Penguins Game Two Review: Sifting Through the Wreckage

In the immediate aftermath of the Penguins’ disappointing 5-2 loss to the Flyers last night at the Wells Fargo Center, I found myself sifting through the wreckage in search of positives. And there were some to be found. More than a few…actually.

Still, it reminded me of Sidney Crosby’s rookie season, when a black-and-gold squad that included a fading Mario Lemieux and several high-profile free agents couldn’t buy a win.

How the mighty have fallen.

Back to those positives. I thought the Pens played better than they did in the season opener. Maybe even deserved a better fate. After going down 3-0 early they showed some moxie, pulling to within a goal on tallies by Crosby and buzz-saw Brandon Tanev. The second of the young season for both.

Once Casey DeSmith replaced shell-shocked Tristan Jarry between the pipes, the Pens began to resemble a hockey team. At times a pretty good one. They outshot the Flyers, 33-20, and won the faceoff battle. For the better part of the evening they dictated the tempo and controlled the play. Only the superlative puck-stopping of Philly phenom Carter Hart kept us from earning a point or two.

While I’m mentioning goalies, DeSmith gets a gold star. In his first NHL game in 22 months he looked calm, cool and collected…everything Jarry wasn’t. Casey stopped 12 of 13 shots and gave our guys a fighting chance. That’s all you can ask of your backup.

Crosby looked great (a goal, six shots on goal) and the first line had its moments. I was impressed with Evan Rodrigues’ speed. If only he could finish.

The third line continues to be a revelation. (When was the last time you could say that?) Tanev, Mark Jankowski and Jared McCann have displayed instant chemistry while melding into a dangerous unit…arguably the Pens’ best. The former Friars were superb on the penalty kill…Jankowski, in particular, could be lethal shorthanded.

Speaking of special teams, I liked the movement on our power play. I think it’ll pay dividends as the season progresses.

Now for my concerns. Has anyone seen Evgeni Malkin, or at least the version who reportedly tore up training camp? If you have, please return him to PPG Paints Arena post haste.

Sarcasm aside, No. 71 looks slow and uninspired. His passes were almost uniformly crappy, not to mention mostly to the Flyers. A sour performance that nullified a better effort from linemates Bryan Rust and Jason Zucker.

We need more from you “Geno.” A lot more.

I’m starting to worry about Jarry as well. After an air-tight camp, he’s been positively sieve-like during the dual losses to Philly (a meager 22 saves on 31 shots). Worse yet, he appears mentally fragile…the antithesis of the cool, confident netminder who earned an All-Star game invite last season.

The Pens aren’t structurally sound enough to carry a goalie…if anything it needs to be the other way around. Jarry collapsed during the early going last night and the team collapsed around him. I haven’t seen a black-and-gold goalie look this porous since Antti Niemi, and I wasn’t exactly a Matt Murray fan.

While we’re on the subject of defending, our top pairing of Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin was a collective minus-six. Yikes! Mike Matheson looked wobbly…and a bit timid…while receiving sheltered minutes beside Chad Ruhwedel, who acquitted himself well in his season debut (three shots, three hits, two blocked shots). Still, only the Marcus Pettersson–John Marino pairing was solid (plus-one for the evening).

A last observation. I thought we did a better job of crashing the net and generating second-chance opportunities. But we still could use a bona fide net-front warrior to wreak a little havoc and a physical presence to boot. Especially with two games coming up against a rugged Washington team that’s sure to bang us around.

Anyway, as Porky Pig used to say, “”Th-th-th-that’s all folks!”

Oh-and-two and counting.