In an item first reported on Pittsburgh Hockey Now, the Penguins received good news…and dodged a potential injury bullet. Defensemen Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta, who exited the Canadiens’ debacle early on Tuesday night, will return to the lineup against the Rangers tonight apparently no worse for the wear.
WHEW.
In addition, speedy forward Ryan Poehling will suit up after missing the past 15 games with a nagging upper-body injury.
The bad news? It appears veteran forward Jeff Carter will continue to anchor (wholly appropriate descriptor) the fourth line.
Gretz gives a much more detailed and eloquent account of the 38-year-old center’s struggles on Pensburgh. At the risk of piling on, I’ll toss in my two cents as well.
Carter’s play sadly sank to a new low against the Habs the other night. In a little over eight minutes of ice time he was on the ice for four goals against. Over his last 40 games, Jeff’s tallied only five goals and eight points. While it isn’t the be-all-end-all stat, his minus-17 over that span speaks volumes of his effectiveness…or lack of.
Yet coach Mike Sullivan keeps chucking him out there.
I understand not wanting to demean a player of Carter’s considerable stature and achievements. Nor do I want to seem ungrateful. Given a new lease on life following his arrival in the ‘Burgh, the big guy was mostly terrific for us for through his first season and change. But he’s reached the end of the line. Simply put, he can’t get the job done any more. His wheels have totally abandoned him, along virtually every other aspect of his game, faceoff prowess aside.
Nor is Sullivan doing Carter any favors by repeatedly putting him a position to fail, in the process holding the 18-year NHL vet up to ridicule and scorn from the fan base and media.
Enough is enough. It’s time for Sully to do the right thing for both the player and team and sit Jeff.
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Hey Mike,
I hear what yo are saying, almost every team in the league would probably agree, particularly the ones that will be sitting out the post-season and that is why they are sitting out the post-season.
Bonino is out right now anyway, with a lacerated kidney, so at least for now, he isn't even a consideration.
And there are no true Centers in the organization that are good enough to make to the NHL, that is one of the reasons why WBS is having a tough season, like the parent club they are weak at the pivot.
However, the reality is, with Carter at Center on the 3rd or 4th line, this team will not get out of the 1st round and possibly not even make the playoffs. Therefore, this is exactly the right time to experiment.
What was it that Janis Joplin sang "Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose."? Well this team has nothing left to lose, so they might as well roll the dice with O'Connor pivoting the 3rd line and Poehling the 4th. Maybe with some rest, Carter can get back to at least where he was in October.
The Other Rick
Even with all the Penguins short comings I still see them making the playoffs but again
their destined for an early exit. Crosby is still good enough to will them into the playoffs
although I do worry about our goaltending. Back to Carter, I agree that resting him
couldn't hurt but the player options for Sullivan to replace him are suspect at best.
Putting O'Connor as your 3rd line center would be counter productive - I haven't seen
anthing from him in the way of playmaking ability that would justify that move.
We could go round and round debating this but for me the problem points directly
to how the team is structured. No back up plan when your Centers are all in there
mid to late 30"s.
Hey Mike,
This is one thing we appear to not be able to reach an agreement on.
I do agree the teams problems extend well beyond Carter, particularly with the age of their Centers and lack of an exit strategy in place for when Crosby and Malkin retire, but for me, Carter is a poster child for what is wrong with this team. Not only is he the oldest Center but he has the worst +/- of any player on the team.
We can debate the value of the +/- for all of the players in the middle, but the players at one extreme or the other have earned their status - Carter is responsible for more GA than any other Fwd. Remove him from the line up and Jarry's and DeSmith's Lives are far better. Point in case is the poor backwards pass to POJ that ended up in the back of the net. Carter was the first domino to fall in that chain. Remove him from the lineup and the game remains tied a little longer., maybe until we get the lead, so Kreider's G, where he man-handled Dumoulin would only have been a tying G.
Also, lookming at O'Connor's and Carter's 5-on-5 results, DOC sets up as many Gs as Carter per 60 min (0.58 for Carter to 0.57 for DOC) but DOC scores far more Gs (0.94 for DOC but only 0.47 for Carter). In terms of team GA% they are both underwater but DOC is closer to treading water at 46.15 vs Carter's 35.09. So I could never justify Carter
I wish he would have had the sense to retire after last season and we wouldn't be having this conversation.
Rick
I don't disagree with benching Carter "BUT" who replaces him?? I really don't see a
better option waiting in the wings. Bonino "NO", O'Connor "NO", Poehling "NO"
and Granlund "NO". I know everyone will say go with the younger player and he
couldn't do any worse but this is probably not the time to experiment. Like everyone
else I down on Jeff Carter as well, but I just don't see a better option "Sadly"
Hey Mike,
I'm with Phil on this one. Bench Carter and move Poehling to center on a line with Archibald and Heinen. I'm not saying it's a combo made in Heaven, but Carter simply can't get up and down the ice any more.
I will agree that O'Connor's no center. His strength is just taking the puck and going to the net. I've seen very little from him to suggest any latent playmaking skills.
Rick
Rick
I don't disagree with benching Carter I just don't like our options at Center.
Hey Rick and Mike,
I am not saying that DOC should be viewed or groomed as the the Pens future 3rd line Center or even aCenter at all, but right now, here today, DOC is getting pretty much the same results from his play making as Carter 5-on-5 but scoring far more Gs and preventing far more GA. Therefore, to me, DOC hands down, if I want to win. Then in the off season, look for a more permanent solution.
The Other Rick
That's exactly why I'm not a numbers guy. I'm also not beating the drums for Carter
to stay in the lineup - I just don't like our options to replace him.
Hey Mike,
Maybe I'm not understanding what you are saying, are you saying If you had a hockey team and needed to pick one center for the 4th line you would pick Carter over Granlund, Poeling, O'Connor and Bonino?
Personally, once Poeling is up to speed, I believe he could center Archibald & Heinen on the 4th and produce some quality fore-checking. The best defense is a good offense, unless your the Habs playing Florida that is.
I do agree with TOR, it's the right time to experiment.
Phil
I'm not promoting for Carter stay in the lineup but right now with the players available
I don't see another good option that will give us a boost in offensive production.
Granlund is skilled but with his lack of size and physicallity is going to get him destroyed
in the playoffs and he's already been guilty of pulling up on the puck to avoid getting
hit. The Pen's defiantely don't need to get any smaller or softer, that's something I'm a 100%
sure of. IMO this should of been addressed at the deadline. Not straying from the topic
but the Old 29er said it best, we needed more playoff type hockey players. Also, one of
the reasons our 3rd and 4th lines struggle is they lack the intangibles to fill those roles.
Again, I don't think it would hurt to rest Carter but I don't see the players at Sullivan's
disposal being any type of long or short term fix. I hope I'm wrong.