In the 1980s, Wendy’s famously hit a home run with a clever TV ad that poked fun at their chief competitor by asking, “Where’s the beef?”
Well, I’ll alter that time-honored slogan a tad and ask, “Where’s the oomph?”
Following a pair of scintillating victories, the Penguins entered yesterday’s Game 4 with all the momentum. But an unfortunate combination of bad ice (slushy, anyone?), a determined Islanders squad that’s far from ready to throw in the towel and our own lack of urgency and intensity coalesced into a lackluster 4-1 defeat at the hands of the New Yorkers.
Regarding our effort, or lack of, we just couldn’t seem to gain any real traction. Lots of perimeter play. And give the Islanders credit. On this afternoon they were the better team, and not by just a little.
The poster child for the Pens’ disappointing performance was Evgeni Malkin. “Geno’s” a lot like the little girl with the curl. When he’s good, he’s very (very) good. And when he’s bad…
Well, yesterday he was Malo Geno. No shots on goal, one-for-four on faceoffs and…most egregious of all…three rather dumb minor penalties.
The rangy Russian was far from the only culprit. As he is wont to do at times, Kris Letang played over the edge all afternoon and drew his own careless penalty to put us two-men short, leading directly to the Isles’ third goal and effectively ending any hopes for a black-and-gold comeback.
The Sidney Crosby line, so dominant against the Islanders during the regular season, was held off the scoresheet for the second straight game. For the record, Jake Guentzel, who drew a late cross-checking penalty, has one goal in his past nine games. I’d say that qualifies as a slump.
The one player who did seem fully invested was Tristan Jarry, especially after it was obvious we weren’t coming back. If Tristan hadn’t stood on his head at times during the final period, the outcome could’ve been worse. Much worse.
A word of warning…the Islanders never quit. We’d better bring our ‘A’ game Monday night at PPG Paints Arena, or we could find ourselves on the wrong side of a 3-2 series deficit and wondering how in the wide, wide world of sports we got there.
Puckpourri
The Pens outshot the Islanders, 30-26, and outhit them, 34-31. But New York dominated the faceoff circle, winning 34 of 51 draws to negate our surprising 55-34 edge in Corsi events.
Despite our territorial advantage, the Islanders held an 11-7 edge in 5v5 high danger scoring chances.
Josh Bailey, Ryan Pulock, Oliver Wahlstrom and Jordan Eberle tallied goals for New York. Zach Aston-Reese scored short-handed with 2:35 left to end Ilya Sorokin’s shutout bid. It was ZAR’s first-ever playoff goal in 21 postseason games.
Brian Dumoulin and Frederick Gaudreau picked up assists.
Around the League
Marc-Andre Fleury made 35 saves to lead Vegas past Minnesota, 4-0. The Golden Knights hold a 3-1 series lead.
Toronto rallied to even their series with Montreal, crushing the Canadiens, 5-1. Tampa Bay walloped Florida, 6-2, pushing the Panthers to the brink of elimination.
Opinyinz
Much has been made of the toughness issue and coach Mike Sullivan’s aversion to players who provide a genuine physical presence.
We witnessed an unfortunate consequence of that bias yesterday afternoon. Chiefly in the form of stars like Malkin and Letang (and Guentzel) attempting to shoulder the toughness mantle for the team.
The last thing you need or want is for Geno and Tanger, both passionate and, yes, at times overly emotional players, to feel a press to defend the team’s honor. Which is precisely what happens when you ice a lineup virtually bereft of genuine pushback. Your stars get sucked into fighting the team’s battles.
That’s not the type of statement you want them to make. You want them filling the net, not the penalty box.
Unfortunately, there’s no immediate remedy. Anthony Angello and Sam Lafferty each provide grit and a willingness to battle, but they’re depth players in our present scheme. Even if they played, neither is capable of handling a Matt Martin.
It’s an issue that will hopefully be addressed over the offseason.
Hi Rick
It troubles me to write this brother. You have just watched the end of an Era.
15 straight years they made the playoffs !! No one can ever take that away from the Pens. That was an incredible feat to accomplish in any professional team sport. 3 Stanley Cups.. But now it’s over boys…The Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and E Malkin are done… period !!
Dark days ahead.Time to tear it all down and rebuild…
NOBODY is beyond trading for the right price !!!
Rick I will leave you with one last thought…..
No Goal Tending,No Defense,No Elite Forwards, No Coaching,No Management,No Ownership, No Farm System and Lack of Money =
NO STANLEY CUP !!!
8 Pieces to a puzzle needed to Win the Stanley Cup…
You need all 8 of them to win. We may have 2 pieces of that puzzle if we are lucky.
The owners have to take a real good look at themselves because they are ultimately the ones who caused this to happen..No one wants to talk about that…End of an Era..
Cheers
Jim
Hi Rick!
Well, my vibes were not good before the game and it was unfortunately confirmed with this shitty ending…
Overall, the Pens dominated but Jarry blew it all up. A brain fart at the most inappropriate time! And it is not the first he tries to deke everybody.
I thought Malkin played a better game tonight. He was very focused and generally stayed away from the box (except for one penalty).
But my 5000$ question is: how on earth can the Pens lose a game with 50 shots on goal? Lack of opportunism? Lack of stamina? I sincerely don’t know what to answer.
Jarry won’t sleep well tonight for sure! I hope he is going to bounce back but I won’t bet a toonie (Canada’s two-dollar coin) on that.
P.S.: It is sheer pandemonium on social media about Jarry’s brain fart.
Hi Rick!
Game 5 will be played in a few hours and I am a nervous wreck. This game is pivotal for the Pens. They have the last change but they must be more focused. It is not going to be a walk in the park with the Isles. They are tough to play against and they never quit.
I am worried about Sid’s line. They came very flat but the Isles played well against them. The Isles are taking advantage of scrums by chirping, shoving and pushing the Pens. Guentzel, Malkin and Letang are their favourite targets. If I had a message for these three players, it would be: please, don’t retaliate!!! If they do, they are toast!
I am going to watch tonight’s game with a lot of apprehension. Let’s pray for a win. Go Pens go!
Hey Rick,
Quick question, which of the 3 minor penalties that Malkin took hurt the team? The Coincidental roughing with Cal Clutterbuck, that didn’t result in either team geting a PP? The High Sticking against Palmieri that did result in a PP for the NYI but not a G, since the PK killed it? Or perhaps it was the Trip against Wahlstrom that occured after the team had already given up 2 EVG and was down 0 – 2 but still did not result in a PPG against and there was still over a period to play?
Now, which one of these Penalties hurt the team; the Zucker Interference against Pelech or the eventually lead to the Letang Intereference against Pelech and a 5 on 3 PPG against and then a 5 on 4 PPG Against? Or perhaps both those Penalties? True enough you did mention Letang’s Penalty but not Zucker’s.
SOG? Yes Malkin didn’t have any but he was not on the ice for any GA. Zucker didn’t have any SOG either but he was on the ice for a GA, so not only did Zucker take a Penalty that resulted in a GA, he contributed 0 to the offense was on the ice for an EVG and took a Penalty that resulted in a PPGA. But you want to talk about Malkin.
Okay, now let’s talk FO; Indeed Malkin was 1 and 4 in the FO circle, not a large sample but true. Now let’s talk about Sid. He was 6 and 12 (5 and 11 – 5 on 5); that’s a much larger sample size and not much better than Geno. In fact nobady was any good in the FO circle, Blueger was 4 and 6 while Carter was 6 and 9, but you chose to talk about No 71.
Also, Malkin has 2 Points in 2 Playoff Games this post-season while Sid, Jake, Bryan, and Jason have played in 4 Games so far this post-season, but each is stuck at 1 point in their 4 GP.
And Geno is probably playing on 1 – wheel. If you recall, in the last practice before heading on the road trip, he only took 1 lap around the rink and then knelt watching the rest of the practice – because he hadn’t healed properly but was trying to help the team that was struggling at home, losing in OT and then barely winning the second of that home stand; winning by only 1 goal.
Yet, let’s blast Geno then praise a Goalie who posted an 0.852 Sv% for the game and is currently ranked 14th in Sv% for the post season with an extremely pedestrian 0.904.
Sorry Rick, Malkin may not have helped the team win last game but he wasn’t the reason they lost. A team may be able to get away with skating 18 forwards in a regular season game but that really doesn’t fly in the playoffs.
Haters are going to hate, so I doubt anything I wrote will do any good.
The Pens can still win this series but changes have to be made. Our Pens were allegedly the best team in the east during the regular season and a team that was trending downward and barely made the playoffs is giving them all they can handle. They need some more grit up front and a whole lot of more grit on the back end. This hand stinks. It is well past time to reshuffle the deck.
Hey Other Rick,
I know you feel compelled to defend Malkin at every turn, even when it’s not warranted. But I’m calling a spade a spade. He played a lousy game.
Do you really think his effort was worthy of one of the team’s leaders? And I stand by what I wrote about the three dumb penalties. No, the Islanders didn’t score with him in the box. But that’s six minutes that his line’s not on the ice intact, which negates Sullivan’s ability to roll four lines and the team’s ability to get into a rhythm. Four minutes the Pens had to spend on the pk instead of mustering an attack. And do you really want him going off the ice with Cal Clutterbuck? I think that’s a trade the Islanders make every time.
His line was squarely in the red on 5v5 scoring chances (2 for, 6 against). A minus 40.61 xGF% Relative. Our only line that was underwater in those two categories. Four high density chances against, none for.
I’m not saying this all falls on Geno. But he sure is a part of it.
Back to the “girl with the curl” comment. I’ve said before that when Malkin is at his best, he plays at a level I haven’t seen anyone reach since Mario. Not even Sid. But on the flip side…and there’s a Jekyll and Hyde aspect to his game…he can be sloppy and undisciplined and pouty when things don’t go his way.
I think we saw that Geno on Saturday.
Rick
Rick,
I never said Malkin played a great game but the reality is other players have played far, far worse, yet not only you but a lot of folks focused on Malkin, ignoring the glaring issues elsewhere.
Malkin’s line was 2 – 6 as you know in shots but they were 7 – 5 in scoring chances, which was better than Crosby’s line at 9 – 7 and Carters at 3 – 5. In Crosby’s lines defense 5 of their 7 chances were HD while only 1 of Malkin’s line was HD.
Furthermore, even though Malkin’s line XGF% was below 50%, their actual GF% wasn’t. Conversely, Crosby’s Lines xGF% was high but actual GF% was low. Which is more important? Do teams win based on xGF vs xGA or do they win based on actual GF vs Actual GA?
All those statistics tell me is that for all the sound and fury, Crosby’s line was in reality worse than Malkin’s line. Crosby’s line was more at fault for the loss than Malkin’s. Jarry was more at fault than Malkin. Zucker was more at fault than Malkin.
I realize that it is a whole lot easier to go with the crowd and blast the guy everyone hates, but the Pens loss last game wasn’t Malkin’s fault. His line broke even. At worst the game would have gone into OT, however, Crosby’s line was a -1, They lost!
I am not defending Malkin, I am the one calling a spade a spade. I repeat Malkin’s line was even. Crosby’s line was -1. Malkin finished the game even. Zucker and Kapanen finished the game a -1. Without Geno, they lost.
If you want to yell at Geno for getting injured and not being 100%, that may not be fair but accurate. If you want to yell at Geno for getting old and not being able to win the game single handed like he was able to do in 2009, that too is unfair but accurate. If you want to yell at him for not playing his best the team losing, not playing his best may be fair but blaming him for the loss is not only unfair but extremely inaccurate.
Rick
Totally agree with your assessment. Malkin looked a lot like the uninterested player he was early in the year. I get so tired of
seeing his moody facial expressions on the bench. Again, it’s
calling a spade a spade.
Like you said we better bring our “A” game tonight!!
GO PENS
I think coach Mike needs to make a few line changes, just to try and get Sid and Jake going.
But if he doesn’t, at home hopefully the effort will be better, playing smarter with and without the puck.
Monday’s game… in my eyes biggest game of the playoffs to date, can’t go back to Long island down 3-2.
I agree but the size, or lack of on The Penguins , will not change with Sully driving the bus, we need a big player to go to the front of the net or push some guys around when things get heated.
It will be interesting when Poulin and Legare are ready, both are over 6 feet. They would do well on a line with Carter, big and fast!!!
Back to Monday….
LET’S GO PEN’S!!!
Hey Pens4ever,
One of the other blogs mentioned the same thing…that Sullivan may need to break up the Crosby line to get them going.
Kapanen showed very little chemistry with Sid during the season, so maybe you shift Zucker to the top line and Guentzel to Geno’s line. I really don’t know if that’s going to do any good…Jake appears to be wearing down physically. But it might be worth a try, at least for one period. If it doesn’t work, we can always switch back.
Funny, but I almost mentioned Legare in my Opinyinz section. I think he’s exactly the type of player the Pens need…a spitfire with hands and a great shot. But again, I wonder if Sullivan will embrace him. Legare’s not going to win a fastest skater competition, and he’s abrasive and plays with an edge. Almost the exact type of player Sullivan seems constitutionally opposed to, yet the type who could really benefit the team.
It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out…
Rick