No Defense for Penguins Defense

A few seasons ago one of our PenguinPoop readers (55 on Point, I believe) attended a Penguins training camp practice session. If I’m a little fuzzy on the details, I’m crystal clear on his observations. He was surprised to find that the Pens’ defensemen spent very little time actually practicing defensive zone coverage. Rather, they focused almost entirely on outlet passes and moving the puck to the forwards.

The better to fuel Mike Sullivan’s puck-possession scheme. And, hey, I get it. You don’t want your defensemen glomming onto the puck in their own zone like so many Rob Scuderi clones (sorry, Scuds).

But there’s a balance to be struck. And right now, our guys haven’t achieved it.

Sure, there are other factors involved in our poor defensive showing (20^th in goals allowed). Structurally we’re about sound as the Titanic after it struck the iceberg. And we endured a hail of injuries to our blueline corps.

Other sites have pointed the finger at our goalies. It’s true that Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith have hardly been airtight, combining for the worst team save percentage in the league (.862). Jarry, in particular, has been guilty of playing too deep in his net. But when you’ve got opposing forwards routinely invading your space, where else are you going to play?

In terms of cause and effect, it’s a clear-cut case of the chicken or the egg.

Back to our defense. I’m still stewing over our d-zone coverage (or lack of) during the recent 4-3 come-front-in-front loss to the Islanders.

On New York’s first goal, Jordan Eberle turned Cody Ceci into a turnstile. A rusty one at that. It should be noted that Cody’s partner, Chad Ruhwedel, was stranded somewhere in the next zip code.

For the record, all things considered I think Ceci’s done a decent job. Just not on this play.

On the second Islanders’ tally, Erberle somehow escaped the attention of Mike Matheson, who stepped up to take Michael Dal Colle (already covered by Jason Zucker). Eberle was standing all alone and practically on top of Jarry when he shoveled home a rebound.

The third Isles’ goal was a Kris Letang special. Casey Cizikas lugged the puck behind the Pens’ net with Pierre-Olivier Joseph covering. Quicker than you could say, “Great googly moogly,” Letang flew in to double-up on Cizikas, cutting P-O off in the process and leaving Cal Clutterbuck unattended in the slot. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened next. Jarry had no chance.

But for me, the nadir occurred during the game-winning power play goal. Letang and Ruhwedel paid scant attention to Anders Lee, camped in the slot in front of Jarry. Roughly akin to ignoring a Clydesdale parked on your front porch.

Upon reviewing a replay of the goal, here’s how MSG Plus color announcer Butch Goring described the carnage.

“Anders Lee, who makes his living…watch him in front of the net. He’s all alone in front. Anders is battling for position…no one really takes Anders. Pittsburgh doesn’t kill penalties that way…Pittsburgh’s trying to front Anders Lee. And the loose puck…the long reach (he scores). Ruhwedel comes back (too late) and tries to lay a pretty hard stick…”

Actually, if Goring had stopped at, “Pittsburgh doesn’t kill penalties,” he would’ve been accurate. But that’s a subject for another article.

You’ve at least got to try to interfere with Lee. Tie up his stick…give him a bump. Something. Instead, Messrs. Letang and Ruhwedel were content to wave their sticks at the puck…or more accurately…air. Whether they’ve been instructed to defend this way by Sullivan and his staff is a matter of conjecture. But it sure seems like it.

Lest you think this sequence is an anomaly, the Rangers’ Chris Kreider tallied a crucial power-play goal against us on February 1 in a similar fashion. This time it was John Marino and Ceci who turned a blind eye to the net-front presence lurking to their collective rear.

Stats show our defensemen have somehow accumulated 119 hits…roughly the same number as the physical Montreal defense (129). That may be so. But going by the eye test, hardly any of the alleged collisions have taken place near our crease.

In a word, our defense is “soff.” Pudding soft. If he were still our coach Michel Therrien would have a conniption.

It frustrates me beyond belief that no one takes the body around our net, at least not consistently and forcefully. A quick aside…Joseph has shown a taste for physical play. In the 4-1 loss to Boston he lowered the boom on Anders Bjork with a bone-crunching check in the neutral zone.

Let’s hope P-O doesn’t become indoctrinated into the Pens’ preferred style of defending.

There is a glimmer of hope. New hires Ron Hextall and Brian Burke know the value of having a physical player or two in the lineup. Hockey purists needn’t panic…they’re not going to turn us into a modern-day version of the Broad Street Bullies. But I expect the Pens to become more stout…and better able to compete in traffic at both ends of the ice under their collective watch.

Hopefully in the not-too-distant future.