Merriam-Webster defines a mixed bag as one having both positive and negative qualities or aspects.
Along those lines, I’m not sure how to feel about the Penguins 3-2 shootout loss to Washington last night at Capital One Arena. On one hand, I’m glad we hung in there and earned a point out of the proceedings. But on the other hand (WARNING…rant coming)…
Outshot by a mind-boggling 22-7, the Pens gave a miserable showing in the first period. Fully reminiscent of the disgraceful, no show, 5-1 loss to the Islanders following the Christmas break. How a team that touts itself as a Cup contender can repeatedly come out flat as unleavened bread for big Metro matchups is beyond me.
They win a game, never mind how they do it, and it’s as if they get all happy and self-satisfied and have to be coaxed into showing up for the next game, playoff implications be damned. Perhaps a by-product of an aging team that’s been there, done that and simply doesn’t have the fire in their collective bellies any more. I don’t know.
What I do know is this. Poor Casey DeSmith was left to fend largely for himself during those opening 20 minutes. Thanks to his heroic efforts and some less-than-sharpshooting by the Caps, we were only down 1-0 on a power-play goal by Alex Ovechkin.
I confess, I was so disgusted by our “effort” that I paid only cursory attention to the big screen TV behind the front desk at Wright’s Gym during the opening minutes of the second period. It was only when one of our gym members stopped and asked, “Who scored for us?” that I got dialed back in. A quick check on NHL.com revealed that Danton Heinen was our goal scorer, courtesy of a hustling follow-up of a Drew O’Connor rocket off the post at 2:37.
To my surprise, the Pens proceeded to carry the play to their hosts, piling up an 18-12 edge in shots on goal during the second stanza. DeSmith continued to sparkle between the pipes, stopping Nicolas Aube-Kubel mid-period, Ovechkin from his “office” in the left circle at 15:37 and Trevor (the Wrong) van Riemsdyk from the right circle in the closing minutes of the period.
Alas, the Caps reclaimed the lead at 5:17 of the third period on a top-cheese wrister by Marcus Johansson from the top of the left circle.
If I seemed overly critical of our first-period foibles, then I credit our guys for continuing to battle when down. With seven minutes remaining in regulation Jake Guentzel dished a soft pass to Bryan Rust in the neutral zone. Using a breaking Kris Letang as a decoy, Rust glided past three Capitals and beat Darcy Kuemper from the right dot to knot the score at 2-2.
Then came overtime and our customary attempt at Hari-kari. Evgeni Malkin performed the ritual disemboweling, tripping T.J. Oshie 47 seconds in to hand the Caps a 4-on-3 power play.
No way we survive this, I thought. Yet somehow we did, thanks to some gritty penalty killing, a pair of large DeSmith saves on Oshie and Ovy and a dash of puck mismanagement by the home team. We even turned the tables and pressed Kuemper in the closing minutes, but the big goalie stood firm.
Could our boys possibly come away with two points? When DeSmith stopped the diabolical Oshie and Rickard Rakell beat Kuemper in the opening round of the shootout, I had visions of sugar plum fairies (a win) dancing in my head. But the script flipped. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom beat DeSmith, while Kuemper stoned our “Two-Headed Monster.”
In the battle of aging Metro lions, the Capitals roared a little louder.
Puckpourri
Despite our pushback, the Caps dominated in shot attempts (72-64), shots on goal (45-37), scoring chances (41-23) and, especially, high-danger chances (23-9).
Plain and simple, DeSmith stole the point with a 43-save performance that earned him second star honors behind his counterpart. An effort that was both redemptive and heartening for the New Hampshire native.
Letang tangled with big (no, make that HUGE) Anthony Mantha at 7:45 of the second period. Logging 24:35 of ice time along with three shots on goal, five hits and four blocked shots, Tanger continues to be an inspiration. I, for one, am very glad to have him back.
Through no fault of his own, Ty Smith was returned to the Baby Pens to make room for Dustin Tokarski. Caught in a numbers game, both personnel and cap-wise, the 22-year-old defender tallied a highly respectable goal and four points in nine games, to go with a plus-three. All the while averaging over 20 minutes of ice time.
This is pure speculation. But I wonder if the Pens will use Pierre-Olivier Joseph as a trade chip at the deadline to make room for Smith. POJ’s ice time and impact have been shrinking of late.
Beware the Blades
Don’t look now, but red-hot Buffalo (winners of five straight) is charging up our tailpipe. No fluke, the explosive young Sabres boast four 20-plus goal scorers and five guys hovering over or around a point-per-game clip, including sniper extraordinaire Tage Thompson (34 goals and 68 points).
Young studs Owen Power and Mattias Samuelsson (son of Kjell) anchor an emerging defense. Their lone Achilles heel? The lack of a front-line starter in goal, although 41-year-old Craig Anderson has done an admirable job.
They remind me very much of our Pens, circa 2006-07, and I think they’re going to win some Cups before all is said and done.
So why should we care? They’re going to make the playoffs, folks. Likely at the expense of either the Pens or the Caps.
On Tap
We host woebegone San Jose on Saturday night. Should be an easy two points…IF we decide to show up. You never know about this bunch.
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I just watched a fight between Ryan Reaves (now with the Wild) and the Flyers' Nicolas Deslauriers. We should've kept Reaves and gotten rid of Sullivan...
Kidding...sort of...
Rick
Hi Rick,
Whats next ?
At least 4 times since the beginning of the season I had written this reply to one of your posts, and each time i hit the delete button because I did not want to start an argument. After reading some of the Blogs latest replies this past few weeks I think now is the time to really speak my mind. ( I have condensed my reply considerably to save time )
1. The Penguins are not the team they once were ! We are NOT a Cup Contending team. At our best we are mediocre.
2. For the past five years the team was actively being sold by it's 2 major shareholders.As a result they made short term decisions that affected the team, it's fan base and the Future. The team that is on the ice today is a by product of their short term thinking.The Penguins have no Cap space, a very weak talent pool in their farm system and major operational issues. Coaching, management and even the fan base to name a few..
3.I am going to use this analogy to save time to make my point. The Penguins used to be like a brand new sports car.Top speed of 140 miles an hour and was fun to drive. Now 18 years and 200,000 miles later, the brakes are worn , the tires are not what they used to be,the engine leaks oil and the car can only go 130 miles an hour for brief periods.... and at top speed it is not so fun to drive. It is not the cars fault...Age does this to all of us. Still a nice car but not what it once was.
4. To add insult to injury the new cars today are better built and can go 150 miles an hour. There in lies the problem.
5. What can we do to win another Cup ? The answer is obvious...We don't need just a set of tires....No we need a complete rebuild of the car.If you truly want to win it all, you can save a few pieces but we need to Rebuild the car !!! Now ....
Thus you get my point..
I read the previous post's excellent discussion on the Goalie situation in Pittsburgh. Very well done by all of you. Factual and informative and yes passionate.. In one post Rick you mentioned about trading Jake Guentzel. I agree.
In one post we blasted the General Manager Ron Hextall.. I can't count how many times we all have given our opinions on the Coaching......This is what happens to mediocre teams.
We all need to take off the Rose colored glasses and face reality. We have no money to upgrade the team and please stop thinking we can off load our dud players and get back a Sidney Crosby in return. That is not reality.
FYI My final point.... several weeks ago i wrote about the Sabres and how they could be a factor in the playoffs. Today several Pens writers are mentioning that fact. There are many teams in the league that are stacked with great young talent and they will quickly over take us and as the Pen's age, they can not keep up. No matter how hard we play there are many teams better than the current rendition of our team.As much as we all want, the Core will not be enough to get the job done. We need new blood.
I say this only as a concerned Fan and not as a criticism.
Cheers
JIM
Hey Jim,
You know my thoughts, 100% behind you on this. This team is a Cup pretender not a Cup contender. More and more fans I know are starting to come around to reality but unfortunately there are still those fans on hallucinogens arguing.
Perhaps the most important point you make is that the people in charge really screwed the team's future to put lipstick on this pig to sell it. I'll give them some grace after the Caps loss, even though some of us were well aware of the starting erosion, I can see were some would think the team was only a brick or two shy. However, after getting swept by the Isles, maybe the fans could be forgiven for being delusional but management surely had to know.
And as you note there is very little down on the farm or in the Jrs. to help this team. Even though I am high on a couple of players and like a couple others, getting them over to North America and/or developing them is very questionable.
I am not going to say the playoff streak is over this year, our Pens are still hanging around the fringes but you are 100% spot on, this engine needs a complete overhaul.
Hello Jim,
Just spot-on, right down the line. I LOVE your sports car analogy. You nailed it, my friend. You did a fabulous job of drawing comparisons. Again...spot-on.
No team stays on top forever, especially in the salary-cap era. You simply can't out-spend or out-trade father time. Eventually you have to pay the piper.
It'll be interesting to see what moves we make going forward. Unless this team gets a shot in the posterior region, I don't think we're going to make the playoffs. As we both observed, Buffalo's stacked...I fully expect them to blow past us. And I think the Caps are deeper and have a stronger infrastructure.
I'll be really interested to see how FSG reacts to all this. They sure as shootin' didn't sink $900 million into the team to watch us implode. Yet that's very likely to happen over the next couple of years. Take a good look at the Blackhawks, because I believe that's what's in store for us down the road a piece.
Anyway, great comments, my friend ... :) Keep 'em comin'...
Rick
Hey all,
Just wanted to point out some good articles on other sites:
-- "Penguins Trouble: This Just Isn't Good Enough" by Dan Kingerski (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)
-- "Drew O'Connor continues to impress" by Gretz (Pensburgh)
-- "Stuck in salary cap purgatory, Penguins have to play better to keep playoff spot" by Mark Madden (Tribune-Review)
All worth the read.
Rick