Penguins Winning Ugly

A month into the 2016-17 season, our Pittsburgh Penguins are in a good spot. The defending champs are perched atop the Metropolitan Division with a sparkling 6-2-1 record and 13 points—tied for third-most in the NHL overall.

With three wins in come-from-behind fashion, they continue to display the remarkable resilience that propelled them to the Cup last spring. Top guns Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel, and Evgeni Malkin are off to strong starts. So is rejuvenated goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.

Everything’s rosy, right?

Well…not exactly.

As the old saying goes, looks can be deceiving. The Pens have allowed a whopping 33.9 shots per game, according to sportingcharts.com. The second highest average in the league. Way up from last season’s 29.7.

Take Saturday night’s madcap 5-4 victory over the Flyers, for example. The black-and-gold yielded a stunning 92 shot attempts, not to mention 42 shots on goal. Only the continued brilliance of Fleury, along with clutch two-goal efforts from Crosby and Malkin, saved the day.

Hardly the way coach Mike Sullivan and his staff draw it up on the chalkboard.

Sometimes you have to be lucky to be good. And the Pens have, indeed, been lucky. Without fail, they’ve found the on switch just when they’ve needed to. Like on October 20, when they literally sprang from a zombie-like trance to shock Finals foe San Jose with three third-period goals. And five nights later, when they spotted Florida an early 2-0 lead and roared back to win.

Ditto last night, when the locals fell into a similar hole against Philly before popping three goals past shell-shocked Steve Mason in a span of 55 seconds to turn the tide.

They’re winning alright. But it sure ain’t pretty. A fact not lost on Sullivan, who reportedly read his troops the riot act at a recent practice.

“I still think we’re not where we want to be yet,” he said. “Obviously, the result we’re happy with. We’re getting some key plays at key times that are helping us grab points here, but certainly our overall assessment of ourselves is we know we need to be better.”

While it’s tough to pinpoint precisely what’s going on with the Pens, here are a few thoughts.

The Ouch Factor

Injuries. Every team gets ‘em. And we certainly haven’t been immune. Defensive linchpin Kris Letang missed the past five games with an upper-body injury. Creative Conor Sheary, whose exceptional work along the boards and in traffic provided a spark through the early going, likewise sat out the past five games. To say nothing of Derrick Pouliot, shelved with an undisclosed injury after logging a mere 12 minutes of ice time.

The Pens only recently regained the services of hustling Bryan Rust and Crosby, arguably the world’s most complete player. Sid’s unfortunate absence due to a concussion forced Sullivan to juggle his forward lines and shorten the bench.

Pass the Alka-Seltzer

Some call it the Stanley Cup hangover. A brutal coalescence of a long playoff grind and an all-too-brief summer. Barely allowing time for players to savor the sweet taste of their hard-earned success, let alone prepare mentally, emotionally, and physically for the rigors of a brand-new season.

Don’t forget the World Cup. Six Penguins—Crosby, Malkin, Carl Hagelin, Patric Hornqvist, Olli Maatta and Matt Murray—plus coach Sullivan, had their already abbreviated summers cut short by a couple of weeks.

Missin’ the Reverend

GM Jim Rutherford performed wonders in keeping his team mostly intact over the summer. However, one of the few players who got away has been missed.

Trusted in pressure situations, Ben Lovejoy led the team’s blueliners in defensive zone starts percentage (59.2) in ’15-16. The mobile defender also served as a glue guy of sorts on the second and third pairings. No one’s adequately filled his role thus far.

HBK MIA

Last season, the Pens rode the extraordinary play of the HBK Line to postseason glory. This year, the trio started out in a funk until it was recently split up. In particular, Hagelin and ultra-popular Nick Bonino have struggled to match their old form.

The good news? It’s a long season. The Pens have plenty of time to regain their competitive edge.

In the meantime, I’ll gladly settle for winning ugly.