Suddenly…A Hitch in the Penguins’ Giddy-up

I confess, I didn’t see this coming. Not at all. Certainly not after our Penguins eviscerated Toronto on Tuesday night for their third win in a row and fourth in their last five to snatch first place in the ultra-tough Metropolitan Division.

Having claimed the top spot, maybe our guys were guilty of taking their collective feet off the gas pedal. How else do you explain losing to Toronto and Buffalo by a combined score of 9-2 and looking God-awful in the process?

Suddenly, it seems everything has gone south (or ‘sahth’ as we say in the ‘Burgh). The Pens are turning pucks over with the frequency of gumballs spewing from a dispenser at a Chuck E. Cheese. Yesterday, Evgeni Malkin set the tone with a dreadful dead-fish giveaway behind his net in the opening seconds of the game, leading to an easy goal by Buffalo’s Zemgus Girgensons.

Tristan Jarry had no chance.

It marked the second-straight game that Pens goalies, so good in recent weeks, were hung out to dry like the bed sheets on Sunday.

Offensively, our troops have once again fallen into the habit of trying to make pretty plays at the opposing blue line, rather than dumping the puck in and using their speed to pressure opposing defenses.

On defense, the stop-gap pairing of Kris Letang and Jack Johnson has exceeded its shelf-life…and then some. Mercurial No. 58 is back to his old tricks, making bonehead reads and high-risk plays, and Johnson simply doesn’t possess the ability or mobility to cover for him. Each was a minus-2 yesterday.

Over his past 15 games, Letang’s a minus-7…despite scoring five goals and seven assists over that span. Johnson’s a minus-6 (with two assists) over the same stretch. Following a decent start to the season while skating on the third pairing, Johnson’s metrics (47.3 Corsi, 5-on-5 shot attempts differential of -102) have sunk to his more traditional performance levels.

With a paltry two goals and eight points in 37 games, Justin Schultz ain’t exactly lighting it up, either. The Pens need more from him…a lot more…if they’re going to compete for a Cup. Sullivan and the coaching staff have made it loud and clear they don’t trust Juuso Riikola (a healthy scratch yesterday) despite his impressive metrics and skill set.

We really need the hale and healthy returns of stalwart Brian Dumoulin and super-rookie John Marino. The sooner the better.

A hidden factor in the sudden slide? Dominik Kahun’s extended absence. In the nine games he’s missed due to a concussion and taking a shot on the knee, the Pens are a pedestrian 5-3-1 with 25 goals for and 24 against. There’s something about this kid that helps Sullivan balance out his lines. He’s a darn good player and an underrated cog to boot.

Let’s hope he can stay healthy down the homestretch.

Meanwhile, trade rumors continue to swirl. Dan Kingerski of PittsburghHockeyNow strongly suggests two players could soon be wearing the black-and-gold, Devils power forward Wayne Simmonds and former Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian.

Although I confess I’m dubious about how well Simmonds will mesh with the Pens’ up-tempo style…and whether Sullivan will play him…I like getting a player of his ilk. When it comes to physical play and dropping the mitts, he’s as tough as they come. We got a snootful of that last season when he laid out Dumoulin with a high, hard hit in a Stadium Series tilt.

Simmonds is the reigning Mark Messier Leadership Award winner, so you know he’s a quality guy. He’s been a big-time scorer in the past and is an especially deadly net-front presence on the power play. And he does have eight goals this season…hardly chicken feed for a bottom-six forward.

Much like the aforementioned Johnson, Bogosian was maligned in Buffalo, where he struggled to live up to a fat contract. But he’s big (6’3” 226 pounds) and mobile for a guy his size, and he possesses a hard shot and brings some bite and sand. A right-handed shot, too.

Since his contract was terminated by Buffalo, Bogosian’s effectively a free agent and can presumably be signed for a much lower rate than the $5.143 million AAV he was pulling down with the Sabres.

Maybe it’s just me, but he sort of feels like Ron Hainsey, a key addition back in 2017. They even played together with Atlanta and Winnipeg.

In the meantime, we square off against the Capitals today in DC. Sort of a “high-noon” showdown for first place in the Metro. A litmus test for our suddenly floundering team.

Losers of four in a row (and eight of their last 11), the Caps haven’t exactly been on fire, either. But it figures to be an intense match-up and our boys had better bring their A-game.

That is, if they can find it.