There are plenty of reasons for Penguins fans to feel glum this morning. Namely, our Game 1 overtime loss to the New York Islanders last night at creaky old Nassau Coliseum.
Yes, it was a disheartening defeat to say the least, one that hearkened back to similar heartrending losses to the Islanders in playoffs past. Especially after our guys rallied dramatically to knot the score at 3-3 with 1:29 left in regulation play on Justin Schultz’s seeing-eye drive from the top of the left circle.
In the misery-loves-company department, how’d you like to be a Tampa Bay fan this morning? Winners of a record-tying 62 regular-season games…practically a shoo-in to capture the Cup…the Lightning blew a three-goal first period lead en route to a shocking 4-3 loss at the hands of Columbus, a team that barely squeaked into the playoffs.
Suddenly, I don’t feel so bad. And I’m reminded that one game does not a series make. All is not lost.
We only need to look into our recent playoff past for encouragement. A scant three springs ago, the Pens trekked to Washington to take on the Presidents’ Trophy winning Capitals in the second-round series opener. They battled hard, piling up a 45-35 edge in shots on goal, but lost on T.J. Oshie’s overtime winner.
“This game could have went either way,” coach Mike Sullivan remarked afterward. “It was an even game. Our guys played hard…We’ll learn from it and put it behind us.”
Sounds like he was describing last night’s tilt.
Indeed, there were lots of things to like about the way we played. Fire and intensity, for one. Despite the atrocious quality of ice and the Islanders’ noted defensive bent, the Pens applied plenty of heat to goalie Robin Lehner, to the tune of an impressive 44-33 edge in shots on goal. The locals eclipsed their rugged foe in hits (43-42), with newcomer Nick Bjugstad (eight) and a returning Zach Aston-Reese (four) leading a spirited physical effort. Everyone got involved.
Our guys displayed plenty of push back and character, too, rallying three times from single-goal deficits in a hostile environment to knot the score. Heck, when Schultz’s timely blast eluded Lehner, I hollered and thrust my hands skyward in celebration, just like our players. I thought for sure we were going to win.
There were things not to like as well. A sluggish start, for one. No sooner did the Pens dodge a bullet 31 seconds in when expatriate Tom Kuhnhackl’s game-opening tally was waved off than we conspired to yield a for-real goal by Jordan Eberle 69 seconds later. It seemed we were determined to start the game in a hole.
Too, our defensive play unraveled at inopportune times. Prior to Nick Leddy’s go-ahead goal at 12:35 of the third period, Olli Maatta iced the puck. Following the ensuing faceoff, the baby-faced Finn compounded his mental mistake by coughing up the puck to Leo Komarov, who set up Leddy’s slapper from center point. For the record Maatta…who bumped veteran Jack Johnson to the press box…was a game-worst minus-2.
In the waning seconds of regulation, Sidney Crosby (minus-1, three giveaways) turned the puck over in the Islanders’ zone, leading to a glorious scoring opportunity for Josh Bailey, who mercifully missed the net.
Saving the worst for last, Kris Letang turned the puck over high in the attacking zone four-and-a-half minutes into overtime, stranding No. 58, Bjugstad and a late-arriving Phil Kessel, who inexplicably rushed in to join a broken play.
In an instant, the puck found the stick of streaking Matt Barzal, who had all day to slice in front of Matt Murray before attempting a backhander. Hung out to dry, the Pens’ goalie made a miraculous pad save, but couldn’t stop a sharp-angle follow-up by Bailey.
Bluntly put, Sullivan needs to have a sit-down with Letang (four giveaways) and Kessel, who otherwise had a strong game with a goal and an assist. It’s the type of high-risk, little-reward play that could send us to the golf course in a week or so.
Still, there were enough positives to believe we can top the Islanders. Game 2 is the key. If we beat them on Friday night and return to the ‘Burgh knotted at 1-1? I like our chances.
But we gotta’ play smart.
Puckpourri
Although he wasn’t named one of the three stars, Evgeni Malkin enjoyed a strong game. The big Russian whipped a power-play goal past Lehner from the top of the right circle at 13:41 of the second period to even the score at 2-2. He assisted on Schultz’s game-tying tally in the third period. For the night, “Geno” unleashed a game-high six shots on goal and won 64 percent of his faceoffs.
Sullivan juggled his line combinations. Malkin skated with Patric Hornqvist and Jared McCann. Crosby was flanked by Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust. Kessel joined Bjugstad and Dominik Simon. Aston-Reese, Matt Cullen and Garrett Wilson fleshed out the fourth line.
Murray stopped 29 of 33 shots.
Hi Rick!
As I write these lines, the Pens are trailing 0-2 in the series. Tonight’s game was very tough to watch. The Isles’ 4th line owns the Pens’ 1st line. Barry Trotz owns Sullivan. It was pathetic…
Seriously, Sullivan is still juggling (or experimenting to be more politically correct) with his lines, in the middle of April, during the playoffs!! This is no time for trial and error! Sullivan is in panic mode, pushing all kinds of buttons, secretly hoping that things will sort themselves out. He keeps saying to his players to play their game but guess what Sully, the Isles are playing this game way more faster and even better.
I didn’t like Sidney’s body language tonight. At the end of the first period, he had a lively exchange of views with Malkin. I don’t know what this exchange was all about but they surely showed signs of frustration.
This is not the team that won back to back Stanley cups. Those days are long past I’m afraid. Everybody seems overwhelmed. The season will really be at stake Sunday afternoon.
Hey all,
According to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jack Johnson will return to the Pens’ lineup for Game 2.
The article didn’t say who would be sitting, although it may be Maatta since he and Johnson came off the ice together at the morning skate. Pettersson and Gudbranson followed a short time later.
By all accounts, Maatta had a rough Game 1…no points, no shots on goal, no hits, no blocked shots, two giveaways (one takeaway), minus-2. He was on the ice for two of the three even-strength goals against. During one sequence, an Islanders forward blew right past him and ran over Matt Murray.
Rick
I am not worried yet!! But we need to win Friday and take it back home tied at 1.
I thought we played very good after the first 5-7 mins.
Starting with Matt, he was awesome when we needed him, not his fault we lost.
The forwards very good game. You guys know how I feel about Phil, but he was in it to win.
The problem was and is giveaways, just as we had pressure, Pen’s would give it up or make a soft play along boards and Islanders get a scoring chance or goal.
Need to keep it simple!!
I have never really liked Maatta. Johnson needs to be in the lineup, for size and more physical play.
That’s all I have to comment on today.
LET’S GO PEN’S
HI Pen’s 4 ever,
Time to start worrying my friend. We now are down 2 games to nil and we could NOT handle the bigger, faster and younger Islanders. Result was way to many penalties for a playoff Hockey game. Murray held them in tonight. Without him the score could have been 6-1. Give them credit as they are taking Sid and Geno out of the game. Swarm defense. Hope Sunday is a different result but they have our number. Lets Go Pen’s .
Yeah. now I am worried…..!!!
Hi Rick,
There’s no need to panic, but to be honest, I think I’d rather have seen them play the Caps in round one. If there’s any team in the playoffs that is a reasonable facsimile of a non-playoff team, the Isles are it. Our record against such teams speaks for itself.
I’ve been turning over this post in my mind for several weeks now, unable to get my thoughts in some cohesive order. I’m still unsure they are but this series against the Islanders has clarified a few things for me.
One is the stark contrast in coaching styles between the teams. Here in Pittsburgh, we have a coach who can’t keep his fingers out of the pie. On the Island they have a coach who understands hockey games are won by players, on the ice. The only adjustment Trotz is likely to make will be to pull his underwear out of his crack.
Another is that this team, the Pens, still has no identity and it is coaching that is the reason.
No one in their right mind picked the Islanders to be in the playoffs, but here they are. And it’s becoming clearer to me me why, and how, they got here. Their coach gave them the outline of what he wanted, culled from understanding the limits of the talent he has to work with, and fashioned a game plan that doesn’t confuse or over tax that talent. Trotz simply threw the pile on the locker room floor and said, “Here’s the idea. Here are the tools. These are your line mates. Now go out there and make it happen.” And they did. Does anyone think Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss are top tier goalies? But, put four unwavering, unchanging lines in front of them and they’re suddenly backstopping a team that finished as the top defensive squad in the league, something that neither Lehner, nor Greiss, could ever have managed to do on their own. Consistency.
If Trotz stuck his stubby fingers into this conglomeration and started making wholesale changes in search of some magic bullet, the whole thing would crumble and this series would be over in four more games. That ain’t gonna happen.
Compare that to a team where if someone breaks wind and coughs up the puck, they find themselves on the fourth line next shift, or in the press box next game, and you have the primary difference that matters in this series.
I try hard to like Mike Sullivan. He coaches my favorite team. I’m sure he lives and breaths hockey. I’m sure he’s as intense about the game as any one man can be, but I don’t care how many cups “he” has won in the past. And that’s my point, coaches don’t win cups, they create the atmosphere that makes winning them possible. But, you better believe they can lose them, and that’s the difference between Mike Sullivan today, and Mike Sullivan three years ago. It’s also the difference between Mike Sullivan and Barry Trotz. It will also be the difference in this series if he doesn’t get the hell out of the way. This team is over-coached and this is not the time to do the things he should have done five months ago.
There is absolutely no good, logical reason to have allowed Jack Johnson to grind out 82 games, then sit him in the first game of the playoffs. As much as I dismissed his acquisition, the contract that all but chains him to this team, and his lackluster performance in the early going, for the past two months he’s been solid. He’s the exact kind of player you’d want going against a solid defensive, and bigger, team. But, there he was, in the press box likely wondering what the hell he did wrong. I believe that’s a recurring theme on this team. I also believe it’s been a destructive theme, or at least a confusing one.
And here’s Teddy Blueger. He was called up, came in and worked his tail off and probably thought he’d have carved a place for himself. He pots six goals, almost matching Simon’s output, in a little over 20 games, plays a good 200 ft. game, noting Simon is able to do, and he’s sitting with Johnson, 100 feet above the ice – watching from a distance. This is an inherent problem with this team, that unless the name Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, or Letang is on the back of your sweater, you have no idea what you’ll be doing come next game. I’ve got news for you, as much as an incentive that scenario can be – competition and all that pie in the sky crap – it can be just as much a disincentive when it happens with this frequency.
That’s a pair of small examples, but they speak directly to the overarching fact of this team, that little about it is ever settled. This is a team without an identity because it’s a team constantly in flux, a team that’s always being tampered with. If they have an identity it’s that they’re a team that can’t seem to find an identity. That falls squarely on Mike Sullivan’s shoulders. They had a line up that was fully functioning a mere three weeks ago. Where did it go? It’s been plowed under in search of what?
You can bet special teams will play an important part in this series, as will other factors, but they will play out on the ice, where adjustments should happen, not behind the bench. Sully needs to take a hard look at the confusion his uncertainty causes if for no bigger reason than it obviously already has. He needs to come to that realization.
You asked the question in a previous post, “Can they win this series?” Yeah, they can, but I have a hard time believing they will unless there’s an epiphany by Friday, or the smell of freshly mowed grass will quickly replace the smell of freshly Zambonied ice.
– 55
Hey 55,
Outstanding stuff. Outstanding.
Your thoughts and insights speak for themselves, so I probably won’t do a whole lot of commenting. But a few thoughts.
Frankly, I was dreading getting players back from IR…for many of the reasons you shared. We’d developed a really nice chemistry with guys like Teddy Blueger, Adam Johnson and Zach Trotman in the lineup. We were keeping it simple, making the basic plays, and paying more attention to defense.
The kids added a nice spark, too.
Frankly, I thought we played some of our best hockey of the season through that stretch. Then guys come back and exactly what I feared would happen started happening. Not that you’re gonna sit Letang for Trotman, but all of a sudden it altered the really solid game the Pens were playing. It almost felt like last season after we made the Brassard trade, except we didn’t make a trade, if that makes any sense.
I, too, greatly feared putting critical personnel decisions in Sullivan’s hands. At least over the past couple of seasons, he invariably seems to make the wrong ones.
I’m not a Dominik Simon hater. I wouldn’t mind him as a spare forward, kind of like Chad Ruhwedel on defense. But Blueger is so much better and brings so much more to the table. I just flat-out don’t understand Sullivan’s logic here. Other than “Dom’s my guy.”
You mentioned Jack Johnson, too. I’m probably one of the few guys who like him and what he brings to the table. Apparently, all the advanced stats say he’s not especially effective and that he’s created a drag on Justin Schultz.
So we make the switch to Olli Maatta. Usually solid…as Phil’s pointed out…we won a couple of Cups with him. But last night I thought he was dreadful. Along with Letang’s total bonehead gamble (what in the wide, wide world of sports was he thinking) one of the primary reasons we lost.
If Johnson screws up…fine…bench him. But at least give him the benefit of the doubt. And there are such things as intangibles…heart, grit, guts, leadership. Johnson possesses them in spades. I’m not saying Maatta doesn’t. But frankly, he comes off rather Milquetoastish.
To steal from an old commercial, we need hefty, hefty, hefty…not wimpy, wimpy, wimpy.
Interesting aside. As I’m typing these comments, a gym member came up to the front desk and…totally unsolicited…brought up the exact issues we’re addressing.
No one can figure out Sullivan’s logic. Or illogic, as the case may be.
Rick
Spot on assessment!
Your line ”The only adjustment Trotz is likely to make will be to pull his underwear out of his crack” made me laugh a lot!
Kudos for very well written comment!
Hey Rick,
Amen, 1 game doesn’t make a series. Games 2 and 3 are far more important. However, if our boys in B-n-G don’t win game 2 I will be very worried!
You covered it quite well above! Dee made some great observations about the nightmare, elsewhere. I felt like was “slippin’ into the twilight zone”. All of my worst fears materialized before my eyes.
There isn’t time for Sullivan’s vaunted patience (stubbornness) the team needs to wake up quickly. They don’t have 82 more games to see if things work out. They need to address those guffaws before tomorrow night.
PS: I am not sure if you walked in yesterday when we were talking about the playoffs, but in an interesting side note, as much as it pains me to say this, I do have CBJ upsetting TBL on my brackets, but Boston coming out of the East.