Our flickering playoff hopes evaporating faster than a puddle in the heart of Death Valley, the Penguins bumbled their way to a 4-1 loss to the Kraken yesterday afternoon in Seattle.
Contrary to the final outcome, the Pens did a lot of things right, in general carrying the play to the tune of a 69-46 edge in shot attempts and a 29-25 advantage in shots on goal.
Our third line of Kevin Hayes centering for Drew O’Connor and Philip Tomasino was especially effective, registering a staggering 5v5 xGF% of 93.52 and a 13-3 edge in shots on goal. They did everything but score. Unfortunately, a team-wide malaise these days.
It didn’t help matters that Evgeni Malkin exited early in the proceedings following an awkward collision with Chandler Stephenson that seemed to stress his left knee.
At the other end of the rink?
Woof.
Our defense made more mistakes than a six-year-old attempting to fill out a tax return.
Following a scoreless first period (thank you Joel Blomqvist) Kris Letang committed an egregious offensive-zone turnover early in the second that led to a 2-on-1 for our hosts. The Kraken actually took extra time to involve a third attacker, eventual goal-getter Oliver Bjorkstrand. We still couldn’t get back to cover.
Sidney Crosby scored from the slot a couple of minutes later on a nice feed from Rickard Rakell to draw us even at 1-all.
However, it was just a matter of time before we bungled the game away. Cody Glass (remember him?) took a slashing penalty late in the period, compounded by a Letang cross-checking infraction that left us two-men short for 80 seconds. More than enough time for Vince Dunn to hammer a rising shot from the high slot past a well-screened Blomqvist.
Entering the third period, the Pens shifted into scramble mode in an effort to catch up. When we scramble, bad things happen…
Five minutes in, three black-and-gold defenders converged on Shane Wright as he smartly sliced through our zone, leaving not one but two Kraken wide-open in the slot. With his choice of targets, ex-Pen Jared McCann fed Eeli Tolvanen, who beat a helpless Blomqvist from point-blank range.
The final nail breeched our coffin just past the 13-minute mark. Erik Karlsson coughed up the puck in the neutral zone, leading to yet another 2-on-1. With Matt Grzelcyk obligingly removing his stick from the passing lane at precisely the wrong moment, Kaapo Kakko set up Matty Beniers, again from can’t-miss range.
That thud you heard near the end? No, it wasn’t the newest Pen, Boko Imama, trying to goad black-and-gold alum Jamie Oleksiak into a fight.
Rather, it was the sound of the Pens crash-landing in the Metro basement.
Puckpourri
In addition to Geno, Matt Nieto took a flying puck in the ear and exited early as well. I’ll refrain from writing what I really feel.
On second thought, to heck with decorum. With the team plummeting through the nether regions of the standings at Warp speed, Nieto serves no purpose other than taking a roster spot away from Vasily Ponomarev or Jonathan Gruden or Avery Hayes or even the exiled Jesse Puljujärvi.
Put Matt on waivers. A team in the hunt might need a good defensive forward and penalty killer. If not? Regardless, it’s time to cede that roster spot to a kid.
Bryan Rust (injury) and Blake Lizotte (illness) sat out, paving the way for Imama to make his black-and-gold debut. With three hits, a blocked shot and a shot on goal (two attempted) in 8:52 of ice time, Boko played a solid game.
At this stage of a lost season, keep the slugging left wing in the lineup to afford some protection and muscle.
On defense, it was out with Owen Pickering (demoted to the Baby Pens) and Pierre-Olivier Joseph (healthy scratch) and in with the Ryans, Graves and Shea. While they weren’t scored upon, they didn’t exactly shine.
If I didn’t make it crystal clear that I’m absolving Blomqvist of blame, I am now. The mistakes made in front of him were Mite Hockey-esque.
Does anyone else think a coaching change is in order? Mike Sullivan’s had more chances than Tristan Jarry to turn things around and it just ain’t happenin.’ Worse, we’ve consistently been one of the sloppiest, error-prone teams in the league for the past several seasons. At some point that has to reflect on the coach.
We’re not a great team by any stretch. That’s obvious. But if Spencer Carbery were behind our bench instead of Sully, I wager we’d have about 10 more points and be in the thick of the playoff chase.
In addition to the never-ending (and rarely corrected) mistakes, there’s an overarching staleness to the team and the way we play that seems to permeate the entire organization. From the personnel decisions to the “philosophy,” everything needs to change.
It’s time to move on, for Sully’s sake as well as the team’s. He deserves a fresh start elsewhere, with a new batch players who are eager to play for him and haven’t heard his message a gazillion times.
I doubt if we’ll see a coaching change in-season. I do think we’ll see one this summer.
At the risk of repeating myself, it’s time.
My guess is, Kyle Dubas knows it, too.
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Hi Rick!
"Our defense made more mistakes than a six-year-old attempting to fill out a tax return."
That is a very funny one liner! I laughed really hard!
Well, there is nothing much to say about this effin loss! As I write these lines, FSG is considering selling minority shares of Penguins. Is it the beginning of a sale on the sly? I find it a wee bit intriguing...