Penguins Need ‘O’ from ‘D’

A couple of games back Phil Krundle, esteemed founding father of PenguinPoop, opined that the Penguins seem to do a better job of getting pucks and bodies to the net when our defensemen join the attack.

It got my nerdy side to thinkin’. Is there any correlation between production from the defense and wins? I also was curious to see how our present backline corps stacks up against last year’s group, which was spearheaded by puck-mover extraordinaire Kris Letang. So I decided to crunch some numbers.

The first table displays the average shots on goal, goals, assists and points per postseason game from our defense, broken down by wins and losses.

Result	Games	Shots/Game	Goals/Game	Assists/Game	Points/Game
Wins	14	6.50	0.43	1.86	2.29
Losses	9	8.33	0.22	1.11	1.33
Total	23	7.22	0.35	1.57	1.91

Not surprisingly, the black and gold receive more output from the ‘d’ on a per game basis when they’re victorious.

A hidden stat? Our no-name defense has collected at least one point in each of our 23 playoff games. Struck by their consistency, I decided to break down the numbers by opponent to see how our rearguards produced from one series to the next.

Opponent	Games	Shots on Goal	Goals	Assists	Points
Columbus	5	36	1	11	12
Washington	7	35	2	10	12
Ottawa	7	73	5	8	13
Nashville	4	22	0	7	7
Total	23	166	8	36	44

Noting the pronounced spike in shots on goal against Ottawa, I also wanted to see if shot activity from the defense affected puck possession.

Sure enough, the Pens as a team had 54.8 percent of the overall shot attempts against the Sens, versus 47.4 percent against Columbus, 43.8 percent against Nashville, and a low of 39.6 percent against Washington, when our defense was productive but comparatively inactive in shooting terms.

The numbers clearly support Phil’s assertion that the Pens do a better job of pressuring foes when the defense helps drive the offense. They also back up my perception that Mike Sullivan and his staff changed our breakouts in Game Seven against Washington, which gave our defense more leeway to lug the puck and join the rush. An onus that seems to have fallen by the wayside thus far in the Final.

For a final comparison, I wanted to see how this spring’s bunch compared to last season’s Cup winning defense.

Postseason	Games	Shots on Goal	Goals	Assists	Points
2016	24	219	9	40	49
2017	23	166	8	36	44

Given the considerable hole created by Letang’s unfortunate absence, the numbers are remarkably similar. While Justin Schultz (3 goals and 11 points) and Ian Cole (9 assists) have picked up most of the slack, everybody’s chipped in.

In short, our defensemen—banged up as they are—have done a respectable job of contributing this postseason.

Puckpourri

Sullivan reunited Sidney Crosby with Jake Guentzel and Conor Sheary at practice yesterday. “Sid and the Kids” tore up the league down the homestretch before the line was broken up during the first round series against the Blue Jackets.

Nick Bonino (ankle) and Patric Hornqvist (wrist) didn’t participate in yesterday’s session. No word on whether they’ll be ready for Game Five.

Sullivan named Matt Murray as his starting goaltender for tonight’s contest.

The Pens are 9-3 this postseason at PPG Paints Arena.