Penguins Update: I Have a Feeling We’re in for a Wild Ride

Katy, bar the door. Lock up the good silverware, too. I have a feeling we Penguins fans are in for a wild ride this season. A fun one, too.

My gut tells me Thursday night’s season-opening 7-6 overtime barn-burner of a win over Washington before a packed house at PPG Paints Arena perfectly set the tone for the upcoming campaign. Or imperfectly, depending on your perspective.

To sum up…lots and lots (and lots) of offense fireworks. And defensive gems? Cue the crickets…

A couple of weeks ago I opined that the Penguins’ defense was good enough. Ahem. Despite last night’s glut of goals against, I’ll stick with my original assessment. (Never said I was smart.)

Team defense? That’s a whole other matter.

Indeed, the team’s structure (or appalling lack of) had all the makings of a kindergarten fire-drill gone awry. The locals gave a virtual clinic on coughing up the puck (a whopping 16 giveaways).

Wanna’ talk east-west passes? Drop passes to no one in particular high in the offensive zone? Blind passes off the boards? Check, check and check.

Paragons of prudent puck management they weren’t.

Nor was Matt Murray a pillar of strength between the pipes. After the Pens snatched a 1-0 lead on a blast by Jamie Oleksiak, the Capitals countered for a pair of quick-strike tallies that seemed to materialize out of nowhere.

For a while, it appeared the defending Cup champs would score on every shot attempt before Murray mercifully stiffened through the middle portion of the contest. Only to leak for two bang-bang goals by nemesis T.J. Oshie a mere 21 seconds apart at a critical juncture late in the game.

Let’s just say the kid didn’t exactly flash his Cup-winning form and leave it at that.

As the Pens are currently constructed, look for more of the same. With GM Jim Rutherford obviously placing a premium on skill and speed, there’s precious little size and muscle on the wing to do the necessary dirty work in the corners and along the boards, particularly in the defensive zone.

This group reminds me a lot of another post-Cup team from an earlier era. Despite Mario Lemieux’s absence due to anemia, the 1994-95 squad was loaded with top-drawer offensive talent. Scoring champ Jaromir Jagr and Hall-of-Fame sidekicks Ron Francis, Joey Mullen and Luc Robitaille, not to mention former 100-point men John Cullen and Kevin Stevens and abrasive Tomas Sandstrom produced a veritable blizzard of goals.

However, despite the presence of blue-line stalwarts Larry Murphy and the Samuelssons, Ulf and Kjell, and Selke winners Francis and Troy Murray up front, the team couldn’t play ‘d.’ In fact, watching those guys try to defend was a lot like watching water pour through a sieve. A fatal flaw that caught up with them in the postseason.

While it’s early, our present Pens appear to fit the same mold. Thanks to big guns like Evgeni Malkin (three points), Jake Guentzel (two goals) and Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel (two assists apiece), the Pens outlasted the rubbery-legged Caps. They needed a boost from Kris Letang, who notched a pair of goals and a helper, including the overtime-winner.

Offense we got. But I’d give my kingdom for a gritty grinder or two who combine own-zone sensibilities with a modicum of talent. I’m told they exist…somewhere.

It’s not like the Pens’ coaches are a bunch of schlubs when it comes to teaching the finer points of defensive hockey. Head man Mike Sullivan was a crackerjack checker and penalty killer during his NHL career. Sergei Gonchar…an all-world defenseman. Venerable Jacques Martin is as crafty a defensive whiz as there is. But you gotta have the horses.

At least for now, the Pens are a few cart horses short of a full stable.

Expect a lot of track meets.