In my last game summary, I concluded that the Penguins would need to bring their ‘A’ game on Monday evening or they’d be staring up at a 3-2 series deficit.
Well, our guys gave their very best last night during Game 5 at PPG Paints Arena, at times thoroughly dominating the Islanders. They outshot the New Yorkers, 50-28. They converted one of two power plays, won the faceoff battle (53 percent) and were virtually even in hits. However, they lost, 3-2, in heart-wrenching fashion on a horrible giveaway by Tristan Jarry a scant 51 seconds into the second overtime.
Sometimes things don’t go as planned or hoped.
Determined to atone for a lackluster effort in Game 4, the Pens jumped on the Isles from the opening draw. Leading the charge was a rejuvenated Evgeni Malkin. Skating with fire and purpose, “Geno” staked us to an early lead with a power-play tally at 8:20 of the first period. Finishing off a gorgeous tic-tac-toe passing sequence, No. 71 walked in from the left circle and beat Ilya Sorokin with a rising bullet to the stick side.
Vintage Malkin.
It appeared the Pens would enter the first intermission with a hard-earned 1-0 lead. But with 55 seconds to play Anthony Beauvillier took advantage of an ill-advised pinch by Kris Letang, sped around Jake Guentzel and beat Jarry high stick side.
If the Pens were fazed, they didn’t show it. Pulling out all stops, they overwhelmed the Islanders in the second period, piling up a stunning 20-4 edge in shots on goal.
Although he didn’t pick up an assist, Malkin was front and center on our next scoring play at 7:37 of the frame. Buying time in the neutral zone following a failed offensive thrust, Geno hit Letang with a perfect pass to send the fleet defender racing into the New York zone. “Tanger” fed Sidney Crosby, who in turn dropped the puck to Bryan Rust high in the zone. The new dad stepped into the rubber and blasted a wicked one-timer past Sorokin.
Holding a 2-1 lead entering the third period, we appeared to be in command as time ticked off the clock. But near the nine-minute mark the Isles trapped our defensemen (Letang and Brian Dumoulin) to the right of the net thanks to some hard forechecking. With inside position on our defense, Leo Komarov moved the puck quickly to Jordan Eberle. Wide open, Eberle beat a sprawling Jarry to knot the score at 2-all.
The goalies took over for the rest of regulation and through an exciting first overtime. Then Jarry flinched, firing a clearing feed directly to Josh Bailey in the first minute of the second OT. Before we could react, the Isles forward cruised into the slot and beat our discombobulated goalie high glove side.
A crushing defeat for a black-and-gold squad that gave its all.
The difference on this night was Sorokin.
Puckpourri
The Pens dominated the fancy stats as well as the game, enjoying a whopping edge in Corsi events (78-41), scoring chances (36-18) and high danger chances (14-4) at 5v5.
Rust (a goal and an assist) and Letang (two assists) paced us with two points each. Tanger delivered 10 hits while logging an eye-popping 37:20 of ice time. He also had three giveaways and finished a minus-one. Dumoulin finished a minus-two.
Rust, Frederick Gaudreau and Mike Matheson led the black and gold with six shots on goal. Guentzel had five, but was held off the score sheet for the fourth game in a row. Kasperi Kapanen managed one shot on goal and finished a minus-two. He’s a team-worst minus-five for the series.
Around the League
North of the border, Winnipeg beat Edmonton and Connor McDavid in triple overtime to complete a four-game sweep. Toronto nipped Montreal, 2-1, to go up by the same margin in the series.
Minnesota whipped Vegas, 4-2, to close the series gap to 3-2. Florida likewise staved off elimination, downing Tampa Bay behind a 36-save effort by rookie Spencer Knight.
Mission Possible
Having blown a 2-1 series lead, the 1990-91 Pens trailed a tough, gritty New Jersey team in their opening-round series, 3-2. Shackled by a cadre of physical Devils checkers, Mario Lemieux was having an ordinary series. To make matters worse, Game 6 was slated for the Meadowlands and the Pens would play without starting goalie Tom Barrasso. If ever a team appeared dead in the water, it was that one.
Why am I sharing a history lesson? Despite our present grim circumstances, winning two games in a row is doable. During the regular season, we displayed a remarkable resilience and esprit de corps. Those qualities will need to be front and center in Game 6, along with a heightened attention to detail. And some guys, most notably Kapanen and Jared McCann, will need to pick it up a notch.
A tough climb, to be sure. But not a mission impossible.
What became of that ’91 squad? They rallied behind backup goalie Frank Pietrangelo to dispatch the Devils in Games 6 and 7…and went on to capture the Cup.
It’s going to be so tough in Long Island to win game #6….. I am not giving up but i am a realist and it could be bad..
I have been coaching for a number of years, I have 3 boys that play, 1 defense and 2 forwards…. I always tell my kids and players that the safest place for the puck is up the boards, never ever up the middle.
I couldn’t believe that Jarry did that..
But we all knew going into playoffs, that goaltending was going to be the question.
I know the Penguins outshot them but we missed the net a lot…. and a few shooting chances were passed up for a pass.
I have no problem giving credit to Sorokin, he was great. He held his team in there and gave them the chance to win… too bad our goalie didn’t.
Is Jarry our franchise goalie, the future ?
I don’t know.
Penguins have invested a lot of money and time plus passed on other goalies for this kid…. I am not so sure right now.
LET’S GO PEN’S
You aren’t the only one asking that question, Pens4ever, I just read another article citing everything and more of what you just said.
Last season, many, many people, even here on these boards were extolling the virtues of Jarry and preparing to erect a statue to him. Even at the beginning of this season, many prognosticators were predicting a huge year for him.
One thing I mentioned last season, that I didn’t like about Jarry was his Penchant for trying to score goals and/or throw the home run pass. I said back then that it would get him trouble. Hmmmm
Now the locals are forming ranks, pitch forks in hand, with buckets of tar and feathers for the young net minder.
I was never a fan of Jarry’s. I was hoping Gustavsson would supplant Murray. But the team dealt Gustavsson for Brassard. (It is only a small sample size. but did you see what Gustavsson did in Ottawa this year, after his early struggles to adapt to North American hockey?)
If you recall, I also wanted the Pens to sign Adam Reideborn a couple of seasons back but they chose to sign Emil Larmi. Have you seen what Reideborn has been doing in the KHL? Not quite the same as the NHL but he could have been that bridge to either Blomqvist or Clang or both.
Now after all that negativity about Jarry, I still think he would be serviceable if the team had a better goalie coach. As I wrote several days back, with all the goalies looking like clones of each other, a lot of the problems go back to the coach. Bales had Murray winning 2 – Cups. Buckley turned Murray into a below average goalie. Under Bales, it didn’t matter if you were talking about MAF, Murray or Zatkoff, they almost never gave up a lead in the 3rd period, no matter how hard the other team pressed. Under Buckley, no lead is safe in the 3rd period, regardless of who is in goal – Murray, Jarry, or DeSmith.
Ottawa had the wherewithal to fire their goalie coach mid season this season and lo and behold, Murray ends up with 2 SOs before getting injured (Hey Phil, now I can agree with you, even though he is still young, Murray does have a pattern of getting injured, he just may be the Beau Bennett of Goaliedom. Under Bales again and for a vastly more team friendly salary, I still would take him over Jarry though – the kid did win 2 Cups).
As you say though
LETS GO PENS!!!
Hey Pens4ever,
Like you, I’m trying to remain hopeful and positive about Game 6. As I wrote in my article, it isn’t an impossible task. Win this one, then come back to the ‘Burgh for a Game 7.
But just below the surface, I have that unsettling feeling that our guys are going to make a crucial mistake at the wrong time and the Islanders will capitalize, as they always seem to do.
Maybe it’s time to pray (a lot).
I don’t pin this all on Jarry, although obviously that was a terrible play. But our overall defensive structure, including the forwards, just seems to fall apart when we’re pressured. I thought as a team we were a little slow to react on a couple of the goals, although on the OT-winner nobody could probably believe what they were seeing.
Back to your assessment of Jarry. I don’t know if he’s a goal-to goalie, either. The ability and athleticism is there and he did win a Memorial Cup in junior. But sometimes the focus and consistency is missing. And these are the playoffs. Things you could maybe get away with during the regular season suddenly start costing you. That goes for the whole team.
It circles back to whether or not our team makeup and Sullivan’s preferred style of play is conducive to postseason success.
We just seem to be missing a certain element…whether it’s discipline or structure or physicality or mental toughness…or all of the above.
Rick
Hi Rick!
Well, my vibes were not good before the game and it was unfortunately confirmed with this shitty ending…
Overall, the Pens dominated but Jarry blew it all up. A brain fart at the most inappropriate time! And it is not the first he tries to deke everybody.
I thought Malkin played a better game tonight. He was very focused and generally stayed away from the box (except for one penalty).
But my 5000$ question is: how on earth can the Pens lose a game with 50 shots on goal? Lack of opportunism? Lack of stamina? I sincerely don’t know what to answer.
Jarry didn’t sleep well last tonight for sure! I hope he is going to bounce back but I won’t bet a toonie (Canada’s two-dollar coin) on that.
P.S.: It is sheer pandemonium on social media about Jarry’s brain fart.
Hey Jorenz,
Always good to hear from you. I was really hopeful we’d hang onto to this one. I mean, we played so darn well through two periods. But when the Isles caved in our defense to score the equalizer…well…as much as I wanted to believe…
The Islanders are so darn solid, especially now that Sorokin’s replaced Varlamov. They just don’t make mistakes. And you know sooner or later we’re going to screw up and leave an opening. And when we do, the Islanders are so good at capitalizing. They just don’t miss.
I honestly don’t know how we’re going to recover from this emotionally and psychologically. We really just need to forget about winning two games and put all our focus on Game 6 and take it period by period…or half period as the case may be.
Rick
PS–I thought Malkin played a lot better, too. Really, you can’t fault our effort, although I wish we could find a way inside the dots. We need ugly bounces and second-chance opportunities.
PSS–Thanks for the primer on Canadian currency … 🙂
PSSS–Back in 1975, the Penguins took a 3-0 lead on the Islanders. At practice before Game 4, New York coach Al Arbour gathered his team and famously said something to the effect that, “If anyone doesn’t believe we can come back in this series they can get out now.” The Isles came back to win four straight.
I don’t know if Sully can muster that kind of motivational talk, but he needs to find a way to get us to refocus while creating some positive energy.
Rick
I hate to be negative when it comes to Malkin but IMO he didn’t
play all that well. He did score on the PP but lord If you watch him
defensively he really exposes us with his fly-by’s – drives me
crazy – “take the man”. He’s always making moves at the most
inopportune time. I could go on and on but I won’t put you or
the others on the blog through that.
Hey Jorenz,
I am wondering if Jarry realizes he is a Goalie and his first duty is to stop the puck not score goals or get assists? Riverboat gambling is the last thing you do in the playoffs let alone in 2OT.
In regards to the 50 shots, less than 1/5th of those shots were HD chances (9). Getting rid of Hornqvist may have been a huge mistake. I think Zahorna and Angello could do the job of getting to the dirty areas but Sullivan will never give them a chance. With Hornqvist, Sully would be hard pressed to justify sitting him. When a goalie is on like Sorokin was, you need to take his eyes away, get traffic in front of him. You need to score a garbage goal. The average shot Sorokin faced 5 on 5 was from 40.55 feet. Even on the PP the Pens weren’t much closer than the cheap seats when they took their shots (33 feet).
Sorry, I don’t think any team is all that tough when they just can’t get to the dirty areas.
Hi Rick,
My headline would have been, Pens Fall Again to No Name Goaltender.
It’s a habit that’s obviously hard to break.
— 55
Hey 55,
I guess it was wishful thinking to hope Trotz would stick with Varlamov, who we own. I have to say…I’m very impressed with the way Sorokin moves in the net. Cat-quick going side to side and very athletic. Reminds me of a certain goalie who used to wear No. 29 for us…
Wish we could get more traffic in front.
Rick
Hey Rick,
Doesn’t it feel like writing the Obituaries when you write about our Penguins during the Post-season, anymore?
There is an old saying, he who controls process is accountable for outcome. I don’t necessarily want to give Guentzel or Letang a pass on the 1st NYI goal, but Letang was doing what he was told to do, pinch and as you point out, what do you think is going to be the outcome of a forward coming back against forward rather than a defenseman? Big surprise there.
Furthermore, everyone is picking on Guentzel for his lack of production, I haven’t really counted the number of times Jake has been forced to drop back and cover for a D-man jumping up into the play. It may not be that many, but then again it may. Perhaps his lack of Offensive production has been because he has been defending. If that is the case, seriously, who would you rather have shooting or passing the puck, Pettersson, Domoulin or Guentzel?
Speaking of pinching, long before Jarry went brain dead doing his best impression of Neil O’Donnell in a Super Bowl of yore, why was Ceci pinching in 2OT? Oh, that is right, that is the Pens MO. Yes, Jarry screwed up big time and Malkin, well 9 times out of 10 he probably holds the puck at the blue line. However, the breakdown was coaching – you don’t pinch in sudden death, when 1 mistake ends the game.
The Other Rick
As you know I’m not a Letang fan but when pinching you have to
make good decisions. On this play, he had no business pinching
and it cost us big time giving the Islanders a new lease on life.
If you remember back when the Islanders knocked us out in the
1st round Letang did the exact thing in a game that we had control
off. He has zero hockey sense.
The game was lost on 3 plays – Letang making a poor decision to
pinch, Dumo turning the puck over and Jarry’s boneheaded play
to end the game. “PERIOD” it’s pretty cut and dry.
Hey Mike,
It seems every time we make a mistake against the Islanders it winds up in the back our net. And that goes all the way back through our playoff history with them.
The difference between the two teams, I’m afraid.
Rick
PS–Letang played so well over the back half of the season. But he’s reverted back to his maddening old form these past couple of games. A shame, because he’s made some nice plays with the puck.
Hi TOR!
In your post, second paragraph:
I don’t necessarily want to give Guentzel or Letang a pass on the 1st NYI goal, but Letang was doing what he was told to do, pinch and as you point out, what do you think is going to be the outcome of a forward coming back against forward rather than a defenseman?
Letang wasn’t told to pinch; he systematically decides to pinch whatever the consequences are. Mr.Letang is quite stubborn. He once said that he won’t change his style because he knows what it takes to win championships.
Besides, he played 37 minutes. Why does he get all those minutes? Because Matheson and Pettersson are liabilities these days? I think the time allocated to D-Men is unbalanced and sometimes unfair.
I rather agree with the rest of your post.
Jorenz
I don’t agree at all with Matheson being a liability – while he’s playing
with a face shield that makes it tough to see he’s been far more of
a problem than the Dumo & Letang pairing. They can’t get the puck
out of our end to save their lives. Dumo is still solid but not the same
player he was two or three years ago. If I were to rate our “D” Men
going forward it would be 1) Dumo, 2) Matheson/Marino, 3) Ceci,
4) Letang, and 5) Pettersson. I think Marino has a promising future
but he’s struggled big-time this year.
Totally agree with your assessment of Letang – every time he does
something stupid I think about the remarks he made about not
changing the way he plays and just smh.
Win or lose this series the Pen’s need an overhaul. “it’s time”
Hi Jorenz,
I am no Letang fan. I would have traded him years ago. I am not saying that he doesn’t posses offensive skill nor do I have a problem with his grit. To me the rewards have rarely out weighed the risks. He is a defensive nightmare in his own zone.
In the past, I would have agreed with your assessment that Letang wandered deep into the attacking zone on his own. However this season the Coaches have preached jump up into the play. Without having been privy to the pregame speeches or the any bench instructions it is hard to say anything definitively but there is evidence to support that Letang’s actions were systemic to Reirden’s style. On the WG, Ceci had jumped up an Malkin was covering his point.
Ceci jumping up into the play in the opening minutes of the 2OT is situationally dumber than Letang’s gaffe
It was sudden death. You don’t attack. Not only does the next goal decide the game, you are playing a team that had been struggling to score goals all season – they finished the season 21st in G per GP. You play the percentages. You dump the puck and wait for the other team to make a mistake.
If Letang is the only player being stupid, it is Letang, when everyone is doing it, it is the coach. Even if the coaches are calling the right plays and the players are ignoring them, it is still the coaches for having lost control of the team.
Yes, win, lose, or draw, the roster needs to change next season. The team needs to get bigger. However, even more important, the coaching staff has to change – after running the team for 5 and 1/2 season now, this is exactly the team the Coach wants and it is struggling, once again, against a middling team.
Sorry Jorenz, I am just tired and frustrated at the Coaches getting a free pass.
The Other Rick
It’s not pinching up on a play it’s when you do it. Letang has
a habit of coming up when he has zero chance of keeping the
puck in the zone. It’s fine to pinch at any time it doesn’t matter
if you’re in a 2nd OT or not if you’re the first man to the puck. That’s
not the case with Letang “No Hockey IQ” Letang is a high-risk
low reward type player.
Hey Mike,
I don’t doubt there are a lot of fans that want Letang out of Pgh as much as me, but I can’t imagine anyone wanting him out more than me. I agree 100%, Letang has 0 ability to think defensively. If this was still 1920s hockey, when they had a 6th skater – a Rover with no defensive responsibilities what so ever, then Letang could be all world. Unfortunately, that position has long been abandon.
Therefore, I don’t want to defend Letang, but if Ceci was doing the same thing in 2OT, getting caught down low with a Forward (Malkin) covering his point on the Isles WG, then it clearly is a systemic issue. The Defensemen are getting their marching orders from above.
Yes, it is time to move on from Letang, but it is also time to move on from this staff. The only one I consider keeping is Vellcci. If Reirden doesn’t know not to send his D down low in the O-zone in 2OT then he has to go too.