Welcome to the latest installment of Penguins This ‘n’ ‘At. (I intentionally dialed back the Pittsburgh-ese in the title so non-locals wouldn’t get bewildered.) Just some ramblings and random thoughts from the mind of yours truly.
It’s been my contention for a while that our Penguins might be better served to play a more controlled, less aggressive style. The better to preserve our aging wheels and energy stores while at the same time maximizing the quick-strike capability of our top six.
A case in point. In our victories over Calgary and Colorado, we generated offense by forcing turnovers with solid positional play and then scoring on the counterstrike.
Until recently, coach Mike Sullivan hasn’t seemed too anxious to adjust his system to fit the talent on hand. However, Sully may at long last be singing a new tune. Against the Avs, the Pens appeared to employ a less aggressive 1-2-2 forecheck. Basically, a semi-trap. And it worked.
Maybe an old dog, or in this case a respected and tenured coach, can learn new tricks. If Sullivan can adjust his system to make the most of our talent, then I like our chances to be at least reasonably competitive.
Whodda Thunk It?
Entering the season, I felt Buffalo was a lock to make the playoffs. In fact, I pretty much guaranteed it. After all, the Sabres are teeming with young guns like Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, Alex Tuch and Penguin-killer Victor Olofsson, not to mention stud rear guards Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.
In fact, they remind me very much of the “Next Generation” Pens circa 2006-08.
On the flip side? On the heels of their record-breaking 135-point season, I honestly thought the Bruins would miss the playoffs in a classic penthouse-to-outhouse collapse. No way they’d recover from the dual retirements of top centers Patrice Bergeron and David Krejcí, to say nothing of a spate of high profile free-agent defections and less-than-inspired offseason pickups.
Yet the Bruins are perched atop the Atlantic Division courtesy of a near-perfect 6-0-1 start, while the Sabres are parked in the cellar at 3-5.
Goaltending is a huge factor. The Bruins have it in spades with the Jennings and Vezina Trophy duo of Linus Ullmark (an ex-Sabre) and Jeremy Swayman. (Think Marc-Andre Fleury and Matt Murray back in ’16-17.) The Sabres, not so much with the likes of youngsters Devon Levi, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and journeyman Eric Comrie, the most effective of the trio to date.
Coaching is another. While by no means casting a shade at ultra-popular Sabres skipper Don Granato, the Bruins LOVE playing for Jim Montgomery and it shows.
I confess I don’t pay as much attention to the Western Conference. But the Oilers’ dreadful 1-5-1 start (and rumblings that Connor McDavid is fed up) is an eyebrow raiser, especially in light of their 109-point season a year ago.
To a lesser degree the Kraken, so solid a year ago, have also been a surprise at 2-4-2. However, they experienced considerable turnover among their support players. And the ex-Pens defensive pairing of former Cup heroes Brian Dumoulin and Justin Schultz is having its issues.
Up the Down Staircase
The Pens quietly sent Radim Zohorna and Vinnie Hinostroza (pictured) to the Baby Pens yesterday in a paper transaction designed to maximize cap space. Can’t begin to comprehend the machinations behind it.
Zohorna will no doubt be in the lineup when we square off with the Senators tonight at PPG Paints Arena. I’m hoping the speedy Hinostroza will be, too. I think he could give our fourth line a boost in a fashion similar to what Big Z’s done for the third line.
