Merriam-Webster defines a mixed bag as follows: one having both positive and negative qualities. Well, that pretty much defines the Penguins’ lopsided 6-3 season-opening loss to the blood rival Flyers last night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Yeah, there were some positives…most notably the play of the bottom six. But there was a heapin’ helpin’ of negative thrown in.
I didn’t watch the game on TV, but I did listen to it on the radio, which sometimes can give you a unique perspective on the proceedings. Here are my impressions.
The Good
The Third Line—It’s almost as if we entered a parallel universe where up is down and down is up. Especially since the third line has been a black hole in recent seasons. But it was a definite plus (two goals, three assists, seven shots on goal, a collective plus-three).
Leading the way was center Mark Jankowski. The former Flame staked the black and gold to an early lead, hammering home a feed from Jared McCann. For good measure, he set up our third goal as well with a beautiful cross-ice backhand dish to collegiate teammate Brandon Tanev, who rifled the puck home from the left circle.
A poor showing in the faceoff circle aside (only two for nine on draws), perhaps we can expect good things from Jankowski.
While we’re talking bottom six, the fourth line of Teddy Blueger centering for Colton Sceviour and speedy Sam Lafferty also had its moments, unleashing five shots of their own while applying consistent pressure in the Philly zone.
Captain Sid—From the sounds of it, Sidney Crosby, was at the top of his game, winning 10 of 18 draws and notching an amazing, power-play goal with a brilliant backhand pickle-stab move that only Sid could author. If only the rest of the top-six had followed his lead…
The Bad
The Top Six–While we’re on the subject, the Pens vaunted top-six produced next to nothing…especially the second line. For a good portion of the game, Bryan Rust and Jason Zucker…so good in training camp…were held without a shot on goal. Jake Guentzel (one shot, minus-1) wasn’t exactly a ball of fire, either.
In his post-game comments, color analyst Phil Bourque singled out the top six without naming names, saying they didn’t show a lot of hunger. Kind of like 9-to-5ers plodding along, watching the clock, waiting for the end of the day. That just can’t be.
The Defensemen—As a group, the Pens’ defense really struggled. Lay some of the blame squarely at the feet of Mike Sullivan and the coaching staff, who want the rearguards to join the attack at every opportunity. A tactic that backfired mightily against the patient, disciplined Flyers, resulting in a plethora of odd-man breaks against.
Mike Matheson was…well…Mike Matheson. I must say, his name was called a lot, and he did a good job of keeping plays alive in the offensive zone. However, he screened goalie Tristan Jarry on the Flyers’ first goal, drew a retaliatory cross-checking penalty that led to Philly’s second power-play goal, and…along with his usually redoubtable partner John Marino…was on the wrong side of the puck a lot. Matheson got caught chasing the play on the Flyers’ game winner and failed to pick up Kevin Hayes on the sixth and final goal.
Let’s just say he’s a work in progress.
Speaking of new defensemen, I found it interesting that Brian Metzer was already questioning whether we need to play Cody Ceci on the post-game radio show. On the stat sheet, Ceci had a fairly benign game (a hit, a blocked shot, an even rating in 16:29 of ice time). Known for making bone-head decisions, he got trapped up ice on the Flyers’ fifth goal, the one that really drove a nail into our coffin and squelched any hope of a comeback.
Goaltending—Bourque went to great lengths to exonerate Jarry. Still, if you’re yielding six goals on 25 shots, something’s amiss. While his teammates were hardly blameless, he yielded go-head goals in the final two minutes of the first and second periods…a definite no-no. Let’s hope he bounces back…in a hurry.
Special Teams—Although they notched a power-play goal, the special teams were far from it. The penalty-kill was positively sieve-like, allowing Philly two back-breaking power-play tallies and forcing the Pens to play from behind for the better part of the evening.
Faceoffs—The Pens won only 21 of 50 draws (42 percent). Jankowski and Blueger were especially weak. A definite area of concern.
Second Chance Opportunities—Did we have any? A lot of one-and-dones, it seemed.
I’ll wrap with another comment by Bourque. Despite all of the off-season changes, he said this group played an awful lot like the one that got embarrassed by the Canadiens last fall, again citing a lack of hunger and passion.
If that’s the case, we’re in for a long season.
Rick – just a few quick comments on our 1st game.
1) It’s only one game and with the acquisition of new players it may take
them 10 games or so to click “which is a problem” with the shortened
season.
2) Our defense with only be as good as its wingers. Malkin still has
a tendency to gamble for steals “fly by’s” and was non-existant with
backchecking – as were several of our forwards.
3) It’s tough to play consistently with fire / passion when you don’t have
a player or players to set the tone. Toughness / grit = passion / urgency.
4) First time seeing Matheson and Ceci – I can live with Ceci’s stay at home
type of defenseman but he needs to bring a physical presence (1) hit and
(1) block “not going to cut it”. I thought Matheson except for his lack of
physicality didn’t play all that bad (0) giveaways which according to Panther
fans was a major problem.
5) Jarry needs to be more active around his crease – he’s to good of a stick
handler not to be aggressive on dump in’s and nullifying the Flyers
forecheck. I thought he looked tentative.
6) Tanev and Jankowski brought their “A” games.
6) Letang – 24 + minutes “problem for me”
7) Again it’s only one game.
GO PENS
Hey Mike,
100% agree – It is tough to play with fire and Passion when you do not have a fire guy and doesn’t like them. When he has one, he gets rid of him as soon as he can. Legare is a fire guy, he is a kid, a kid that needs some level of practice and playing to get better but who is sitting right now, awaiting the resumption of the QMJHL.
100% agree with you on Letang’s 24+ TOI
Hi Mike. Always good to read what you have to say.
Good points, all. Of course, I’ll focus on No. 3. Not to belabor the point, but we have too many of the same guy. Would love for us to have kept Legare, who plays with passion and fire and not just a smidgen of ability. An inspirational kid. But as I commented elsewhere, Sullivan seems almost allergic to guys like that.
Hence, we’re morphing into an all-skate, perimeter team. And, as we know, perimeter teams go nowhere.
I’m just not a fan of Ceci, but at least we’re not locked into him due to a fat contract. I do think Matheson has some offensive upside, but man ‘o’ Manischewitz there’s some fixin’ that needs to be done in the d-zone, and that’s not going to happen over night. FYI…it sounds like they’re planning to sit Ceci and go with Matheson-Ruhwedel on a sheltered third pairing.
I confess, I paid the least amount of attention to Jarry. I know he was screened on a few of the goals and others were fire drills. I think (hope) he’ll be fine. The ability is certainly there.
I was pleasantly (pleasantly) surprised by Jankowski and Tanev (and McCann)…I wasn’t aware they were collegiate teammates on a national champion at Providence. I wasn’t for the Jankowski signing initially, but after watching videos of him…the kid has ability. It’s just a matter of harnessing it and bringing it on a consistent basis.
Like you said…one game. Let’s hope (fingers crossed) for a better result tonight.
Rick
Hi Rick!
Hi TOR!
Sorry to add this comment a wee bit late but I listened to the game on the Pens radio network and Phil Bourque was right; there was a lack of passion and hunger. I mentioned on a previous post that there were a lot of question marks about the D, the bottom 6 and the goalies. A game doesn’t make a season but I didn’t like what I saw.
It’s going to be a nightmare for Sully to find the right D-pairings. Matheson and Ceci are prone to turnovers. As you said, Rick, why on earth do the D-men have to join the attack? No wonder they end up with 3 on 2s and 2 on 1s. Besides, the D-men are pinching way too low (Letang is leading that department). Is Ceci going to become the new Jack Johnson? I hope not.
Where was Malkin’s line? Totally invisible. But I like the way Tanev and Jankowski played; lots of grit and energy. Jarry was doing fine until the 3rd period collapse. But I thought he was way too often on his knees. It’s high time to hire another goalie coach. I simply don’t like his philosophy.
Well, I have a sinking feeling that captain Sidney will feel lonely this year.
Hello Jorenz! Always good to hear from you!
I agree…I think Sullivan’s going to have trouble finding the right ‘d’ pairings. Two wrongs don’t make a right (Jack Johnson-Justin Schultz) and I don’t think Sully will be able to pair Matheson and Ceci…at least not without bad results. Which virtually locks him into Matheson-Marino and Pettersson-Ceci.
As I’d written in another comment, there’s a little flexibility with Ceci due to his modest contract, so maybe they turn to Ruhwedel…certainly no all-star but a safer option.
For better or worse, we’re chained to Matheson due to his contract. Unless Ottawa would take him off our hands for Erik Gudbranson (rumored to be on the trading block). Yes…I know I’m dreaming.
Matheson definitely has pedigree and an offensive upside. But in watching clips of the goals against…it just reinforced all the negatives that have been written about his defensive play.
The bottom line…he’s not going to be an easy or quick fix…if he’s fixable at all.
Re: pinching…I don’t mind the d-men joining the attack, but there’s a time to do it and there’s a time to hang back. There obviously needs to be some discernment. Hopefully, that’ll come with time.
Problem is, we only have 56 games (55 now) to get it right…
Rick
PS–Just saw on “Pittsburgh Hockey Now” that Ruhwedel was paired with Matheson during the morning skate. Which means they’ll likely form the third-pairing. Marino will be reunited with Pettersson and Ceci sits. Kind of what I was hinting.
Hey Rick,
Let me add that there not only is a right time to pinch, but you need the right type of D-man to pinch, because we aren’t really talking about pinching but actually joining the attack. Not every defenseman has the skill level to join the attack nor is every Defenseman capable of being the last line of defense to the goalie. A team needs the right players to be able to play that attack.
You should be able to get away with it with Dumo and Letang. Dumo has years of practice covering for Letang.
Maybe Pettersson and Marino could do this but Pettersson is going to have to at least get back to the way he played 2 years ago to make that work.
After that, there really isn’t a 3rd pairing that you could trust. Matheson may be able to shoot the puck, but neither Ruhwedel nor Ceci could be relied upon on cover Matheson. Neither may be anything more than a 7th.
Hey Jorenz, Good to hear from you.
I don’t really blame Crosby or Malkin for the lack of production from the top 2 lines 5 on 5. Crosby’s line had better CORSI numbers but but lower Scoring chances for and higher Scoring chances against. Malkin’s Line had lower CORSI numbers but a better Scoring chance ratio.
I blame Sullivan. There was only 1 week of Camp and will only be 56 games. There is no time to try and develop chemistry. Zucker has never shown Chemistry with Malkin, but was does Sullivan do, he trots him out with Geno.
Then there is Rodrigues on Crosby’s line. First there was Sheary, then there was his lesser clone (or was it clown?) Simon, and now it is appearing that Rodrigues will be the 3rd incarnation of that farce. Rodrigues had the line skating around all over the place but doing nothing. They took more shots than their opponents but ended up with less scoring chances than the Flyers, from those shots. (14CF, 9CA, but 3 SCF and 6 SCA – so the line only generated 1 scoring chance in 7.5 shots while giving up 2 scoring chances every 3 shots – not very good)
And if Pensburg is right, there will be no change in this line up. Good Luck Sid and Geno, you’re going to need it.
Yes it was only the first game of the year, but with only 55 games left to play, it was pretty much like a Loss in any other January in previous seasons, a little bit more important.
As for the Goalie Coach, I have been complaining about him almost since he got here. At least since the negative results started piling up 3 years ago.
I was able to watch it, and I agree with the ol 29er… lack of passion.
Yeah just like the qualifying round last season… awful.
Crosby looked good as per usual…
Malkin and his line might as well just sit.
Can’t blame Jarry to much , only two goals were his fault, 3 he didn’t see and one he stopped the first two shots.
I know it’s only the 1st game but they play like this , in this division… well Minnesota will have a possible top of draft selection!!
Hey Pens4ever,
Good to hear from you.
Yeah…the lack of fire and passion is disturbing. I actually thought we played with a decent amount of spunk and intensity up till last February. Then…pfft…it seemed to go out the window almost overnight and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
Here’s where they miss Hornqvist…or a Hornqvist-type player. Actually, they had one right smack in front of them…Nathan Legare…and they sent him back to junior. (Gotta find a spot for our big free-agent signing, Evan Rodrigues).
Legare plays with fire and intensity and can find the net. And his type of player is infectious. But of course we…or more to the point…Mike Sullivan…probably didn’t want any part of that.
It’s as if he’s allergic to spirited players and big personalities.
Rick
PS–Yes, I’m sure Minnesota is licking their chops…
Hi Rick
Nice to see you brother. It has been a while. Hope all is well with you and the rest of the Pens Poop family.
Like OTR I did not see the game up here in Atlantic Canada. 5 Years ago in the Pens hay day it would have been on our local TV. Times have changed.
The only comment I can make is that I have serious reservations about the Defense Corps of our beloved Pens.This comment will not make me popular with the faithful but I see BIG issues ahead for the Pens being able to keep the puck out of their net. Philly is not a NHL Power house team, ( YET) so we should not fool ourselves into thinking the 2021 Pens are a Cup Favorite to win it all. This is year 2 of the slide to the mediocre and truthfully if we are holding out for KK to become a 40+ goal scoring machine along side Crosby, all I can say is GOOD LUCK.
There will be a lot of 5-3 or even 6-4 hockey games this year. Unfortunately for the bad guys. This will be a long winter ahead Rick.
Hope I am wrong.
Cheers
Jim
Hey Jim Good to hear from you. Your ears must have been buzzing. Rick and I were just talking about you with respect to our Pens.
Agreed, some people are still unwilling to acknowledge the obvious – the team has lost a lot of talent; yes some from age, but also a lot from poor personnel decisions. Unfortunately, whether or not some fans want to accept it, as Dylan sang “the times they are a changin”
Just wanted to share this with you, a friend of mine this AM posed the interesting, irreverent question, “If Simon was Sheary 2.0, is Rodrigues now Sheary 3.0, our next little CORSI gem, full of sound and fury – signifying nothing, whose lines never seem to find the back of the net?
Hope all is well up in your neck of the woods!
Hey Other Rick,
Love your description of Rodrigues (Sheary 3.0)…and very appropriate. What is it about the Penguins that they feel compelled to strip the lineup of toughness while stuffing it with one last, minuscule morsel of skill?
I cannot for one minute imagine Rodrigues piling up a ton of points (or any for that matter), yet you can be sure they’ll crowbar him into the lineup at the expense of others who might be more useful.
Rick
Hello Jim,
How very good to hear from you, my friend!
I hear ya about having problems keeping the puck out of our net. Suddenly, I’m very nervous about our defense. I think…naively…I thought we could fix Matheson in a relatively short time frame. Silly me. Watching him last night…well…it just reinforced a lot of the negatives I’d heard and read about him in the ‘d’ zone.
I guess these tendencies go all the way back to his college days (and maybe earlier). So, no, it doesn’t appear he’ll be a quick fix.
I didn’t like the Ceci signing from the get-go. No sooner do we buy out Jack Johnson than Rutherford inexplicably goes out and signs his clone. A head-scratcher.
Having to pair Marino and Pettersson with troubled partners will also mitigate their effectiveness to an extent.
I agree, Jim. This could, indeed, be a loooooong winter for us Pens fans…
Rick
Hey all,
Just a little add-on about our defense.
At one point, Sullivan broke up the Matheson-Marino pairing and went back to Pettersson-Marino and Matheson-Ceci combos. That apparently lasted one, long shift in which Matheson and Ceci couldn’t get the puck out of our zone. Sullivan quickly switched back to his original tandems.
It would appear we’re locked into our present pairings…goals against be damned.
Fortunately, Ceci’s contract isn’t so onerous that we can’t sit him for Ruhwedel if it comes to that. But Matheson? We’re stuck with him, and I mean stuck. Nobody’s gonna pick up that fat contract. We’ve either got to develop him, or there’s an extraordinarily ugly buyout looming in our future.
I’m pulling for the kid…the tools are there and he did a lot of good things in the offensive zone. But defensively? It was literally like all the negative comments about him sprang to life.
An unfortunate side effect. It mitigates the effectiveness of two pretty good defensemen…Marino and Pettersson.
Anyway…let’s hope for better things to come…
Rick
Hi Rick,
Good recap. Sounded just like you saw the game.
I don’t have anything of note to add. It was mostly a yawner when the top lines were on the ice. And the D, well, they pretty much stunk up the joint and left Jarry under siege for a lot of the game — still “sof.”
They pretty much phoned this one in. Maybe they’ll show up Friday.
— 55
Hey 55,
Always good to hear from you. We get two goals from our third line and don’t get at least a point? It sure doesn’t bode too well, does it?
Neither do Bourque’s comments about a lack of passion and fire.
Rick
Hey Rick,
Thanks for the write up. Unfortunately, I didn’t see any of the game so I needed to hear some thoughts about the game, also I can’t comment on much. The only thing I will say, regardless of the in-betweens (individual players actions), the result is about what I expected. Zucker – Malkin would seem to me to be a match made somewhere south of Heaven, Matheson is Matheson and Marino can only attenuate his lapses not nullify them, Camp was too short, blah, blah blah blah, blah, said all of this ad nauseum.
Also, let’s not forget that there were 2 – teams on the ice and one of them was better than the other. I heard all kinds of excuses about how the Pens were suffering from a shortened Camp, well so were the Flyers, as will all the teams. I do expect the Penguins to start finding their legs, but so will the other teams and although the play may not be as sloppy as all of you who got to watch the game may complain about, if everything remains as is, I don’t expect the result to be any different.
The Other Rick
IMO – Malkin was never into the game – he’s been saying all the right
things but his game is telling me otherwise – the only player on that
line that played with any type of edge was Zucker.
It’s only the first game and I think the Pen’s will be fine. It definitely
doesn’t help with Rodrigues playing right wing on Crosby’s line. I
would prefer bumping McCann up to play the right side.
One comment on our Defensive – There only as good as your wingers
and our’s failed to backcheck on several occasions. I also felt Jarry
need’s to play to his strengths and get out aggressively and play the
puck on dump in’s.
Hey Mike,
I did not see the game, too many commitments Wednesday. So I won’t argue what the line looked like, so I don’t who on the line played well or who didn’t. What I do know is that statistically and historically, Zucker-Malkin is a ZERO but Sully keeps trying it, even though he doesn’t have a whole lot of time. I also know that even though the Crosby line had better CORSI numbers (14CF, 9CA) compared to Malkin’s line (11CF, 12CA), Makin’s line had more scoring chances for SCF than Crosby’s line (4 for Malkin, 3 for Crosby), generating more chances from less shots, and gave up fewer scoring chances against SFA (4SCA for Malkin to 6SCA for Crosby) so that line nullified the opponents attempts better.
Just as I won’t say Malkin was the culprit on his line since I didn’t see the game, I won’t blame Crosby for his lines performance either. All I will say is the lines are STUPID and need changed. Legare and even though he may not have had a good camp, Poulin should be on the taxi squad, getting some chance to practice Hockey rather than sitting on their posteriors waiting for the QMJHL to resume and Rodriques and Gudreau should have ben waived for reassignment to WBS. Both would easily hav ecleared waivers but even if they didn’t – No Big Loss. And for those veterans, practicing or sitting makes no difference either, but practicing fo Legare and Poulin would have been huge.
Defense, since I didn’t see the game, I can’t speak to what happened in that game, but in general, yes, I do believe forwards need to help out defensively but could they have helped eliminate any of the GA last game? I don’t know, I didn’t see the game. Some of the comments I have heard about our D-men is that they looked like 8 year old s all chasing the puck rather than playing their position. If you tell me different, maybe you are right and they are wrong, I don’t know. Again, I didn’t see the game.
Jarry? maybe he needs to play the puck more, but the stats say he accounted for 1 of the teams 10 Gv (Crosby and Sceviour accounting for 2 each). But then again maybe he needs to play the puck less.
I am planning on watching tonight, so tomorrow I will feel better about either agreeing with you or arguing with you.