Penguins Flame Out in Calgary

At the end of my last article, I noted our Penguins have been playing bipolar hockey. When we play on our toes we’re a force to be reckoned with. And when we don’t…

Our inability to play a full 60 minutes of hockey was prominently on display during last night’s 4-1 loss to the Flames. Hampered by an early penalty to Chad Ruhwedel, the black and gold once again crawled out of the starting gate to the tune of a 15-1 deficit in shots on goal (20-6 by the end of the opening period). Marquee addition Nazem Kadri scored twice to stake the Flames to a 2-0 lead.

The bad guys made it 3-0 early in the second period on a power-play tally by Jonathan Huberdeau, who shot the puck through a veritable chorus line of traffic.

To the Pens’ credit, they quickly countered at 4:32, thanks in no small part to a high-sticking call assessed to Kadri. Following a big save by Casey DeSmith on a 2-on-1, Evgeni Malkin scooped up the loose puck and headmanned it to rookie Sam Poulin. Playing in his first NHL game, Poulin placed the puck on a table for Jeff Carter zooming down the slot. The big guy ripped off a hard shot that ricocheted off Jacob Markstrom’s pad and into Malkin’s wheelhouse in the right circle. Leading to a slam-dunk goal by Geno.

Down 3-1 but gathering momentum with each shift (the Pens would pile up a 21-4 edge in second-period shots on goal), it appeared we might pull off a reverse-Edmonton and rally for a point or two. However, Michael Stone beat DeSmith with a seeing-eye blast through traffic at 11:20 while Jeff Petry battled Kevin Rooney in the slot.

That was pretty much all she wrote. Despite a couple of power-play opportunities, fatigue appeared to set in during the final 20 minutes as our Pens wilted like a field of wildflowers exposed to an early frost.

Puckpourri

The Flames outshot the Pens, 36-33, and dominated the faceoff circle, winning a whopping 64 percent of the draws.

While it’s hard to fault DeSmith (32 saves) on three of the goals, it wasn’t his finest hour between the pipes.

Poulin dressed in place of Jason Zucker, injured the night before courtesy of a cross-check in Edmonton. Sam’s debut was a mixed bag. His turnover at the offensive blue line led directly to the Flames second goal and his slashing penalty in the second period set the stage for Huberdeau’s marker. But overall he was solid.

Forced to shuffle his lines, Mike Sullivan elevated Bryan Rust to top-line duty and shifted Carter to Malkin’s right flank (with Danton Heinen on left wing). Poulin slotted in as third-line center between Brock McGinn and Kasperi Kapanen.

Geno’s line was our most effective, possession-wise, with a Corsi of 60.61.

I sure hope Zucker’s injury isn’t serious (he’s listed as day-to-day). He’s been a real sparkplug thus far and perhaps the most pleasant surprise of the young season.

A move I didn’t especially care for? Subbing in Ruhwedel on the left side of defense in place of Pierre Olivier-Joseph and next to Jan Rutta. Some guys can play their off-side and some guys can’t. Count Chad among the latter group.

By contrast Mark Friedman is very effective on his off-side. If Sully isn’t going to go with one of the kids (Joseph or Ty Smith), Friedman’s far and away the better choice as the third left-side defenseman. Because of his versatility and feistiness, a better choice than Ruhwedel as our No. 7 d-man as well.

Sully’s System (?)

I’m sure Sullivan has a system. Most coaches do. Ours seems to be predicated on a strong forecheck and playing the majority of time in the other team’s zone. The “best defense is a good offense” sort of thing. Given the firepower we possess, it makes sense.

However, there doesn’t appear to be any contingency plan for when we’re not dictating play.

Along those lines, our forwards aren’t backchecking diligently enough. And our defense, likely encouraged by Sully and associate coach Todd Reirden to push the attack, are taking too many risks.

The result? We’re playing fire-wagon, kill or be killed hockey through the early going. Certainly not the type of shinny that can be sustained over an 82-game schedule, let alone lead to playoff success.

A worrisome thread that must be addressed.

Up Next

The Pens (4-2-1) have two days off, most welcome I’m sure, before resuming play. We take on the floundering Canucks Friday night in Vancouver, then travel to Seattle to square off with the Kraken on Saturday night. In the process, we’ll be visiting plenty of old friends, such as Jim Rutherford, Patrik Allvin, Jared McCann, Jamie Oleksiak, Tanner Pearson, Justin Schultz, Daniel Sprong and Brandon Tanev.