When Sidney Crosby capped the Penguins’ wild 6-5 overtime victory over the Sabres by slamming home his first goal of the season, all I could think of was announcer Jim Carr gushing, “The Chiefs Are Champions of the Federal League!” in the classic hockey parody Slap Shot.
Or as Mike Lange used to say, “If you missed this one, shame on you for a month.”
So many storylines. Here are a few of the most prominent.
Tristan Jarry
Guess I’ll start at the beginning, which is when Tristan Jarry yielded the first of his three goals against (on five shots) on a bobble behind the net. Although he had “help,” most notably from his defense and Erik Karlsson in particular, Jarry was simply dreadful.
On a human level, I feel for Tristan. It’s one thing to fail. It’s another thing to fail before a sizeable audience, most of whom are screaming for your hide. What a lonely place to be.
God bless his soul.
On a professional level? This can’t continue indefinitely. Jarry’s clearly fighting the puck and himself, with few signs of snapping out of his funk. Last season the Oilers waived their equally pricey netminder, Jack Campbell, and sent him to the AHL. As soon as Alex Nedeljkovic is healthy, I suggest the Pens do the same with Jarry. I can’t imagine anyone would claim him in his present state. Take him out of the lion’s den and let him work out his issues with the Baby Pens.
Joel Blomqvist
On the flip side of the goaltending situation, rookie Joel Blomqvist was simply brilliant. Entering the game at 11:43 of the first period with the Pens down 3-1, he stopped something like four breakaway/odd-man break opportunities in fairly rapid succession. Without question, he kept the Good Ship Penguin afloat.
I don’t have enough superlatives to describe his stellar play. And it’s not as if he had a ton of help from his teammates, either. Which leads me to…
Our Defense (or What Passes for it)
Perhaps it’s a total misnomer to refer to the mad scramble that inevitably ensues in front of our goalies as defense. Indeed, the Sabres pretty much poured through the neutral zone and into our end with unchecked impunity. In other words, we pretty much hung our goalies out to dry like linen on wash day.
A special shout-out (shout-down?) goes to the aforementioned Karlsson. I thought Paul Coffey was the worst high-profile defenseman ever to skate for the black-and-gold. Despite totaling 440 points in 331 games in the ‘Burgh, No. 77 was a minus-50!
Let that sink in for a moment.
Well, Coffey has nothing on EK65 (EEK65?) when it comes to mind-numbingly bad defensive play. He’s even managed to make the ultimate cover-stick partner, Marcus Pettersson, look bad.
Mike Sullivan and his staff deserve plenty of heat as well. What the heck are they teaching these guys? If the Pens play with any defensive structure at all, it isn’t discernable to the naked eye.
Sully & Co. need to install some…and pronto.
The Good Stuff
Fortunately, there was lots of that, too. Front and center, Evgeni Malkin.
I thought this might be the year the wheels fall off his wagon. Thus far, it’s been anything but. Last night Geno totaled four points in a virtuoso performance that harkened back to his Hart Trophy days, including the 500th goal of his illustrious career. Which he dramatically authored with a vigorous second-effort from the seat of his britches.
How great was it to see his teammates pouring off the bench and mob him in celebration! Heart-warming and so well deserved.
Apparently, Geno changed his training regimen over the off-season. Whatever adjustments he made, they’re paying off in spades. He looks five years younger.
Oh, guess who set up that milestone goal? If you guessed Crosby, you guessed right, with a slick backhand, between-the-legs pass off the end boards to boot. Following two quiet games, Sid tallied three points…including his 1600th career point thanks to a helper on Bryan Rust’s early power-play tally.
The third line of Lars Eller, Drew O’Connor and Jesse Puljujärvi continues to be a force to be reckoned with, with the latter duo each notching a goal and the unit combining for four points.
Heck, even Karlsson redeemed himself somewhat for his fast-and-mostly-loose play by setting up Sid’s OT winner with a hard shot/pass from the left circle.
And…to quote Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery, following one of his fabulous fashion photo shoots, “I’m spent.”
Hey Rick,
– Wow was Jarry bad or whatever is below bad.
1st GA – Hung on to the puck too long. Fanned on the pass. Lackadaisical getting back to the front of the net. Lost track of puck and was looking the wrong way when the Thompson stepped out from behind the net. Overreacted when he did realize the puck was on the other side and Thompson slid the puck 5-hole.
2nd GA – Yes Karlsson looked like crap giving the puck away twice – first time with errant pass through neutral zone then lethargically going back to retrieve the dump in. However, Jarry was the real problem. I am not sure when the last time I saw a Goalie get beat far side by a forward coming down his natural wing from the bottom of the faceoff circle. A goalie has to have been way off his angles to give up the far side.
Every negative thing I have said over the past year was evidenced on those first 2-GA. Gambling out of his net, not a good puck handler, poor puck tracking, over-reacting, poor mental state – unable to shake off bad goals, poor angles.
The only GA that I give Jarry any leeway on was the 3rd GA. Pettersson looked like absolute biological waste! He neither pinched fully and hit Tuch, who was trying to breakout nor did he give up the blueline with 3 forwards trapped deep. He committed one of my worst pet peeves, indecision – do something! However, Jarry was way off his angles again, giving up the short side this time, lined up on Peterka’s body not the puck.
– So, I suggest that Pettersson doesn’t need Karlsson’s help to look bad, he is doing a pretty darn good job of looking bad on his own, St. Ivany was his partner on the above shift and it was Pettersson who left his partner hanigng out to dry. Having said that, I do believe Pettersson’s problems are related to Sullivan’s asinine defensive schemes. Pettersson like all the defensemen are being told to jump up into the attacking zone but that is not a skill set he possesses. The only two defensemen on this roster that should ever venture below the top of the attacking zone faceoff circles are Letang and Karlsson.
– I do agree, waive Jarry for assignment to WBS, although I am hoping that some desperate team would take a flier on him, claim him and get him out of Pgh. I would not want Jarry stealing any playing time off Murashov.
– I loved Jesse Puljujärvi’s goal.
My hats off to Malkin and Crosby for their milestones. And even more kudos to Geno who is leading the league in scoring this season
Rick
Not to be a Debbie Downer but I think a lot of of what’s not good about Malkins game is being overlooked
because he’s putting up some points offensively. Also, Marcus Pettersson has been suspect with the puck
especially in our own end. Pettersson is currently tied for the team lead with Graves in giveaways with (12).
IMO it’s important that Pettersson plays well so that Karlsson can do his thing offensively – up to this point
I don’t believe that’s been the case. Don’t get me wrong I thought Karlsson was bad defensively last night
but I also believe without any pre-season games under his belt he hasn’t played all that bad. After (5) games
he’s a -1 and has turned the puck over 7 times.
Hope everyone on the blog is well – GO PENS