Playoffs No Cinch for Sagging Penguins

As I watched bits and pieces of the Penguins’ recent 4-0 loss to Carolina from my perch at the Wright’s Gym front desk, a disturbing thought occurred to me. While the young, hungry Hurricanes resembled the black-and-gold squads that blazed to back-to-back Stanley Cups, our punchless Pens looked a lot like GM Jim Rutherford’s old Carolina teams. Ones that routinely missed the playoffs.

Indeed, with our collective game in the crapper at precisely the wrong time (3-6-1 in our last 10 contests and sinking fast), there’s a fair chance our guys’ll be breaking out the golf clubs come April instead of chasing the Stanley Cup.

Hard to imagine a battle-tested team boasting an elite core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and Kris Letang might wind up on the outside looking in. But there are a number of disturbing trends that’ve continued almost unabated through this roller coaster of a season. I’ll try to address some of them.

Go Play in Traffic

There’s no denying the Pens possess plenty of skill. In addition to the aforementioned stars, second-tier guys like Patric Hornqvist and newcomers Nick Bjugstad and Tanner Pearson have 20-goal seasons on their resume. To say nothing of sharpshooter Jake Guentzel.

But all that skill doesn’t translate very well to the dirty areas. Indeed, the Pens lose puck battles more consistently than any team in recent memory. It’s especially true in our end of the rink. Once opposing teams gain the zone, they often appear to skating with a man advantage. That’s because we seem totally incapable of gaining control of the puck.

A classic example of the chicken or the egg conundrum. If you can’t possess the puck, you can’t play the puck possession game coach Mike Sullivan prefers.

With precious few exceptions, the Pens don’t crash the net the way they should, either. Dirty goals are a staple of today’s NHL…especially come the postseason. Yet our guys seem all-too-content to shoot from wide angles while embracing a perimeter game.

Puck support is lacking, too. Which leads to a lot of one-and-dones.

No Sweat

While it’s absurd to suggest our guys aren’t trying…all of them put forth an effort…there are far too many nights when the Pens’ collective enthusiasm seems to be lacking. All too often we seem to be playing on the wrong side of the puck. Not to mention lagging a step behind the opposition. A worrisome trend that seems to manifest when we play bottom feeders, as our sorry 2-7-1 record against last-place teams will attest.

Yeah, I get the fact that, having played so much high-stakes hockey over the past few seasons, we sometimes need a challenge to get our blood up. But we’ve got to do a better job of bringing it on a nightly basis…especially against run-of-the-mill opponents.

Heck, we make the Devils look like a dynasty-in-the-making every time we play them. All they do is show up, skate like hell and bust their humps.

Is it too much to ask for us to do the same?

Stick on Puck…Yuck

In an ideal world, Sullivan wants his defensemen to move the puck to the forwards at their earliest opportunity. A formula that worked wonders during our back-to-back Cup runs.

Still, you also need guys who’ll stand and defend when the goin’ gets tough. Get-in-your-way types such as Ian Cole, Ron Hainsey and Ben Lovejoy were underrated…and perhaps underappreciated…cogs on our Cup clubs. While Brian Dumoulin and Jack Johnson more or less fill that role with our present club, they could use some help.

My kingdom for a crusher.

Oh wait. We had one in Jamie Oleksiak but traded him away.

You get my drift. Opposing forwards camp out near our net with impunity. No one, save Johnson, shows the slightest interest in moving them out. A bad set-up for our goalies.

Four-Line Roulette

I shamelessly stole this clever subhead from one of our astute commenters, 55 on Point. It’s a wholly apt description of Sullivan’s unsettling habit of shuffling forward lines faster than a card shark parsing a deck of cards on a Mississippi paddlewheel.

I fully understand the need to try different combinations to see what works. However, if a line displays some chemistry, like the Guentzel-Crosby-Bryan Rust combo did earlier this season, could Sully leave them together for more than two periods?

I know he’s trying to find a spark. But a little patience works wonders, too.

A luxury Rutherford might not have if the team continues to slip as the trade deadline looms.