Senators Filibuster Bipolar Penguins, 5-2

Last season I wrote about the bipolar nature of our Penguins. On some nights? The good Dr. Jekyll. On others? The brutal Mr. Hyde.

Fresh off a masterful 4-0 whitewashing of the high-flying Avalanche, our boys returned to their bad old ways last night, resulting in a 5-2 loss to the Senators at PPG Paints Arena.

For the record, the Sens had lost three straight entering the contest and were drawing considerable fire from their fan base. But when it comes to games involving our Pens, the past is decidedly not prologue.

We probably deserved a better fate, at least early on when we piled up a staggering 22-8 edge in shots on goal (38-18 in shot attempts) over the first 20 minutes. However, the poster child for our uneven play, goalie Tristan Jarry, was unable to keep the Sens at bay. A scant 48 hours after posting his second shutout of the season, “Jars” yielded three goals on nine shots, good for a crispy .667 save percentage, before being pulled in favor of Magnus Hellberg.

In fairness to our embattled netminder he had “help,” especially on the Sens’ power-play goal to open the scoring 4:24 into the opening frame. Left completely unfettered by our defense (and I use that term loosely), Ridly Greig scored on a deflection from the lip of the crease. Jarry had no chance.

One of these days a member of the coaching staff is going to need to explain the benefits of “fronting” opposing forwards instead of actually covering them or, better still, boxing them out. But I digress…

The other goals Jarry allowed, one by Brady Tkachuk on a snipe from the left circle and the other by Dominik Kubalik from the right, were clearly on him.

Safe to say, it wasn’t Jarry’s night. Ours either.

The Pens finally solved Joonas Korpisalo, who we’ve owned in the past, at 17:34 of the second period following a tic-tac-toe passing sequence, culminating in a nifty deflection tally by Sidney Crosby from the doorstep to make it 3-1.

However, any hopes for a black-and-gold comeback were snuffed out during a 31-second span of the final period when Tkachuk and Drake Batherson beat Hellberg to run the score to 5-1.

In an attempt to keep the lid from blowing off, coach Mike Sullivan actually employed a 1-4 (trap) in the closing minutes. Jake Guentzel beat Korpisalo from the high slot off a pretty feed from Crosby in the final minute, but the outcome had obviously long been decided.

I’ll close by reprising a quote from our distant past. Exasperated by his team’s maddening inconsistency, Bob Berry labelled his troops “circus performers. Win one, 8-1, lose one, 7-2…easy come, easy go,” he fumed.

Sounds like he was describing our present-day Pens.

Puckpourri

Statistically the Pens held sway according to Natural Stat Trick. We had the high ground in shot attempts (77-48), shots on goal (42-26), scoring chances (36-27) and high-danger chances (16-13). Yet the scoreboard tells an entirely different story.

I keep harping on it. But more isn’t necessarily better for our Pens when it comes to shot volumes. We’re now 1-4 when we have the advantage in shot attempts, 0-5 when we attempt 70 or more shots. When we put more shots on goal than our foes? We’re 1-5.

Counterintuitive, I know. But it’s right there in black and white. Must drive the “process” mavens (and our coaching staff) nuts.

Again, it points to an inescapable conclusion. We’re more successful when we play a controlled, counterpunching style. One that allows us to better cover our collective arses.

Sid’s line was dominant, piling up a 20-5 edge in shots on goal 5v5. By contrast, Evgeni Malkin’s line…generally our best this season…was limited to two shots on goal 5v5.

Guentzel snapped a four-game goalless skein. With five goals and nine points, Sid’s taken over the club scoring lead. Bryan Rust (five goals, seven points) continues to skate as if he were shot from a cannon.

Oh-for-two last night, our power(less) play hasn’t scored since Mike Lange’s proverbial eighth grade picnic. Or more precisely, the second game of the season.

The Sens were missing three regular defensemen, including top-dog Thomas Chabot, and we still couldn’t score.

Radim Zohorna got trapped up ice on the Sens’ third goal and was promptly parked on the bench for a spell. As a result, “Big Z” received a team-low 10:33 of ice time.

In his black-and-gold debut, man mountain Hellberg stopped 15 of 17 shots for a save percentage of .882. Right in line with his career mark of .886.

In fairness to the big Swede, Batherson scored on a breakaway and Tkachuk was allowed to set up permanent residence around the net prior to scoring. A detail that drew the ire of radio color man Phil Bourque.

I’m paraphrasing, but the Ol’ Two-Niner said something to the effect of, “If you’re an opponent go to the net. Nobody will even breathe on you.”

The object of his considerable frustration? Marcus Pettersson, who stood idly by while Tkachuk did his thing.

Another Bourquie lament…our inability to win one-on-one battles.

On Deck

The Pens wrap up their homestand on Monday night against Anaheim. I’m telling ya the Ducks are no joke. They pounded the Flyers, 7-4, and possess a nice blend of youth and experience, skill and toughness.

They also feature noted Penguin-killer Frank Vatrano, who has eight goals on the young season. Six more than our bottom six combined.