Penguins rookie head coach Dan Muse is giving every indication that things are going to be different on his watch.
How different, you ask?
He’s got a pair of teenagers in the lineup, for one. Then there was his decision to start presumed backup, Arturs Silovs, in place of heretofore de facto starter Tristan Jarry for last night’s season opener against the Rangers.
A far cry from the previous regime. I can almost hear Mike Sullivan intone in his Boston brogue, “’Jars’ is our guy.”
Perhaps the greatest evidence of change was the game itself. Maybe I’m guilty of viewing the proceedings through black-and-gold hued spectacles, but I thought it was a very “clean” game on our part.
No first-shot goals against. No last-minute goals against. No blown leads. No egregious, Keystone Kops-ish breakdowns despite a patchwork defensive corps that’s somewhat shy of Hall-of-Fame caliber.
Indeed, our Pens were on the Rangers the entire game with the attentiveness a wolf devouring a pork chop. We played with drive, energy and spunk. Even when our hosts pushed back in the second period and outshot us, 13-7, we didn’t get rattled and we didn’t lose focus. We were just solid, for lack of a better way to express it.
Our offense came from unexpected sources. With 32 seconds left in the first period, Evgeni Malkin (two assists on the night) made a subtle but brilliant play, nudging the puck between Vincent Trocheck’s skates following a faceoff win, then slipping it to Justin Brazeau in the slot.
Showing patience and hands, the big guy went forehand to backhand and beat all-world goalie Igor Shesterkin to the blocker side.
That was all she wrote for goal scoring until just over two minutes remained in the game. Sullivan got antsy and pulled Shesterkin for an extra attacker and the “Monster Line” (Monster Mash?) made him pay.
Anthony Mantha won a puck battle down low in the d-zone and advanced the puck up the wall to Geno, who headmanned it to a breaking Brazeau. The former Kyle Dubas discovery escorted the biscuit into the empty Rangers’ net for his second goal of the game.
Following the ensuing faceoff, Sully again pulled Shesterkin and again the Pens pounced, with Blake Lizotte splitting the empty cage from long range. In the process, slathering an extra layer of frosting on a delicious 3-0 win.
Puckpourri
The Pens outshot their hosts, 30-25, and won 52.5 percent of the draws. Not to oversimplify, but we played a really good game.
Silovs earned top-star honors with his first career NHL shutout. While he wasn’t severely tested, I thought he looked cool, poised and under control between the pipes. (As an aside, a commenter on another site wrote, “We would have lost 3-1 with Jarry in net.” I agree.)
Not only was Malkin’s line at the epicenter of the scoring, it dominated 5v5 in terms of possession (66.67 Corsi) and expected goals for percentage (84.68). Although not all that noticeable, Mantha had a particularly strong game, metrics-wise. Brazeau paced the black-and-gold with six shots on goal.
This is my first real look at Ben Kindel, and I must say I’m most impressed. His skating is better than I anticipated, especially his bursts and ability to shift gears, and the kid wasn’t the least bit shy about venturing into traffic and battling for pucks. His reads and two-way play were excellent.
In particular, Kindel made an absolutely filthy, Sid-esque pass down low and in traffic to Philip Tomasino, who wasn’t able to finish.
Without passing judgment on their play one way or the other, Harrison Brunicke and his partner, Caleb Jones, can really skate.
On the flip side, Ville Koivunen seemed a step slow to me while executing some wide, arcing circles. This doesn’t detract one iota from his smarts and skill (he nearly beat Shesterkin in the second period). Just an observation that seems to reinforce an early scouting report critique.
In basketball parlance, a half-court player.
If you’re searching for other warts, our defensive corps combined for a dozen giveaways, six by the portside and another six by the starboard. By comparison, the Rangers’ defense had seven in total.
I can’t help but be impressed with the way the team is playing under Muse. Including the preseason, we’ve won six in a row. We look fast, structured and, dare I say, spirited. Again, a far cry from the past few seasons.
Stat you weren’t expecting. Parker Wotherspoon led the Pens in ice time (23:15).
Is it just me? Or does this bunch have a bit of a Golden Knights “Misfits” vibe about them?
Up next, the Isles at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday night.
Rick
Good article on Wortherspoon and Karlsson “Yin & Yang” It’s definitely worth the read.
Ignore my spelling of Wotherspoon “LOL” I think I chopped it up a little.
Hey all,
I happened to stumble over the following comment by a Rangers fan on “Forever Blueshirts” and was struck by how eerily familiar it seemed.
“I hope Sully learned a few things tonight and changes the players around, because the pairs he had for this game did not work together at all. It looked like all the players were just skating around and did not know what to do they couldn’t even pass the puck to each other. They just kept putting it into the boards and making Igor do all the work… ”
I’m no expert when it comes to analyzing systems, but I’ve heard Sully likes to give his players lots of options. Unfortunately, not everyone’s a Sidney Crosby who can take advantage of so much freedom. Given the speed of the game these days and how little reaction time there is, I wonder if it only serves to stymie your average, every day players.
Rick
Your thoughts Rick are a well known concept in the halls of academia. Anyway taking any sports or exercise major has been taught for more years than I can count that causing an opponent to have to think for even 1/2 a second will slow that opponent down, making the thinker look at least a half of a step slower. More importantly I have written that very truism here on these boards ad nauseum as well. Each time I was greeted with, shall I say (politely) resistance when I tried to share what I knew.
One of the biggest reasons I have some level of hope for this team is that Muse seems to have uncomplicated the team’s “System” and the players are playing rather than thinking. They should now appear light years faster, even the geriatric portion of the roster.
Foresight can be just as 20/20 as hindsight if we let it.