As I watched our Penguins completely fall apart on Saturday night against San Jose, the words to the old 1980’s tune Jeopardy kept playing in my head. “Our love’s in jeopardy (jeopardy) baby…”
I began to wonder if it applies to the Pens’ season as well.
I don’t know if I ever recall seeing a team take such a precipitous tumble, especially since they were playing comparatively well just before the slide. It’s as if Dr. Jekyll crept into the locker room unannounced and slipped all of our guys his cursed potion, turning us into a collection of on-ice Mr. Hydes.
In an interesting article for the Tribune-Review yesterday, John Steigerwald duly noted that the Pens aren’t the only top team to hit the skids. The last two Cup champions, Washington and St. Louis, both lost six of seven recently. Boston dropped eight of nine in December. The surprising Blue Jackets were making a charge until they dropped eight in a row.
While it helped to put the Pens’ current six-game skid in perspective, it’s hardly a comfort. Especially in the ultra-competitive Metropolitan Division. Sneeze and you’re liable to drop from first place to the bottom of the playoff pile in the blink of an eye.
Are we in serious danger of missing the playoffs? I’ll answer that question with an observation. The Pens are currently five points ahead of the top non-playoff team, Carolina, with 18 games to play. Four of them against the ‘Canes.
As unthinkable as it is, the answer is “yes.” We could miss the playoffs.
This isn’t going to make for a comforting read. But here are three of the more famous (or infamous) collapses in Penguins history.
1970-71
Only the season before, the Pens had finished second in the West Division and made it to the Stanley Cup Semifinals. Although they fell to the blood-rival Blues in a hotly contested six-game set, good things were expected of the ’70-71 squad.
However, the Pens appeared to be star-crossed right from the start. Rising young star Michel Briere was critically injured in an auto accident and slipped into a coma, casting a pall over the team. In December, the league assumed control of the financially troubled franchise from owner Donald Parsons.
Despite the misfortune, the Pens entered the New Year tied for the final playoff spot in the West. But injuries (sound familiar?) struck down top scorers Keith McCreary and Ken Schinkel and key defensemen Duane Rupp and Bryan Watson within the span of a week. The Pens slogged to a 2-13-7 finish to miss the playoffs.
In a tragic postscript to a season filled with disappointment, Briere passed away on April 13, 1971.
1985-86
Entering the ’85-86 season, the Pens had missed the playoffs three years in a row. But GM Eddie Johnston had slowly but surely built a competitive team around burgeoning superstar Mario Lemieux through a combination of adroit drafting, trades and free-agent pickups.
The coach was Bob Berry. Intense and driven, in many ways he reminded me of present skipper Mike Sullivan.
Executing Berry’s disciplined, tight-checking system to a T, the Pens surged above the .500 mark. When they opened March with a crisp 5-1 victory over Hartford, they seemed a shoo-in to make the playoffs.
Hoping to buttress his young squad and provide Lemieux with a legit front-line winger, Johnston acquired former 40-goal man and matinee idol Ron Duguay from Detroit at the trade deadline. On paper…a perfect fit. On the ice…anything but.
As Mario’s picturesque setups clanked off the mop-topped Duguay’s stick, the Pens suddenly nose-dived. They fell into an 0-6-1 slide and, after a brief respite, went 0-4-1 to miss the playoffs again.
1989-90
Following six long seasons of futility, the Pens made the postseason with a flourish in ’88-89. Enjoying a season for the ages, Lemieux tallied an astronomical 85 goals and 199 points while supplanting Wayne Gretzky as the greatest player in the game. Linemate Robbie Brown scored 49 goals; superstar defenseman Paul Coffey 30 more from the back-end along with 113 points.
Bristling with young talent, great things were expected of ’89-90 squad. But the Pens never took flight. The players revolted against second-year coach Gene Ubriaco, leading to the dual dismissals of “Ubie” and GM Tony Esposito. Although he logged an astounding 46-game point-scoring streak…second longest in NHL history…Mario’s back was a wreck, forcing him from the lineup on Valentine’s Day.
For a time the team banded together. It entered March with a firm hold on second place in the Patrick Division. But the strain of playing without Lemieux and goalie Tom Barrasso took its toll, and the Pens slipped into a dismal 2-10-3 funk down the stretch.
Despite his ailing back, Mario courageously suited up for the season finale against Buffalo and dramatically scored a goal and set up another. But the Pens lost in overtime to complete the collapse.
In a positive footnote, the team would go on to win back-to-back Cups over the next two seasons, ushering in a bold, new era of success and prosperity.
Hi Rick!
Speaking of meltdowns, the 1975 NHL quarter-finals between the Pens and the Islanders were memorable: the Pens won the first three games and lost the last four games! The Pens had a 37-28-15 record for the regular season.
I just can imagine how the Pens players felt after that quarter-final! Dejected, angry, disappointed are the words that come to mind.
Hope that the Pens will win tonight!
Hey Jorenz,
I was looking specifically at regular-season collapses. But, yes, none match the catastrophic 1974-75 playoff fold against the Islanders in terms of impact.
That was a really good hockey team…an up-and-comer. The Century Line of Syl Apps, Lowell MacDonald and Jean Pronovost combined for 90 goals. Vic Hadfield, Rick Kehoe and Pierre Larouche topped 30 goals each. Ron Schock, Battleship Kelly and Chuck Arnason 20-plus.
On defense they had Ron Stackhouse and Dave Burrows and tough kids like Colin Campbell and Dennis Owchar.
They were skilled and physical, with just the right blend of youth and experience. Truth be told, that was my favorite Pens team for a long time, and it still might be.
Then they lost four straight to the Islanders and everything went pfffft. Money from the next series would’ve helped Tad Potter and his associates pay off their debts.
Instead, the IRS padlocked the team’s offices, Equibank sued for unpaid loans and the team was forced into receivership. A new ownership group came in and basically dismantled the team.
I’ve often wondered what would’ve happened if we held on to beat the Islanders…how things would’ve changed. My guess is we would’ve been more competitive through the ’70s…maybe enough so that it would have cost a chance to draft Lemieux.
You just never know.
All in all, I think things worked out pretty well for us in the long run … 🙂
Rick
Rick
Personally I think the Pen’s are fine – I also believe they are going to turn it
around with or without Dumoulin and Marino. Fans love to find a reason
for a struggling team but they easily forget that the Pen’s began there slow
climb to the top of the Metro without the best player in the world.
When your struggling everyone looks bad. To me the biggest issue is not our
Defense but the offense. During the six game losing streak we’ve been shutout
twice, and only scored 3 goals once in those 6 games “tough to win”.
A few interesting facts
1) Scoring goals we’re in the middle of the pack 16th.
2) Goals against there are only (6) teams in the NHL that have given up less.
we rank 25th.
3) We ranked 10th in shots taken.
4) There are only 4 teams that have allowed less shots on goal / 5 v 5.
As you know I’m not a numbers guy but if I was I would say these stats
emphatically point to our offense as a source of concern. I would also point
out that Sid ( -9 ), Simon (-9 ) are our only forwards with a negative plus / minus.
I excluded Sheary and Zucker.
Some interesting stuff – As always I look forward to you feedback.
Hey Mike,
Thanks, as always, for reading and for sharing your thoughts and insights. Interesting numbers, too.
I would’ve thought we ranked higher in scoring and not quite as high in fewest goals allowed. Funny how perception colors our views some times.
Offense (or lack of) is definitely a concern. A lot of guys who were solid contributors early on have really tailed off. McCann, no goals in 18 games, Tanev none in 13, Blueger one in 10, Rust two in 14 (we need to get him back on right wing).
Really, just about everybody.
It reminds me eerily of 2014-15 under Mike Johnston when the offense literally dried up in the final month (26 goals during our last 15 regular-season games). That team was beset by injuries, too.
Not coincidentally, we went 4-9-2 during that stretch and barely made the playoffs (another near epic collapse).
I do think the return of Dumoulin and Marino should help a lot. To my eye, the defense was really beginning to sag trying to cover for their absence. And I do think they’ll help the transition game.
Still, as you pointed out, we need some of the guys up front to break out…pronto.
Rick
Mike
I guess I don’t see the Defense and Offense as wholly independent units in their play. Last nights 7-3 win is a great example, I think ,of the interdependency that exists between the two units.
Marino and Dumo made such a profound difference in the balance of the defense that the offense could cheat a bit and not give up goals. Both Dumo and Marino pinch better than the other D which helps on Offense and they are better giving the quick outlet pass up the ice to get it out of their zone. Marino does more than pinch on offense and I am beginning to see him as a generational talent. He needs to keep the full helmet on too. He played with broken face bones last night….I can’t imagine doing that.
Marino’s quick goal in the first minute was key. He quickly wristed a shot with some real velocity before the Senators could fully react. Schults always has to wind up for a full slap shot and that gives the opposing team a critical second or two to react. LeTang is the only other D-Man with a good wrist shot but he goes open circuit too much on the Defensive side and needs Dumo to cover for his lapses. LeTang can be a meaningful contributor on Offense.
This team has to skate….when they are not they are reacting to the other team and they spiral into the drain. If they don’t dictate play for most of the game, they lose. Rust’s huge turnaround was the result of him being liberated to skate and be opportunistic.
This style requires great D and a great goalie. Unless the two goalies lift their play, I don’t see any chance of going deep in the playoffs. The 3rd goal that Murray let in can’t happen. It was a soft goal, no screen or deflection from far enough away that he needs to stop 100% of those types of shots. The game was 5-2 and over…but he let the Sens back in. You do that in the playoffs and the energy from the opposing team goes up by a factor of 10.
Good observation on Sid and Simon. Its not Sid’s job to develop players … its the players job to liberate Sid’s talent. When he makes an unbelievable pass to yield what should be an A+ shot on goal, they need to finish. Simon struggles with finishing as do some other players. Zucker deserves to be on that line and they need a key third linemate …I fear Sheary is another developmental project like Simon.
Sid’s play should be lifting good players to look great. Not lifting marginal players to look mediocre.
The 4th line really helped in that game as well. Tanev was out but Rodriguez and Lafferty looked good supporting Blueger. Again I think that line is better for Tanev and ZAR but to Rick’s earlier point, maybe theirs more player interchangeability than I thought. Regardless, the team rolls when they are rolling. Its their emotional core and identity.
I stick by my earlier three keys to turning the team around
1) Rust has to return to a significant goal contributor
2) Marino and Dumo have to come back
3) The Tanev-Blueger-ZAR line(or equivalent) has to get back to meaningful mayhem
That happened against a bottom dwelling Ottawa Senators team that traded much of its talent away…..lets see if we can do that against Carolina and go at least 2/2 and preferably 3/4 over the next 4 games.