SOP – Penguins Lose Again, this time to the Devils 4 – 2

In the 1970 movie Kelly’s Heroes, Oddball says to Moriarty, “Why don’t you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don’t you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don’t you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?” Sorry Penguins’ faithful, I have nothing righteous and hopeful to say after this latest no show of a game. Our favorite flightless fowl found themselves on the wrong end of a 4 – 2 score against divisional rival New Jersey. Since it was a divisional game, it really was more like a 4 point swing. The loss firmly entrenched our Penguins to 7th in the division. That is way outside of the playoffs.

It was only game 16 of the current season. There still is time to right this foundering ship. There still is plenty of time to find some answers. However, it should be painfully obvious to all but the most blind, that those answers probably do not include doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Sixteen games represents a hair less than 1/5th of the season but it is over half of 28 games. It was at the 28 game mark of the 2015 – 2016 season, Mike Sullivan replaced Mike Johnston. Mike Johnston had a 0.589 win percentage (W%) and was 2nd in the division. Mike Sullivan currently has a 0.531 W% and our Penguins are languishing at the 7th spot in the division, 5 places lower than when Johnston was canned. They are only 2 points out of last place in the division.

The Penguins lack scoring;
The Penguins have only scored 13 goals in the 8 games since the Canada trip. (Again not much different than the Johnston era in scoring – but at least Johnston’s teams didn’t give up goals). Sullivan whines about secondary scoring, they aren’t even getting primary scoring. They only have enough top forwards to support 1 full line, leaving one of their 2 top Centers without Wingers. The name of the game is out scoring your opponent. without at least 2 scoring lines, you aren’t going to win many games in the NHL.

At this point, the team may really need to try and find a way to trade for a top 6 forward or 2 to compliment Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, and Jake Guentzel. However, there is one player on the roster that Sullivan has continued to refuse to try in a top 6 role, Daniel Sprong.

Oh that is right, Sullivan doesn’t think he is good enough, he doesn’t think he is defensively responsible enough. Outside of this year, where Sullivan continues to allow ego to outweigh team. I won’t bore you readers with the advanced stats that say Sullivan is wrong, unless someone wants to see them but objective evidence doesn’t support Sullivan’s excuses. Excuses? yes, that is what they are, excuses to obfuscate just one more player run out of town on the rails.

Patric Hornqvist, Bryan Rust, Matt Cullen, Carl Hagelin, and Riley Sheahan all have points per 60 minutes lower than Daniel Sprong, yet during this scoring drought not only does Sullivan keep Sprong in the press box, he still keeps giving top 6 minutes to Hornqvist, Rust, and Hagelin.

But that is okay, they can’t prevent goals either.
I don’t mean that at a rap against the Penguins’ Goalies. The Penguins’ Goalies have done a yeoman’s job, weathering the storm. They must feel like Frances Scott Key at Fort McHenry facing the unending barrage of enemy artillery. Both Matt Murray and Casey DeSmith have had to turn in near 40 save shutouts to help steal some wins for this team bereft of competent defense or they would actually occupy the 8th spot in the division. They are rapidly closing in on their first shot at a top 5 draft pick in years.

To reference a Quinton Tarentino movie, the usual suspects (Letang, Johnson, Maatta) performed a disappearing act again, leaving DeSmith to the mercy of Devil’s shooters. Kris Letang turned in stellar -4 performance last night. A few weeks back I quipped that I would like to see what Brian Dumoulin could do if he didn’t have to baby sit Letang. Someone suggested that it was Letang who was baby sitting Dumoulin. Hmm. Letang was a -4 last night, Dumoulin was only a -1 and that -1 came when he was out there with Letang again.

It is well past time to get over it Sullivan. Just like in the playoffs last year you rewarded Letang’s poor play with ice time, his TOI was 25:37. No wonder Andrey Pedan and Lukas Bengtsson opted to play in the KHL this year. They knew they wouldn’t get TOI. In Pittsburgh, TOI is given to the most incompetent of Defensemen, it is doled out inversely proportional to a players ability to help their own goalie. Since Letang is opposing teams best offensive weapon, he earns the most TOI.

Getting back to my Sprong rant. Sullivan complains that the 21 year old kid can’t play defense. A closer look at the kids advanced stats could be support this, except his aren’t the worse.

Are you holding anyone else accountable Sullivan?

Outside of the train wreck that is Letang, in his defensive zone. Let’s look a little closer at Riley Sheahan and Matt Cullen and compare them to Sprong. Sprong has been saddled with these 2 allegedly defensively responsible Centers when Sullivan has begrudgingly allowed Sprong to play. All 3 have horrible defensive advanced stats. Sheahan has been on the ice for slightly less opponent Goals Against per 60 minutes (GA60) during even strength play (4.6 to Sprong’s 4.9, Cullen is worse at 5.0). For Shots Against per 60 minutes (SA60) Sprong actually has the best numbers of the 3 at 72.5 compared to Sheahan’s 72.9 and Cullen’s 75.8.

(Okay – so I lied about not going into advanced stats)

Since Sheahan and Cullen have played with other Wingers and still have worse advanced stats than Sprong, Sorry, Sullivan, Sprong isn’t the problem; his Centers are.

Am I once again beating the drum for Sprong? Well, sort of, but not really. At this point, it is probably best that Jim Rutherford trade Sprong, for the sake of both. It is just a shame that it has come to this point. Sullivan’s blinders may have burnt that bridge.

The Penguins are going no where fast at this moment.

So what is the solution? Sprong? A Trade or 2? A new Coach? New bottom 6 Centers?

There still is time to right the train, but that time is rapidly ticking down.