It was another trying week for the Penguins.
One thing that can be said about the NHL season is that it’s a long one. Stating anything with certainty after only four weeks of games is impossible when looking long-term at potential playoff outcomes. However, this doesn’t make early games any less valuable, nor should people ignore the opportunities for prompt lessons or initial identifications of problems. The Pittsburgh Penguins should be no different, and for their fans, hopefully, their recent history points to an ability to rectify things in time, because as this team stands right now, there’s a lot to be worried about.
So through four weeks of the regular season, the Penguins have had four back-to-back game situations. In the four games that came on the second day of those scenarios, the Penguins have a record of 0-4-0 and have been outscored 29-7. Part of that seems worth repeating. In only FOUR games, the Penguins have given up TWENTY-NINE goals. This is something that needs further examination.
Ok, the team’s overall record of 7-5-1 through thirteen games looks pretty decent, and some might say that a loss is a loss whether it is by a deficit of one goal or one hundred. However, consistently getting blown out points to some significant issues that cannot go unresolved if this team wants to contend for a playoff spot, let alone a third straight Stanley Cup. In three of these four losses, the Penguins have appeared totally outworked for most of the sixty minutes. The lone exception would be the 5-4 loss to the Lightning on October 12, but outside of that game, their second game in back-to-backs have been a 10-1 loss in Chicago, a 7-1 loss in Tampa Bay, and most recently, a 7-1 loss in Winnipeg. Watching the games, it’s no wonder the scores are so lopsided. The Penguins barely seem to compete in these games, constantly getting outworked and out-thought as turnovers mount and result in many, many goals against. If something doesn’t get these Penguins to show some heart in these games, then major trouble is on the horizon.
Of course, effort is not the only issue here. Defensive talent and structure is hurting the Penguins in a big way right now, and not just on the defensive side of the puck. Pittsburgh is playing without Matt Hunwick and Justin Schultz right now because of injuries. Their replacements Chad Ruhwedel and Zach Trotman haven’t looked altogether terrible, but they definitely aren’t playing at the level of the men they replaced. Not only do they get exposed by opposing forwards with the puck, but their mishandling of the puck when exiting the Penguins’ defensive zone is disrupting the flow of the puck the other way. This isn’t a problem exclusive to those two, unfortunately, as Kris Letang, Olli Maatta, Brian Dumoulin, Conor Sheary, and even our beloved Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby have been guilty of ill-advised passes when trying to come out of the defensive zone. It is causing the Penguins to get hemmed in on the wrong end of the ice, allowing opponents to create chances and often score on them. On Sunday night against the Jets, the Penguins gave up three goals in thirty-two seconds, and each of the goal scoring sequences began with the Penguins possessing the puck. This needs attention immediately.
Sadly for Antti Niemi, he became a scapegoat for the first three of these games, eventually being put on waivers to get picked up by the Florida Panthers. However, in the team’s first back-to-back test without him to blame, the Penguins showed how little these embarrassing losses could be blamed on the performance of the man in the crease. The Penguins have not given these goalies a chance in any of these games, whether it’s Niemi, Murray, or even Casey DeSmith who had to make his NHL debut by relieving Murray after the Jets scored four early goals (the first shot DeSmith faced was also a goal). Nevertheless, the Penguins do still have questions to answer in goal. Murray looked fantastic in the first three games this week, but he cannot play all sixty-nine games remaining on the Penguins’ schedule. The backup situation needs to get sorted out. While DeSmith did get thrown into a tough spot in this game, he appeared shaky throughout, getting called for a penalty on a clear over the glass and looking unsure of himself on saves. There’s no need to yank him out of the lineup just yet, but having an experienced goalie behind Murray would be valuable for a team with so many back-to-back situations. Keep an eye out for GM Jim Rutherford to make a move sometime this season for a goalie.
Another concern for the defending champs right now: Where is the offense? In their past five games, the Penguins have scored two goals at five-on-five. Their power play might boast some of the most offensively talented players in the world, but they cannot depend on that to sustain their whole side of the scoreboard. The chemistry of the forward lines looks off, which even head coach Mike Sullivan must agree with as he switched up combinations for Sunday’s game in Winnipeg. Things just aren’t clicking for the team to string together some passes and get quality chances on net. This problem is exacerbated by the loss of Carter Rowney to injury and the addition of Riley Sheahan who will need some time to adjust to a new team. The Penguins should be looking for solutions rather than excuses, though.
Through three games this week, Penguins fans might have felt encouraged by the team’s commitment to team defense as they won against Edmonton and Winnipeg with identical 2-1 victories in overtime – both games even ending with Phil Kessel semi-breakaways – before losing a hard-fought 2-1 game in Minnesota. The team seemed to have solved some of their issues in giving up endless scoring chances, and Matt Murray was happy to play hero and bail out the guys when they did have the occasional breakdown. However, their defensive inadequacy reared its ugly head again on Sunday in giving up seven goals to a Winnipeg Jets team that was averaging 2.67 goals per game. While the two prior embarrassments might have been shrugged off with excuses regarding the level of opponent the day after playing a game in a different city as they had to play both Chicago and Tampa Bay following travel, this game against the Winnipeg Jets clearly had less to do with the quality of opponent than with the effort given by the Penguins. This team cannot afford to throw away two points every time they play a back-to-back scenario (it bears repeating that the Penguins lead the league in such occasions with nineteen this season).
Several players and coaches have spoken to the level of embarrassment felt after big losses like the ones in Chicago, Tampa Bay, and Winnipeg, but the scary thing so far is that nothing has changed. The Penguins can talk all they want about working harder and putting together a more consistent game, but until the fans see it with regularity, it will be hard to convince anyone that this team is currently equipped for a third straight run at the Stanley Cup. But as we all know, it’s a long season.
