The Penguins played one of their finest games of the young season against the Devils yesterday afternoon at the Prudential Center in Newark.
Indeed, we pretty much dominated our Metro rivals in virtually every conceivable stat, including shot attempts, shots on goal, scoring chances, high-danger chances, you name it. Everywhere but on the scoreboard, where we wound up on the short end of a 2-1 decision.
Limited to a single power play, our bread ‘n’ butter of late, by arguably our least favorite referee, Garrett Rank, the Pens could only nick Devils netminder Jake Allen for a single goal despite launching 34 shots on net.
That came at 12:33 of the second period on a long-range blast off the stick of Ryan Graves that struck Ondrej Palat and dipped inside the crossbar and far post. Allen blunted everything else we threw his way.
As for the Devils’ lone regulation marker? That came 48 seconds before the first intermission courtesy on an unconscionable brain-cramp on the part of Kris Letang. Skating back to our end to corral a loose puck with Devils rookie Arseny Gritsyuk in hot pursuit, No. 58 tried to force a no-look, Harlem Globetrotter-ish, behind-the-back-pass to Joona Koppanen trailing well behind the play. Gritsyuk picked off the ill-fated feed as if he were the intended recipient and easily beat Arturs Silovs, who had no chance.
Dreadful decision and play by Tanger, simply dreadful. (FYI: he’s had a few of those of late.)
Silovs more than atoned for any shortcoming on his part in the final minute of the second period with a stunning, 10-bell glove save on Jack Hughes from point-blank range. A sequence set in motion when Danton Heinen overskated the puck in the slot, enabling Luke Hughes to move it quickly to his older sibling.
That was all-she-wrote for twine tickling until the shootout, when the all-too-predictable occurred. Ergo, black-and-gold shooters Bryan Rust and Sidney Crosby were denied by Allen, while Paul Cotter and Jesper Bratt beat Silovs to snag the extra point (and sole possession of the Metro lead) for Jersey.
Puckpourri
Overall, Silovs played a terrific game, good enough to earn second-star honors. But, my oh my, are shootouts an Achilles heel. The Pens have come out on the short end of three of ‘em, each time with Silovs between the pipes. He’s only stopped one of the eight shootout attempts he’s faced thus far for a beyond ghastly .125 save percentage.
Speaking of unholy numbers, Koppanen registered an expected goals for percentage of 14.26. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a lower xGA%. For a reason that escapes me, Kyle Dubas seems to have an affinity for the hulking Finn. However, the second coming of Justin Brazeau he ain’t.
If you want to use Koppanen to plug a hole on the fourth line for a game or two, fine. But longer-term? Call up Sam Poulin, for goodness sakes.
On the flip side, Graves has played pretty darn well in two games since being recalled. As an aside, from what I understand, Mike Sullivan employed an unusual zone defense as part of his philosophy. Could that have contributed to Ryan’s struggles the past couple of seasons?
When literal Penguin-killer Brenden Dillon crushed Tommy Novak with a huge open-ice hit midway through the first period, Anthony Mantha immediately stepped in to challenge him to a go. Good on you, Anthony, for sticking up for a teammate.
Production-wise, it was a quiet day for our big guns. Crosby and Rust collected assists on Graves’ goal. Evgeni Malkin was held off the scoresheet for only the third time this season. Geno’s still tied for the league-lead in assists (17) with Connor McDavid.
Following our 8-2-2 start, we’re 1-2-1 in our last four games. We continue to hold second place in the Metro with 21 points, tied for third-most in the league. Our regulation points percentage (.656) is second-best, behind only Colorado.
The Pens return home to host the Kings this afternoon. Prized rookie Sergei Murashov is expected to get his first big-league start in goal.
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Hey RIck,
Yesterday was the first time this season that I had the opportunity to watch an entire Penguins game from beginning to end. From an effort standpoint, Muse’s team certainly did make it tough for the Devils to play against them – a trait that Sullivan’s teams over the last 4 or 5 seasons at least never really did, despite their coach’s lip service to that affect. In fact, on another site, a opinion monger titled his posted thoughts propagating the idea that the Penguins deserved better than a consolation point.
Hmm…. Did they? Did they really deserve more than a SO point?
Before you get up in arms, remember I am not saying the team didn’t try hard. I acknowledge that they put forth the best effort that they could, but that doesn’t mean they deserved to win. Perhaps, our Penguins got more than they deserved because of their hard work.
Our Penguins have one of the least efficient 5-on-5 Offenses in the league. Only 4.1% of the shots they attempt not only make it on Goal but are on Goal and past the Goalie into the net. Our Penguins’ shooters have a large portion of their shots blocked, miss the net or hit center mass of the opposing Goalie. Watching our Penguins flit and fly about the Offensive Zone reminds me of the Shakesperean Quote from MacBeth “but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
No doubt the injuries to Brazeau and Rakell are contributing to the toothless attack of our favorite flightless fowl. The fact that our Penguins are going through a stretch of a little higher quality Opponent is also eroding Mr. Muse’s Offense and his W-L-OT record. Perhaps the worst part of the current struggles (and I say that half-heartedly because Crosby and crew did miss the extra point – but I am not all that beat up like some. In the end, the point the team did steal is keeping them in the playoff hunt and well above Smellivan, for which I am still smiling like a butcher’s dog). The missed extra point is only a bump in the road and not a panic point. However, if we must talk about the missed W point we need look no further than the player choices. There are far better players in the system to replace Brazeau and Rakell than the likes of Kevin Hayes and Joona Koppanen.
For that matter there are better Goalies in the Penguins organization than the ones Muse has been intentionally trotting out. Since we know that Muse’s system has been able to make incompetent’s like Jarry and Silovs look palatable, I can’t help wonder what Murashov (and if he hadn’t been injured) Blomqvist would be looking right now.