. 19 th !. Today we are even worse. Not a good sign.
So go a head and fire the Coach…..Nothing will change. Our defense can not play a puck possession game, and the current team is simply not physical enough to play an intimidating style of hockey that the rest of the league is moving to. Plus we have no ELITE talent in our minor system,except our Goalies,who can offer some hope for the future.
We really need to change the Core of our team…as we said before. But if the ownership is trying to sell the team,that makes a trade of the Core players almost impossible. Ownership will never admit there is a problem, and they were the ones who caused it ! This is going to be a long,long season for us and until new ownership arrives,nothing will change.No coach is ever going to tell the core players what to do ! Ownership will never let that happen.
So go ahead and fire Johnston…if it makes you feel any better.