Penguins Update: Did the Bruins Expose a Flaw?

In the world of professional sports, it doesn’t take long for word to get around. Show even a hint of weakness or vulnerability to certain tactics? You can be pretty sure everyone and their grandmother will be testing you.

The Boston Bruins may have exposed a chink in the Penguins’ heretofore seamless armor last night at TD Garden. Aping the Big, Bad Bruins of yore, Zdeno Chara and Co. got in the Pens’ collective grille and seemed to throw them off their game. Kept them off the scoresheet, too, as evidenced by the final score of 4-1.

Did the Bruins lay down a blueprint for the rest of the league to follow?

I’d say yes. Pens captain Sidney Crosby seems to think so, too.

“We’re going to see that a lot,” Crosby said. “That’s not the first team that’s going to try to be physical.”

I’ve touched on this many times, but I think it bears repeating. Especially with a combined seven games with division rivals Washington and Philadelphia looming after the all-star break.

In terms of “playing” toughness, the Pens are second to none. They’ve got loads of grit and character, as witnessed by their 18-6-4 record with Crosby on the shelf. Nor do our boys shy away from contact, as our 1340 hits (fourth in the league) will attest.

Yet there is a missing element. The ability to give tit-for-tat when the goin’ gets rough and push comes to shove. As presently constructed, our Pens aren’t built for that sort of action.

I’m especially concerned about the Capitals. DC marauder Tom Wilson’s a loose cannon who loves to take liberties, especially when he knows he won’t be challenged. Radko Gudas is a straight-up, in-your-face-hitter…kind of a modern-day Ulf Samuelsson. If he takes out your knee in the process? Too bad.

Alex Ovechkin’s been known to trample a foe or two. Second-tier tough guy Garnet Hathaway was involved in a spitting incident earlier this season. Even scorers like T.J. Oshie play with an edge.

You get the picture. Don’t expect the Caps to play nice.

General manager Jim Rutherford’s tried to remedy the shortcoming in the past by acquiring heavyweights. Indeed, Ryan Reaves, Jamie Oleksiak and…most recently…Erik Gudbranson, have all taken turns riding shotgun. Each is well-schooled in the fine art of pugilism on ice. In the end, they didn’t skate well enough to mesh with Mike Sullivan’s fluid, puck-possession style.

Too, Sullivan appears to have some sort of personal bias against guys who can fight, perhaps due to his college hockey roots.

No, acquiring a fourth-line sluggo or bottom-pairing defensive hammer isn’t going to work. Nor can we hope to match teams like the Caps in terms of physicality or should we. It’s not our style.

Yet I do think we need to be better equipped to compete in these sorts of chippy, high-intensity games where the temperature runs a few degrees hotter than normal. Especially since we’re liable to see these type of tactics employed more and more as we enter the stretch run and teams are battling for their playoff lives.

As an aside, I’ve long envied the Columbus Blue Jackets in that regard. They have a slew of guys, Nick Foligno, Josh Anderson and Boone Jenner among the most prominent, who play a hard-nosed, physical game. While none is an enforcer in the traditional sense, each is capable of dropping the gloves when called upon to stick up for themselves or the team.

In my mind, the Pens could use a player or two of that ilk.

That’s why the Rangers’ Chris Kreider appeals to me as a possible trade target. Yes, he’s a pending UFA and would likely be a rental. But at 6’3” and 216 pounds, he’d add a power element to the Pens that’s missing, while at the same time blending with Sullivan’s preferred style. He can skate, hit and score (15 goals and counting) and…yes…fight if the situation calls for it.

The Pens may also have an in-house option. Anthony Angello, a hulking 6’5” 210-pound power forward, has been coming on with the Baby Pens. He’s got 15 goals…the same as Kreider…employs a physical game, and can play either center or right wing. I don’t know about his skating, which could be a drawback. But at this stage I’d be willing to sit a water-bug like Andrew Agozzino to give him a look.