When it comes to our Penguins, I confess to being a bit of a pie-in-the-sky pollyanna. There’s just something in my nature that likes to be hopeful. Heck, I even have hopes that our woebegone cellar-dwelling Buccos are going to have another window of respectability in the not-too-distant future. How’s that for wearing black-and-gold tinted glasses?
I thought our Pens were making strides and coming together as a team during our 15-3-3 run. They were playing with more structure, eschewing their favored run-and-gun style for a more disciplined approach.
Then…WHAM. Over the past two games, we’ve completely gone off the rails.
What happened?
Injuries for one. No team is immune…especially an older crew like our Pens. After enjoying extreme good health through the early going, the injury bug’s begun to bite. We’ve lost 2/3rds of a scrappy, energetic and reasonably effective fourth line, not to mention two excellent penalty killers. Kris Letang sat out yesterday’s practice, as did Chad Ruhwedel.
The injuries are starting to pile up and it’s testing our organizational depth. Or should I say, organizational mix. When it comes to guys who play with aggression, we’re woefully thin. Thus you have a skill player like Danton Heinen trying to fill a fourth-line energy role. To borrow one of the robot’s favorite sayings from the kitschy 60s Sci-fi show Lost in Space, “Does not compute.”
I maintain things began to go awry when Jeff Petry suffered an injury in the late stages of a 3-1 victory over Buffalo back on December 10. We played a strong game two nights later against Dallas, but have gradually reverted to our old shaky ways since, blowing leads to Carolina and most recently to Detroit during Wednesday night’s fiasco of an overtime loss.
I once likened former Pens defenseman Ian Cole to the apple located in the middle of a supermarket display. Pluck the apple out and the whole stack comes tumbling down.
Well, I think Petry’s that guy on this team…at least on defense. His absence has destabilized our ‘d’ pairings (none of them look good) and exposed some pretty severe weaknesses. Particularly the play of one-time stalwart Brian Dumoulin, who’s struggling in all phases of his game and dragging present partner Jan Rutta down with him.
For more on that, be sure to read Gretz’s excellent article on Pensburgh titled, “Some of the Penguins player use decisions are baffling.” He does a great job of delving into the details.
Too, he goes out on a limb and points a finger squarely at coach Mike Sullivan for some of his choices, both strategic and personnel-wise. A bit of a taboo in the local media (save for my esteemed colleague Other Rick).
Wednesday night was a classic example. Up 4-0 against the speedy Red Wings, Sullivan inexplicably chose to shorten his bench. In the process riveting fresh legs Drew O’Connor and Kasperi Kapanen, who figured in on our first two goals, to the pine while overusing our older players.
It’s pretty much documented if Sully doesn’t like or trust a player (poster child…the aforementioned Cole), it’s almost impossible for them to work their way into his good graces. Especially for the kids. It makes it awfully hard for young players to develop when they’re skating five minutes a night on the fourth line as PenguinPoop reader and commenter Jorenz so aptly noted.
Too, we seem to have strayed from the buttoned-down style that was working for us. On numerous occasions during our hot streak Sullivan and his staff employed a 1-2-2 when had a lead, a tactic that helped cover our defensive blemishes while maximizing our skill and counter strike ability. It didn’t hurt that Tristan Jarry was superhuman between the pipes.
Another one of our north-of-the-border readers and commenters, Pens4ever, hit the nail on the head when he wrote, “It’s an old team, can’t play a speed game all game anymore.” Especially with two of our fastest skaters, Josh Archibald and Ryan Poehling on the shelf.
Not all of this is on Sullivan and his staff. Some of it falls on GM Ron Hextall. It appears he gambled and lost when he signed Jeff Carter to a two-year extension last January, including a no movement clause. Unfortunately, the big guy’s wheels are gone, a predicament that’s served to severely handicap our third line.
The jury’s still out on the Petry-Mike Matheson and Ty Smith-John Marino deals as well. As Other Rick has noted, we strengthened our right side at the expense of the left side. Especially with Dumoulin’s game in the tank.
Bottom line? No team, coach or GM get it right all the time. It’s how we respond to this latest dose of adversity that will determine our future course.
However, we can’t afford to languish too long. Not in the Division of Doom.
As the Penguins’ fortunes spiral down, down, down to where Gollum and the San Jose…
For our bumbling Penguins, the more things change, the more they stay the same. In…
Less than two seasons after he guided Boston to a record setting 135-point season, the…
With nothing in particular to write about, I thought I’d scrape a few random thoughts…
I apologize ahead of time for the brevity and lateness of this recap, especially in…
I usually have some idea of how I want to approach my PP posts. Well,…
View Comments
Hey Rick, Coach and all other Poopers out there...
May 2023 be a blessing to all of you....Happy New Year Pen's fans.!!
With regards to your question Rick, "What the heck happened ?" I do not see the issue soley as a Penguin one but for me this is the realization that New Jersey has a damn good team now . We have played almost half a season and the Devils have beaten some really great teams along the way. Hughes,Hamilton,Hischier, Zetterlund,Bratt, and several others are all good NHL players.I think this a sign that parity has arrived in the NHL and New Jersey is ready to take the next step forward.
To be fair to our Penguins we do have 50% of our starting Defense core side lined and that was very evident last night especially in the number of turn overs/give a ways we did as a team.You have to give the devils credit, just like the Red Wings in the game before in that they never quit and they kept to their up tempo game plan. They pressured us in to making mistakes.
My final point is that with 36 to 38 games in to the season, the Metropolitan Division is really up in the air.
We can not be assured of anything Rick.
( as of December 31 st 2022 )
Carolina 54 points
New Jersey 48 points
Washington 45 points
Pittsburgh 44 points
NY Rangers 44 points
NY Islanders 44 points
Atlantic Division
Boston 59 Points
Toronto 50 points
Tampa 47 points ( Played 34 games )
That is the hard cold reality staring us in the face Rick. These 3 teams in the Atlantic will almost certainly represent their Division come play off time meaning for us we have 5 teams playing for 3 spots to the play offs. Plus several of these teams have much better trade prospects to deal come March and they can add a high value rental player for their Cup drive. We don't have that option...
I am not liking our match up in the Winter Classic...
Great article as always Rick,
Cheers
JIM
Hello Jim. How nice to hear from you and read what you have to say!
In terms of last night's loss to the Devils, I'm in total agreement with you. I really don't think we played a bad game. Our structure was a lot better and the effort was there, although I do think we ran out of gas in the third. And yes, the Devils are a really good young team. An up-and-comer.
It does underscore the importance of not giving games away, like we did against Detroit. With the Metro as tight and competitive as it is, I fear that one's gonna come back to bite us in the posterior.
Another concern...the Caps have been absolutely decimated by injuries...yet they've overtaken us. What happens when they get healthy? Too, Mike Sullivan's falling into the trap of overusing our stars. I get why he's doing it...he realizes how tough the Metro is and he's trying to win every game he can. But given our age, loading up on their ice time in December/January is going to have negative consequences in the second half.
Honestly, it's still up in the air as whether or not we'll make the playoffs.
Anyway my friend, a Happy and blessed 2023 to you and your loved ones. Cheers, as you like to say ... :)
Rick
Thanks Rick for those kind words. I really miss the gang and reading their knowledgeable insights . I too am concerned about the Caps and when they get 4 or 5 of their regulars back..That Strome signing has worked well for them and Connor Sheary has been a wonder for them. He can play on any line and is often paired with OVI. When wingers Tom Wilson,TJ Oshi and star Dman John Carlson returns they will be a different beast for sure.I forgot to add Nick Backstrom and Hagelin and young Dman Martin Fehervary.
The other team i worry about is the Rangers in that if they trade Alexis Lafreniere,first over all pick they could fetch quite a rental player in return..Kappo Kakko is another possible trade chip.
2023 will not be easy.
Hey Jim,
All the best to you too my friend in the coming year.
Great point, and to expand upon that, It always is interesting to me how so many people seem to think that only 1 team is on the ice (and I am not limiting this point to Penguins fans but fans across all teams and sports). Most people view the game as how their team won or lost rather than how much credit or blame goes to the other team for the result of the game. Following this reality back to your point, while our Penguins keep focusing on the glory days, padding themselves on the back and blindly lying to themselves over their position in this season’s talent hierarchy and whether or not they are a rising, falling or level team, many teams have passed or are passing them by. To many, their egos will not give an ear to the idea that the other team beat us because they were better.
Having said that, and even though I do acknowledge that this is a team in decline, under the right stewardship, I do think that this team could continue their playoff streak. The big question then becomes “At what cost is making the playoffs vs what are the chances this team does anything significant with that playoff appearance?” Similar to a cost to benefit ratio.
I don’t see a high enough probability of success to justify wasting anymore assets. More importantly, I do not, repeat DO NOT have confidence in at least the current coaching staff leading this team back to true contender status. Sully and Forrest both are way too reluctant to play kids, teach them the nuances of the professional game, and identify and develop players for a return to glory. And although I would not toss the GM, his waste of his first, first round pick as Pens GM on an offensive Defenseman that is only around 140th in the WHL in scoring makes me question his efficacy and I would seriously take him in hand come draft day.
Again all the best to you and your family in 2023, Jim