The Penguins didn’t seem to expend a whole lot of energy during last night’s embarrassing 6-1 loss to the Capitals, so I won’t waste a whole lot of keyboard describing the fiasco. Except to say that in a big game against arguably our most bitter rival, we came out flat as the proverbial pancake and pretty much stayed unleavened throughout the night. I think I displayed more passion yelling invectives at the TV screen than our boys did on the ice, but I digress.
If you can’t get your dander up for a clash with a blood rival, there isn’t much to say…
We did manage to stay within striking distance for the first 36 minutes and change, trailing by only a goal. However, after Daniel Sprong scored a back-door tally following a defensive breakdown to make it 3-1, we pretty much collapsed like a straw hut in a hurricane. Just a guess, but the kid from Amsterdam must feel pretty good about himself after that goal. Kind of sending a “take that” message to coach Mike Sullivan, who had little use for the nascent sniper when he was here.
Speaking of sending messages, Conor Sheary struck for the fourth Caps’ goal to really put the game out of reach. For the record, his seventh career goal in a dozen games against his ex-mates. He must find our pudding soft team defense to his liking.
About the only excuses I can muster on behalf of our guys? We played the night before. And we had four players returning to the lineup, Sidney Crosby, Brian Dumoulin, Marcus Pettersson and Chad Ruhwedel…practically a quarter of the team. Predictably, the Pens played like strangers for most of the night.
A major bone to pick with Sullivan regarding personnel moves. In his first game back from Covid, he opted to break up the Evan Rodrigues–Jason Zucker–Kasperi Kapanen trio that was burning up the ice. I mean, that line had some CHEMISTRY. Instead of leaving it be, he stashed E-Rod…the team’s top scorer…on the fourth line. In the process elevating Zach Aston-Reese to the third line alongside Teddy Blueger and Brock McGinn. A unit that basically pooped the bed (31.58 Corsi).
Sully’s stubborn insistence on certain combinations is part of what’s ailing the Pens. Gritty though he may be, ZAR has done nothing offensively to merit a promotion and is showing few signs of breaking out. Instead, sit his butt and give some real ice time to Drew O’Connor.
Oh, that’s right. The kid’s 1) large and 2) a rookie. Silly me. That’ll never fly in Sullivan’s scheme.
On the defensive side of the ledger, John Marino is the hands-down winner of the “Hit ‘Em With Your Purse, Stackhouse” award. (No aspersions to Ron Stackhouse, who actually was far from wimpy.) The benign blueliner must be afraid of contracting Covid because he appears to be practicing social distancing on the ice. For goodness sake, hit someone once in a while. Or at least get close enough to breathe on them.
Okay, I’m done venting.
Puckpourri
The Capitals outshot the Pens, 32-25, and outhit us, 27-18. Our power play (0-for-2) continues to stink…er…sink like a stone. For good measure, we yielded a game-opening shorty to Caps grinder Garnet Hathaway.
Jake Guentzel scored the lone black-and-gold goal, with assists from Kris Letang and Mike Matheson.
Lest we think we’re the only team dealing with significant injuries, the Caps are playing without Nicklas Backstrom, Anthony Mantha and T.J. Oshie.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that Crosby was virtually invisible upon his return. While our captain certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt…and a little patience while he gets his game back together…Sid was a minus-one with one shot on goal.
Slotted between Kapanen and Zucker on a recast second line, Jeff Carter was a minus-three. Six Pens finished a minus-two, including Dumoulin. Is it just me, or does “Dumo” appear to have seriously regressed? He’s minus-six on the season, second-worst next to Marino’s minus-seven, with a woeful Corsi of 44.5.
O’Connor was farmed out to the Baby Pens prior to the contest along with defensemen Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Juuso Riikola.
Despite the back-to-back embarrassments over the weekend, the Pens (5-5-4, 14 points) remain tied for sixth place in the Metro with Columbus. Next up, Buffalo on Tuesday night.
Last night gentlemen,THE BEST TEAM WON… period. What did we expect ? We keep saying ” when Malkin , Crosby, and Letang return all will be well”. We had 2 out of 3 back and we got out played…Badly. Crosby stunk. He coughed up the puck that lead to the short handed goal being scored. He was ineffective and certainly did not impose him self to be a difference maker in the game. He may have had 1 shot on net. Later Crosby tackled the Washington player and thru him to the ice and NO PENALTY was called. That was bush league.
Plus gentleman do not forget Washington was with out their top center man( Backstrom) and their top right winger(Oshie). They are 2 really good players and key members of the Capitals. Injuries affect all teams and just because we get Malkin back that does not necessarily mean this team becomes a play off shoo in.
I afraid to say there are to many OTHER TEAMS that are simply better. 5 on 5 we are not that dominant anymore.We need to convert on the power play to win..That was historically our advantage but today we take to many penalties, our power play is NOT what it once was and our defense can be beat way to easily….
Not all the goalies fault either.
Finally,I do not think that Coach Sullivan can handle this new league dynamic where by the other teams are more skilled and have greater depth than our current squad. He really is a one dimensional Coach.
That is my rant for tonight guys..
Jim
Hey Jim,
Spot on. The inconvenient truth the truth precious few fans want to acknowledge and no one in the media or organization can face is that our Penguins are not an elite team. We are not playoff contenders. Pittsburgh will need tons of help just to sneak in the back door of the playoffs.
There are no superstars on this team anymore, either. Crosby and Malkin were once the best in the league, they easily rank 3 and 4 on the Penguins all – time list, behind only Mario and Jagr (No shame whatsoever being just behind those 2). But Father Time, as he is won’t to do, has caught up with our one time stud Centers. True enough, Malkin did lead the league a couple of seasons back in Pnts/60 mins 5-on-5, better even than McDavid, but it has been many seasons since Crosby has been an effective 5-on-5 force, even when he is skating with the best Wingers on the team.
Crosby still may be one of the best 200′ Centers in the game, but his Offense 5-on-5 is a far cry from it once was.
Crosby and Malkin may not be all that old even by hockey standards but it hasn’t been the years but the mileage that has dinged their skills. Sullivan’s pathetic lack of vision of how his allergy to tough players. It has been open season on Penguins for the past 6 or so winters and Big Game hunters like Tom Wilson and PK Subban have bagged their share of our favorite flightless fowl. Because of Sullivan’s allergy Crosby and Malkin are the big losers; their bodies have aged faster than their years.
Even while the black-and-gold was sipping the Champaign from their last Cup, you warned everyone, Jim, about the deplorable state our farm system was in. Obviously JR never read your warnings. He totally gutted what was left of the near future for the Penguins in his blindness to the truth. He acted like the team was still a contender needing just one more piece to get to the holy grail when the chasm between our boys and the rest of the league widened. He traded draft picks for Reaves (knowing Silly would never use him), Brassard, (as well as what could easily be the Team’s best Goalie right now – Gustavsson), Zucker, and Kapanen. They would have been mid to late round picks but they would at least be something.
Now the bill is coming due. As decimated as Ottawa is, they almost shut us out at the front end of that Back-to-Back and with a rested Crosby, Dumoulin, Jarry, Pettersson, and Ruhwedel, they got their heads handed to them by a Capitals team minus Backstrom and Oshie. Even if they get into the playoffs they will get slaughtered.
Now, at year 7, there can be no doubt that this is Sullivan’s team. He has had plenty of time to adjust it to his liking and it STINKS!!!!
As you say even when Malkin comes back the team is not a playoff team. There is no spark, there is no life. They are just a bunch of people pulling in different directions. But then again why should they come together as a team. Sullivan doesn’t reward good play, he dumps E-Rod when he is playing hot down to 4th line and sends O’Conner down to WBS.
I don’t want to hear any crap about how he was starting to slump either. E-Rod is a perfect example. His play doesn’t matter, Sullivan is getting back his buddies and the rest of the team be damned. There is no reason for O’Conner or any of the kids to produce, it won’t get them anywhere.
Furthermore, there is only maybe 1 Legitimate future top 6 forward down there in WBS with a handful of middle to bottom 6 players. They need to tank and trade off veteran deadwood for draft picks preferably this up coming draft or some top end prospects in someone else’s system.
So, what do you do Jim if the team drops tonight’s game against Buffalo? If you are Hextall, do allow status quo or do you take the reins?
Well sir…Some one sure ate his Wheaties this morning Coach. Man did you say a mouthful and I agree with every word. I guess we won’t be invited to any Pen’s Christmas parties soon eh ??
Frame that response Coach because that was a dandy.
To answer your question I think Hextall would love to do a major rebuild because he is a Hockey man thru and thru. He knows the situation and what needs to be done. He did it in Phili…But I do not believe Mario will let him do it. There is the real problem.
What will it take to make the owners realize they have a serious problem ?
Go have a cup of green tea and calm down old buddy….
You know as well as I do this story line is only going to get worse as the season moves on and this will NOT be the last time we both RANT ON… Well done.
Cheers
JIM
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Hey Jim,
No, I am not holding my breath for an invitation to any Christmas parties. However, a bigger question, considering today’s news, how many current employees of the Pens will be getting an invitation to that Christmas Party if the team doesn’t start winning and Buerkle gets out like he wants.
I guess i got my answer Coach to the question…”What will it take to make the Pen’s Owners realize they have a serious problem?….Simple…NEW OWNERS !!!! Maybe now a true rebuild can start to happen. Let us all hope so.
BTW Coach, a little birdie up here told me Ron Burkle wanted his $$$ out of his Hockey investment since last year. Obviously he saw the writing on the wall.
BTW Coach Buffalo did beat us tonight !!! Ouuch.
Hey Jim,
Looking at the Pens schedule up thru the end of November, the odds are getting closer to 50:50 that they are below 0.500 with each passing game and that may not be a bad thing. Like the Captain of the Titanic, they will not admit the obvious until the iceberg completes its ripping of an irreparable hole in the hull.
Rick
In my honest opinion I think things are catching up with the Pens. E-Rod has been playing over
his head and ZAR is a non factor. Zucker has been the teams best forward to this point which
speaks volumes playing alongside E-Rod. I didn’t see the game last night but when looking at
our box score I’m scratching my head wondering how a defenseman can go thru an entire game
and not get credit for one hit. “That’s almost impossible” We had Three “D”Men with “0” hits.
As for ZAR I think Hextall should do his best to move him. He has zero feel on the offensive end and
it hurts anyone playing on his line.
Totally agree with Dumo – everyone seems to give him the benefit of the doubt because of his “PAST” which is a big problem with the team.
The Other Rick I hear you on Matheson but although he has 11 giveaways he leads all of our Defenseman in takeaways and remains on the plus side of the giveaway / takeaway ratio. He currently ranks 8th in the league among all Defenseman.
GO PENS
Hey Mike,
I’m with you on Aston-Reese. He does next to nothing to create offense. He was never a big scorer until his senior year at Northeastern, when he caught lightning in a bottle. While he plays defense and hits, he’s hardly a snarling physical presence. Unfortunately, another Sully favorite.
Somebody mentioned a while back that Dumoulin hasn’t been the same since his ankle injury two seasons ago. I thought he was good last season, but this year he’s looked really sluggish and, worse, out of position a lot. While it’s hard to imagine him hitting a downturn at age 30, you just never know. Hopefully, he turns it around.
I don’t know what’s wrong with Marino. He just looks really tentative and unsure in the defensive zone. Worse yet, he seems to be coasting at times. Don’t know if it’s a confidence issue, but we really need him to settle down and find his game.
Just so this isn’t all negative, I do give Pettersson credit for delivering five hits, including a pretty solid check on Tom Wilson.
Rick
Hey Mike,
I will admit Matheson is playing better than I had feared when we traded for him, but I still contend we were Big Losers on that trade. The loss of Hornqvist has totally reduced our forwards to a bunch of Pansies. He may not have worn the “C” but he was the true heart of the team. The power play is non-existent without him. I will also concede that compared to all of the other options, he may be the best LHD the team has right now – but that isn’t saying much.
Don’t know what is up with Dumo but definitely is having an really off year so far.
I would tend to agree with you that E-Rod may be streaking right now, but even if he played 2nd line Center as I suggested, he would come crashing down.
ZAR – Don’t dislike him, but he is a road block. Like Simon, as long as Sully has him in his tool box, he will not give anyone else a serious look. The team can do better. As you say he is a zero offensively and there are other players that may not be quite as good defensively, but their combo of O and D far outstrip his. I don’t know what Hextall could get for him, but moving him would open up space for a kid.
Hey Sonny…um…I mean Rick,
Last night was painful to watch.
A. I don’t want to give any excuses for that performance. Even though it was the back end of a back-to-back , Jarry, Pettersson, Ruhwedel, Crosby, Dumoulin, and even Sullivan were well rested and yet they all looked like AHLers out there.
B. In fact only Geno is missing from what should be the full roster. When he comes back this would be the team our Coach wants. Hmm………..
C. I get wanting to put Sid out on the top line, but come on Smellivan, E-Rod was hot and is not built for bottom 6. either move Carter to Crosby’s RW or drop him to 3rd line but leave Zucker – E-Rod-Kappy alone. Maybe Carter on Sid’s RW would get our Captain out of his perimeter mode and get him attacking the slot.
D. As I have mentioned many times that “D” stinks and will always melt under a heavy fore-check. Dumo, Pettersson, Marino, and Ruhwedel always looked worried about getting hit, with their heads on swivels every time the puck was dumped deep and they had to go back and get it. They were so afraid, they didn’t make good decisions/first passes. Matheson looked like the Matheson that Fla couldn’t wait to get rid of with his 3 Gv.
E. Jarry, like DeSmith the game before looked like an old Saltydog fishing pucks out his net like he was on some trawler.
F. in Points they may be tied with CBJ for 6th place in the Metro for raw points but their Pts% is the worst and in fact they are 24th in the league in Pts%. They are stinking it up.
G. The good news, they are looking more and more like a contender for the Golden Ticket in the Shane Wright Sweepstakes.