The Penguins are beginning to remind me of a light switch. On again…off again. Win one…lose one.
Great for saving on the electric bill. But not so great if you’re scratching and clawing for a playoff spot in the tightly packed MassMutual East Division and every point counts.
Aside from Casey DeSmith’s gutsy 28-save effort in a losing cause, there was little to like about the Pens’ putrid performance on Long Island yesterday afternoon. Even DeSmith’s outing was tainted a tad by a softie he allowed through the five-hole, but I’ll give Casey a pass since he was making his first start since February 11.
Goaltending was the least of our worries.
Once again, the special teams were atrocious. We were oh-for-two on the power play yesterday…it could have easily gone oh-for-200. It was typical back-and-gold stuff…a complete inability to work the puck into the prime scoring areas. Heck, we couldn’t even win puck battles on the perimeter.
I have no idea how to fix this. Practically everyone Mike Sullivan puts out there is ineffective. Maybe it’s time to break up the old gang and go with five guys who give you the best chance to score. Stick the third line out there and see what they can do. Or give Mike Matheson a shot at quarterback. They could hardly do worse.
The PK is no better. Once we get pinned in our zone, we’re like so many sardines sealed in a tin. Again, an inability to win puck battles is a concern. Not that it takes a Sherlock Holmes to deduce, but the Islanders have figured out that if you plant someone in front of our net, no one will cover him. At least not forcefully.
Easy pickins’.
Again, no clue how to fix this. As with the power play, the problem seems to be embedded as much with our personnel as in our scheme. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, some functional size and aggression at both ends of the ice might help.
There’s another, more worrisome trend. An abject lack of scoring punch.
Over our previous five games, our forwards have tallied a grand total of seven goals. Two combined from our erstwhile “Two-Headed Monster” Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
We’ve scored four goals or more in regulation only four times in 20 games.
That’s not enough. This team isn’t built to win with air-tight defense. It’s built to win with offense. And save for some solid production from the third line of Zach Aston-Reese, Teddy Blueger and Brandon Tanev, we’re not getting it.
Just like yesterday.
Puckpourri
The Isles outshot the Pens, 30-20, and won 56 percent of the draws. Two of our shots came during a somnambulant first period, eight more in the second for a grand total of 10 shots through 40 minutes. Which pretty much matched our sweat equity.
We handed the New Yorkers five power plays…they scored on two.
We’re presently ranked 26th in power play percentage (a dismal 15 percent) and 29th in penalty killing (72.1 percent). Few teams make the playoffs with such crappy special teams.
The Pens are outside of the MassMutual East playoff picture in fifth place with a record of 11-8-1 and 23 points. Two points behind the Flyers, who have two games in hand. Speaking of, we have three games with Philly this week at PPG Paints Arena that could well decide our postseason fate.
Let’s hope we give a better account of ourselves than yesterday.
Rick
Totally agree – shake up the PP unit – Put Matheson at the Point. A couple of
quick observations from yesterday’s loss.
1) Malkin is lifeless – he’s moving around like a player that has Mono. Zero
energy level – wth??
2) Guentzel has not returned to the same player he was before the injury.
3) Can anyone other than Crosby take a pass cleanly?? wth??
4) Trade Letang – If he’s playing horrible moving him for any type of value
is next to impossible – he’s had two good offensive game s out of 19 –
maybe, just maybe we can snooker someone into believing he’s worth
a young player and a pick…….
5) Why is Sceviour in the lineup? Again with an important faceoff in our
zone on the PK Sullivan has him take the draw instead of using Crosby.
6) We have two players on the entire team “Forwards” that actually try to
make a play 1 on 1 – Crosby and Kapanan. Everyone else it’s dump, dump,
and more dump.
7) Put Angello on the PP – get someone other than a dwarf to stand in front of
the net. Pleeaaasssseeee.
I look forward to your comments.
Hey Mike,
Sorry for the delayed response. Sometimes I get caught up in things, but I always look forward to your comments.
I agree about passing and receiving passes. As a team, we seem to have brick hands. And while it’s nice to think we’ll win a dump-and-chase game because of our speed, it’s mitigated to an extent by our difficulty in winning puck battles, let alone getting to the prime scoring areas.
I wish we could figure a way to spring Kapanen and utilize his speed, but it’s just not happening.
I’m not thrilled with Geno’s play, either, but I guess at least statistically his line did well on Sunday. According to Pensblog, we had an 18-5 edge in 5v5 shot attempts when he was on the ice. I just wish it would translate into some production.
I’m not a huge Letang fan, either, he drives me nuts with his decision-making. I guess it boils down to whether management thinks we’re a playoff team. But you’re right, if you’re going to move him, his value going forward might never be higher than it is now.
Perhaps a deal can be worked with Montreal, who have some good young players.
There’s an article on Pittsburgh Hockey Now-Plus where Dan Kingerski identifies some toughness/energy guy trade targets. While I don’t have access to the article, it displays a photo of Nicolas Deslauriers of Anaheim.
Not a ton of skill, although he did score 10 goals for Montreal a few seasons back. But a pretty tough kid who uses the body and brings it every night.
Boston’s Trent Frederic is also rumored to be on the block. Again, a really tough kid and younger than Deslauriers (23 vs. 29). Hard to imagine the Bruins trading in-division, however.
Anyway, let’s hope we turn things around against Philly. If we don’t, I think our season’s down the tubes…if it isn’t already.
Rick
Rick
The going will be tough tonight with Crosby being placed on
Covid 19 protocol list.
Maybe shaking up the lines will give a couple of players a chance
to shine……Angello, Lafferty…..etc…etc…?
Keep the faith but IMO – No trade, No playoffs!!
Hey Mike,
I hear ya. The one dark cloud hovering in the background…what happens if Sid and Geno (despite his underwhelming play) go down. I mean, we have absolutely zero depth down the middle.
I suppose McCann can slot over, and Lafferty and Rodrigues (and I think maybe Angelo) can fill in. Then there’s always Jankowski (shudder). But it’s scary how thin we are at center. And these are crucial games with Philly.
Rick