Penguins B Team Bows to Sabres

Four games into a decidedly lackluster 1-3 preseason, the Penguins have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that their B Team can’t hang with a foe stocked with NHL regulars.

It remains to be seen if our A Team can.

Back to yesterday afternoon’s 3-1 loss to Buffalo at KeyBank Center. From my perch on a treadmill at Wright’s Gym I watched some of the second period and pretty much all of the third. I was underwhelmed by what I saw.

Yeah, I know it’s preseason and we didn’t have our top guys out there. But, frankly, the proceedings were about as exciting as watching a fresh coat of paint dry.

To my eye, there were but a few black-and-gold performances of note. Tristan Jarry rebounded from a shaky first outing against Detroit to stop 32 of 34 shots, good for a sparking .941 save percentage. He kept us in this largely unremarkable game to the end.

Journeyman forward Drake Caggiula continues to make a statement, unleashing four shots on goal and arriving as Johnny-on-the-Spot to bag our lone tally off a net-front scramble with 1:36 remaining.

Kasperi Kapanen and Valtteri Puustinen assisted on the play. Good to see Kappy register on the score sheet, and with a pretty pass to boot, although at times he was guilty of wearing his inviso-shield. Nathan Legare popped a game-high six shots on goal and continues to make an impression with his spirited style. Drew O’Connor looked forceful at times.

And that was about it.

Among those who didn’t impress? Defensive hopefuls Ty Smith and Pierre-Olivier Joseph (minus-1 each). Although it wasn’t entirely his doing, Smith was caught on the wrong side of the tracks on Tage Thompson’s goal at 18:22 of the second frame.

Smith can skate and move the puck, although very little seems to come of it (the new Dominik Simon?). But color me skeptical. Unless you’re a super talent like Cale Makar or a razor like Mark Friedman, small guys don’t make the best defenders. Guys like Torey Krug are the exception and not the rule.

There’s a reason this kid was available.

As for Joseph? He continues to be all over the place. A hot mess if you will. Such an intriguing package. Decent size, great wheels and the ability to make a nice pass. But hockey IQ definitely seems to be lacking, as his two giveaways will attest. I wonder if POJ will ever put it all together.

A last, overarching concern. This goes beyond the guys on the ice yesterday to the organization as a whole. Mark Madden of the Tribune-Review touched on it during last spring’s playoffs. We’re built to beat teams one way…with skill, speed and pressure. I call it the kill ‘em with skill approach.

But what if we can’t? What if our top-end talent doesn’t produce the way we anticipate? (That 0-for-9 on the power play last week keeps banging around in my head.) What if father time starts to catch up with Sid and Geno and Tanger?

As Madden so aptly noted, there’s no fall back. No plan B. Yesterday’s game was a prime example. I saw very little passion and get ‘er done from a group of guys who should’ve been climbing over themselves to make an impression, as our measly eight hits will attest.

When the skill guys aren’t cookin’ and we’re not piling up goals by the bushel, do we possess the grit and mind-set to grind out ugly wins?

We’ve got the ugly part down. I’m just not sure about the win part.