Heart and soul, I fell in love with you. Heart and soul, the way a fool would do, madly…
It might be a stretch to say I loved the way the Penguins played during our 5-4 overtime victory over Washington last night at PPG Paints Arena. After all, it wasn’t exactly the way coach Mike Sullivan would draw it up on the chalkboard. Give up two late goals in the first period to fall behind, 3-1, and look flatter the proverbial pancake while doing it.
For good measure, allow a three-on-oh (dear Lord) break early in the second period to really give your opponent a chance to bury you. Oh, and lose a couple of defensemen to injury in the process.
In the end, maybe that’s what made victory all the more stirring…and satisfying. When the chips were down, our guys stood up. Maybe developing some cohesion and team chemistry in the process.
In my mind, Casey DeSmith was the backbone. No, his numbers weren’t pretty. Twenty-two saves on 26 shots, a less-than-pedestrian .846 save percentage. But Casey kept his composure and kept battling, stopping 14 of the last 15 shots he faced to keep our guys in the game. Including a HUGE stop on ex-Pen and former HBKer Carl Hagelin on that three-on-oh, when his teammates were for all intents and purposes looking for a place to roll over and die.
Then, with the Pens trailing 4-2 late in the second period and two-men short, he coolly gathered in a loose puck at the side of the cage and lofted a beautiful aerial pass to Teddy Blueger, who broke into the Caps’ zone all alone and slipped the puck between the pads of rookie Vitek Vanecek for a five-hole goal. Igniting a black-and-gold rally, not to mention our competitive fires.
Heck, even Evgeni Malkin skated with his old passion and intensity. When T.J. Oshie reefed Marcus Pettersson with a dirty blindside hit late in the frame to hand us a power play, No. 71 made him pay. After calling for the puck, the rangy Russian blasted a rocket past Vanecek from the top of the right circle to knot the score at 4-all.
Vintage Geno.
Welcome back from zombie-land, big guy. We’ve missed you.
As poorly as the Pens played through the early going, I thought they were equally impressive over the last 30 minutes or so. At times, their speed up front was telling, unsettling the Caps’ defense and pinning them down in their own zone. My goodness, can Brandon Tanev motor, disrupt and disturb.
And what can you say about the work of Brian Dumoulin, Kris Letang, John Marino and unsung Chad Ruhwedel in the final frame? The quartet was terrific, perhaps in no small part because they gambled less and paid more attention to their defensive duties.
Letang, in particular, was sensational. There are times when No. 58 plays like he leaves his brain at home. This wasn’t one of those nights.
When he gets dialed in and puts it all together? You can see why “Tanger’s” regarded as an elite defenseman. For the record, I can’t remember the last time he looked so sure and quick and decisive. All the while logging a stout 28:41 of ice time.
But I digress.
The Pens had a golden opportunity to secure two points in regulation, but Vanecek stopped Jake Guentzel from in tight with 2:24 remaining to send the game to overtime.
But the black and gold…or more to the point…Sidney Crosby, would not be denied. A minute into the extra stanza Guentzel found some open space with a nifty self-pass off the boards. He fed Letang in stride and Tanger blasted the puck on net. The rebound popped loose to Sid, who wheeled around Vanecek and whipped it home. Earning two huge points in the process.
No, it wasn’t a perfect win, not by a long shot. But it was perfectly delicious.
Kapanen Debuts
Kasperi Kapanen made his much-anticipated Penguins debut last night. Much to my surprise, Sullivan penciled No. 42 in on the fourth line next to Blueger and Colton Sceviour. At first I didn’t like the move. But it gave us four reasonably effective lines. And the flying Finn sure didn’t disappoint, doing the heavy lifting on our first goal by Sceviour (and collecting an assist) while making his presence felt with his wheels and adroit puckhandling.
Puckpourri
After going with fairly set lines through the first three games, Sullivan did some juggling last night. He elevated Tanev to the second line alongside Malkin and dropped Rust to the third unit. A bit of a surprise, since Tanev and third-line center Mark Jankowski have displayed good chemistry.
The one change I wish he’d make? Guentzel to Geno’s wing and Jason Zucker to Crosby’s. Zucker and Malkin have shown about as much synergy as oil and water.
Guentzel scored his first goal of the season, finishing off a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play with Crosby and Rust on a 5-on-3 power play at 5:45 of the second period for the Pens’ second goal.
Sid paced the Pens with a goal and two assists and won 84 percent of his faceoffs. Blueger (75 percent on draws) and Guentzel each tallied a goal and an assist. Letang (two assists) registered four shots on goal, three hits and a blocked shot.
Pettersson and Juuso Riikola are being evaluated for upper-body injuries. No word yet on the exact nature or severity.
Hey Rick,
I love and appreciate every Win, but I am not feeling it bud. The team has two non-regulation time wins, that is it. There are seriously disturbing signs here.
NO, DeSmith was no hero. Part of the reason the team had to battle so hard was DeSmith’s poor play in the 1st period. Tristan Jarry still occupies the 2nd to last spot in the League for Sv%, but DeSmith’s Sv% qualifies him for the 12th worst. You can forgive DeSmith on Kustnetsov’s goal to some extent, arguing that if Sprong had not redirected the puck, DeSmith could have controlled the rebound and there would not have been any bunny for Kustnetsiv to tap home, but the first 3 goals the Caps scored went right thru our Pens goalie.
Once again, neither of the top two lines scored a goal and Crosby and Malkin have yet to register a 5-on-5 point. If it wasn’t for Pettersson hammering home a shot set up by Zucker and Rust, the second line would still not be on the score sheet and the first line is worse. If it wasn’t for a kick-in goal by Rodrigues, the top line would still not be scoreless.
If those lines can’t score against the Caps young Goalies and wide open Hockey, what are they going to do when they go against the Isles and Bruins? Or what aren’t they going to do? (Assuming status quo)
Yes, Sully gave Kapanen a shift with Corsby and Guentzel and then flip Tanev away from Jankowski, despite the Jankowski-Tanev chemistry or the Malkin-Rust chemistry but left Zucker with Geno but that was the extent of his trying something different on the top two lines, so I was not surprised that neither scored last night.
I do agree with you 100%, Zucker – Crosby – Kapanen and
Guentzel – Malkin – Rust
At least try it for a couple games.
But Sully wants to die on this hill he is creating of Zucker – Malkin.
As for team defense, it is really hard to say which came first the chicken or the egg. Yes, the Pens have ceded a ridiculously low number of shots this season, 3rd lowest (24.0/GP), but when I see that the Caps have only averaged 24.5 /GP and the Flyers 24.8/GP it makes me wonder. Before hailing the D, I need to see more data.
Also, isn’t it funny how the team D gets better when subtracting out the $4.875 Mil Matheson and then the $4.025 Mil Petterson.
I would really love to put the rose – colored glasses on but I am seeing too many signs of a rotting infrastructure on this team.
The Other Rick
Regarding the 2nd line of Malkin & Zucker – IMO I think Sully’s continued
desire to keep them together has more to do with him wanting Guentzel
on Crosby’s left side. Guentzel is more of a Crosby type player. As for
Malkin, I wouldn’t wish that on any forward “Jesus”
Just a quick correction – Crosby has (1) goal at even strength. Malkin
has zero pts and linemates Zucker and Rust have 1 assist apiece while
at even strength. Again IMO Malkin is by far the root of the problem – it’s
his job to create scoring opportunities for his wingers and the only one creating any type of scoring chances for himself & linemates is Zucker.
One last thing and this is for yourself and Rick – If a Penguin player blindsided
a Cap last night what do you think the outcome would have been?? No one on
the Penguins even thought about retribution. “Not Good”!! I know, I know everyone will say we need the man advantage but allowing this to happen without a teammate coming to his aid has long-term effects on a team and it’s
players.
I know it’s early but Kapanen needs to replace Rust on the #1 PP unit.
GO PEN’S
Hey Mike,
Just happened to see this on Pensblog and it backs up what you say about Malkin. Unfortunately, to a T.
In slightly over 14 minutes of 5-on-5 time with Geno last night, the Pens had two shots on goal and six shot attempts. The Caps had nine shots on goal and 18 shot attempts. They also had an 11-1 edge in scoring chances. Yikes.
Man, I hope this is just an early-season funk and not the start of a permanent decline. We need all top-six hands on deck and producing to have a legit chance of making the playoffs, never mind a shot at the Cup.
Rick
Rick
Totally agree with Malkin – I’m praying he’s in a funk and not
a victim of age. That would not be good. Like you indicated
we need the Top 6 producing for this team to have success.
Malkin is performing like a player who’s dealing with an injury.
Hopefully, the PP goal he scored against the Caps can help get
him back on track.
GO PENS
Hey Mike,
Agreed Mike, the Penguins just meekly accepted injuries and it will only get worse in this division without tougher players, but Sully sends the bigger tougher players back to the Jrs or WBS, or sits them until JR finally trades them. Your point about long term affects is well taken, the team really hasn’t over-come Wilson’s liberties from the playoffs 3 years ago. They shrink at contact.
As for Kapanen on the PP, I agree but there are larger problems on the team right now.
At the risk of being picayune, I actually wrote neither Crosby nor Malkin have goals or Points 5 on 5 not even strength. Crosby’s goal came in OT 3 on 3.
As for Guentzel being a more of a Crosby man, Guentzel’s first 5 or 6 points came playing Wing for Malkin. Over the last 3 season’s Guentzel’s CORSI with Crosby has been 53.87% while he CORSI with Malkin has been 53.84 – statistical dead heat. Guentzel’s GF/60 with Crosby has only been 3.16 while with Malkin it has been 3.87. Guentzel plays far better with Malkin than Crosby.
Add to that the fact that even though Guentzel – Crosby – Rodrigues fly all over the ice, if not for Rodrigues kicking a puck into the net and getting away with it, that line has scored nothing, the null set, however, even though Geno didn’t pick up an assist and a defenseman scored the goal, the Malkin line did score a legitimate goal.
Neither line is doing its job against weak defensive teams, so there is no evidence that they will do anything at all against good defensive teams. It is well past time to shuffle the deck and put Zucker – Crosby – Kapanen together and reunite Guentzel – Malkin – Rust.
Last season was last season, so it may not hold true this year, but that trio scored 4.87 GF/60, only ceded 2.44 GA/60 and had a 56.61% CORSI. Sully has gotten anything from his current lines so it is absolutely reasonable to reunite this line to see if the MOJO can be reignited.
The Other Rick
As you know I’m not a numbers guy but the eye test tells me
Guentzel is more compatible with Crosby than Malkin and to
be honest anyone playing alongside Malkin right now would
be struggling.
There are so many variables that come with those statistics –
Guentzel may have gotten hot while playing with Malkin as a
coincidence “who knows” and aside from points Crosby brings
it every night “effort-wise” unlike Malkin. It doesn’t take a
Hockey guru to see Malkin is lethargic and lacks any type of
urgency/passion.
Malkin needs to start setting up his wingers. If he creates legit scoring chances and they don’t deliver then by all means
shake up the lines. We’ve only played (4) games so it’s way too
early to panic.
GO PENS
Hey Mike,
I know you are not a numbers guy, but please understand that I am. I worry more about results. The eyes can be deceived. Simon by almost everyone’s eye test was a darling, but very little good (goals) ever happened when he was on the ice. This is why I always throw Shakespeare quotes in like “Much ado about nothing” or “Full of sound and fury signifying nothing”. If goals don’t get scored, more goals than the other team, then it means nothing.
Regardless of what the eye test’s illusions when Guentzel – Malkin – Rust where together, great things happened. GF were score, GA were limited. The chemistry of all 3 of those guys together became greater than the sum of their parts.
Right now, I can’t get on to Natural Stat Trick to verify numbers, but Malkin – Zucker have played more than 4 games together, going back to last year and that combination is beyond horrible. Furthermore, in an 82 game schedule, 4 games doesn’t represent much, but in a 56 game schedule it is 7.1% of the season, we are almost at the 10% point of the year, that is a pretty big chunk.
The team is 2 – 2 but could very easily be 0 – 4. This is not a case of “don’t fix what ain’t broken”, there is plenty of broken. Neither of the top 2 lines are working. They are almost scoreless over 7% of the season. It is time to try and fix that. Maybe my suggested combinations won’t fix it, who knows, (that is the beauty of armchair coaching and GM – unless I am in agreement with is being done, I can never be shown to be wrong or right) but what Sullivan is doing we know isn’t working.
The Other Rick
IMO – Zucker can be effective on either of the
top two lines. The problem right now is our
Center play on the 2nd line – It doesn’t matter
who Sully plugs in it won’t work unless Malkin
somehow comes out of this deep sleep.
GO PENS
You whine when they lose. You whine when they win. Winning isn’t enough. They have win with style points to make you happy. Wait. I doubt you are ever happy.
I use the word “whining” here because that is what you do. If you really want to whine, try being a Caps fan after that game.
Hey Other Rick,
I can certainly understand your trepidation. Even in victory, the Pens are a flawed team…or at the very least a work in progress. They almost need to be hit with a baseball bat before they play with any intensity.
On most nights, 30-minute efforts aren’t going to cut it.
I’m not saying DeSmith didn’t let in a couple of stinkers. But he also showed a lot of cool, poise and mental toughness. And when we really needed him to make the saves, he made ’em.
Rick
Hey Rick,
I hate to say this my friend, as a former goalie, I hate saying anything bad about any goalie, but DeSmith isn’t really making the BIG save, he has gotten very, very lucky. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. The precious few saves he makes standout more in every ones mind since he isn’t getting tested that often. But when does get tested all to often he fails. DeSmith is facing 21.39 Shots/60min and only stopping 87.1%.
DeSmith only appears to be making the big save. As you, yourself noted, the team D buckled down in the 3rd period and OT, giving up shots out of an eye-dropper.
Furthermore Rick, as I noted in elsewhere, in days of yore, our Pens would still be winless at 0 – 2 – 2.
There still is very little to be impress with about this team.
Kapanen in his begrudge TOI was one of the impressive factors – as Mike noted showed that he deserves a PP look.
Jankowski, so far has been impressive and may prove me wrong (and I will be glad to admit it if he can maintain his solid play). He certainly has shown chemistry with McCann and Tanev thus far.
Speaking of McCann and Tanev, they too have been bright spots. So was Lafferty until Sullivan decided to send him down rather than risk losing the phenomenal Rodriques to waivers (sarcasm extremely intended).
Sceviour also has been a pleasant surprise.
Dropping Ceci and Matheson from the lineup whether thru healthy scratch or injury has improved team D and losing Pettersson also seems to have gotten them to another level, if they can maintain it.
As I wrote a couple of days back, my greatest fear is that the team will win just enough to get peoples hopes up, like those of a gambler thinking he just needs one more roll of the dice or one more hand of poker to get himself back on a winning streak to break the bank, only to foolishly throw good money after bad.