A while back I promised myself I was going to go easy on Mike Sullivan. After all, I’ve been fairly critical of the Penguins’ head coach over the years.
Then our favorite hockey team comes out and basically flatlines for half a game last night en route to a well-deserved 6-3 drubbing at the hands of the Red Wings in the Motor City. Never mind the fact that we finally awoke from our slumber to stage a scorching third-period rally.
It’s like cramming for an exam. Twenty minutes of fury doesn’t make up for 40 minutes of nothing.
I blame this loss squarely on Sullivan.
No, not for his tactics or system, although they certainly can be questioned. Rather, his debilitating influence on roster construction.
I’ve never seen a team consistently display less oomph and fighting spirit than our Pens. For a good portion of the second period we barely displayed a pulse. At one point exasperated radio color man Phil Bourque sputtered, “We need someone with some fire.”
Sidney Crosby noticed, too. After watching Detroit pound four-straight goals past Tristan Jarry with barely a whimper of resistance, our captain initiated a scrum with Jake Walman in the closing minutes of a disastrous second period, leading to a fight (or what passes for one these days) between Marcus Pettersson and Red Wings star Dylan Larkin. Moments later Evgeni Malkin engaged Ben Chiarot.
It took our venerable superstars to ignite the spark, but finally…FINALLY…the team displayed a pulse.
While noting the sudden shift in temperament, play-by-play announcer Steve Mears appropriately lamented, “Why Sid? Anyone else…hello?”
Again, I point the finger squarely at Sullivan. Mark Friedman is just the latest example of a player who provided an edge, only to be spurned if not downright rejected by the black-and-gold coach. Instead, we got a snootful of aging Chad Ruhwedel getting exploited last night, but that’s okay. At least he didn’t take a penalty (heaven forbid).
Waiting in the wings if Chad continues to falter? Milquetoastish Ryan Shea, another Sully favorite. He’s about as abrasive as a bar of Ivory Soap.
Kyle Dubas doesn’t get away scot free. He’s allowed Sullivan to dictate roster construction while quaffing our coach’s Kool-Aid, to the team’s considerable detriment.
No kids to provide an underpinning of youthful enthusiasm. And heaven forbid, no real toughness. That would be a travesty.
This can’t continue. Not if we have any real designs on making the playoffs, letting alone accomplishing anything once we get there.
This team totally lacks heart and bite. Heck, insert rugged newcomer John Ludvig in place of Pierre-Olivier Joseph, who was on the ice for three 5v5 goals against and is positively awful in his own zone. Let the kid rattle a few guys. Call up Jagger Joshua. JJ may not score (nobody else in the bottom-six does, either) but he’ll hit anything that moves and annoy the life out of opponents.
If Jansen Harkins, who’s been an absolute zero, can’t be bothered to get his fingernails dirty, cut him and bring in someone who will. Sign Austin Wagner, who mysteriously floated into the ozone after providing some juice during the preseason. Vinnie Hinostroza will skate and hustle and at least give you your money’s worth. Or better yet, bring up Sam Poulin, who has no problem banging around in traffic while providing a muscular presence.
Do something. Anything to change this tepid mix.
But, no, that won’t happen. Dubas will continue to cotton to his coach. And we’ll continue to produce half-baked efforts like we did last night, along with half-baked results.
Somewhere, Ron Hextall must be smiling.
The Goals
Malkin opened the scoring 53 seconds into the game courtesy of a pretty backhand feed from Reilly Smith. Then the Red Wings reeled off four-straight goals by Alex DeBrincat, Ben Chiarot, Andrew Copp and ex-Pen David Perron to snatch a 4-1 lead after two periods.
Erik Karlsson, one of a handful of Pens to play an inspired game, scored his first goal of the season at 3:37 of the third period. Ten minutes later Bryan Rust tipped home a Karlsson shot from center point to close the gap to 4-3.
The Pens buzzed like Mike Lange’s bees around a hive in an effort to score the equalizer. But with Jarry pulled for an extra attacked a Karlsson pass eluded Geno at the point and Copp scored into an empty net at 18:28. DeBrincat tacked on a second empty-netter 21 seconds later.
By the Numbers
Going strictly by the numbers, the Pens dominated. We piled up a massive edge in shot attempts (71-47), shots on goal (33-29), scoring chances (38-23), and high-danger chances (14-11), mostly due to our incendiary third period.
With a Corsi of 82.14 and an expected goals for percentage (xGF%) of 89.24, Sid’s line was on fire. All other units had a sub-50 xGF%. The third line perked up after Sullivan demoted the aforementioned Harkins in favor of Matt Nieto.
Karlsson was superb. He notched a goal and two assists while posting some dazzling fancy stats (72 Corsi, 71.12 xGF%).
On the flip side, Jarry yielded four goals on 27 shots for an .852 save percentage.
No need to mention how awful our third d-pairing was. Ditto our bottom six, pointless again.
Not that I’m lamenting the trade. But Jeff Petry had two assists against his ex-mates.
On Deck
The Pens travel to St. Louis for a matchup with the Blues on Saturday night.
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Thank You Rick For your blatant and point on assessment of Sullivan and the team's performance Wednesday night. For a number of years now, this overrated coach has had the hell beat out of his star players and a lack of physical players with fire in their belly. That is what your third and fourth line is supposed to provide in addition to occasional scoring. The present provide neither. If the 3rd and 4th liners constitutes the results of the best competition since the 2016-2017 season, Sully may have taken a puck or two to the noggin. He potentially cost the Pens the 2018 Cup with his asinine need for Brassard and giving up our muscle and grit (Cole and Reaves) along with a stellar goaltender prospect (Gustavsson). An 8-1-1 record and 1st in the Metro going into that trade and for what? To protect a tepid D-Man Ollie Matta and jettison the Flower to the expansion Vegas after the season. They also gave up 1st, 3rd, and 4th round picks in that debacle. Thank you Sully for throwing a hand grenade into a very high potential cup team and blowing things up. Things haven't changed very much since that time.
The Size and grit of the Pens is another factor Sully seems to neglect when the opposing team roams and controls the front of the Pen's net. Sully seems to prefer pint size or equal opportunity D-men that allow defenders to freely roam the front of the net. P.O. and Chad look like twin Olive Oyls out there when attempting to battle the opposing team for puck control and the front of the net. The new D-man Graves has size but little physicality.
Has the physicality of the forwards improved since last year? The answer becomes quite apparent when both Geno and Sid have to drop their gloves for self protection. Checking and at least one hard hit was not visible in this game. The 3rd and 4th lines play a finesse game. Or should I say a slow and chase the puck game.
I went to the game on Wednesday night and saw more of the same Penguins as last year with the exception of Karlsson. The only difference is they gave up leads in the 3rd Period last year. The Pens top two lines came out flying in the beginning of the 1st period. The second half they tapered off. Then came the poor Ruhwedel hip check which led to an easy 2 on 1 Wings tap in for a goal and a tie. After that it was all down hill. Then outmuscled and outskated in the second period. I do think the 2nd goal was ultimately on Jarry. But the Pens extensive ice time in their own end the entire period didn't help. By the 3rd Period, down down 4-1 trying to play catch up hockey by Karlsson single handling willing the team to win. It fell short be a missed pass by Geno which led to an empty netter.
The bottom six forwards and third line D basically suck. A ridiculous 5 shot total for two lines! 2 shots with an easy breakaway miss by Carter. Carter should be sitting in the Press Box regardless of salary. 55 and 83 are equally inept on the 4th line. But that doesn't tell the entire story. If not for the missed shots on net by the Wings, the total would have been much higher.
In closing, I hear the talk the team has to be given time to gel. It's only 4 games. The Pens looks more like Jello out there when it comes fast, physical team to play against. Outside a drubbing of an old Caps team, they haven't looked very impressive. They will get a reprieve with a powder puff team on the rebuild in the next game with St. Louis. Then the rubber meets the road in the following 3 games. Games against the Stars, Colorado, and Sens will be a barometer of how the season will unfold. I have high hopes for the Pens this season. But so far, it's the same old song and dance routine.
Hey Detroit Dave,
You have said a mouthful, and reiterated many sentiments have been saying for years, particularly to the fact that Sullivan is over rated. I would take that a step further to say he is the most over rated in the league right now and perhaps the most over rated Penguins Coach in history. The proof is in the pudding. if not for FLeury the team doesn't get out of the Divisional finals, in 16-17 and without Murray in the next series it doesn't get out of the conference finals.
Only the 15-16 team really dominated opponents with team speed, because all Sullivan could do was say go out and play. Taking over in mid season, all Sullivan could do is say go out and play. By 16-17 he had time to install HIS system and the team has been going down hill ever since. And then the trade you mention, one that I was on record right here on this pages as being against, basically ended the team's chances at a 3rd Cup.
Thanks for jumping in here with a dose of reality for some of the rose-colored glasses to think about!