The Penguins are beginning to figure things out.
The Pittsburgh Penguins opened the season on October 4 by raising their second straight Stanley Cup banner up into the rafters, and now that they are just over a month in, the prospect of them raising a third one to start next season is enticing for fans; the main thing they want to discuss this year is if they can win again and how. However, if anything is important to recognize from Pittsburgh’s last two runs to the Cup, it is that the road to the finals is a process much slower than people often realize. Stanley Cups are not awarded in October for a reason.
Remember that the 2015-2016 Penguins had to fire their head coach in December of 2015. Three months into that season, no one was impressed with the team’s play, and pundits asked whether Crosby had fallen off the top of the mountain. So much for those concerns. Then, in 2017, there was a four-game losing streak at the end of March, right before playoff time. Fans remembered how the team tore through all competition heading into the playoffs the prior year and wondered if the team had what it took to again ascend to the top. Well, four rounds later, Sid held that silver trophy above his head.
This season has begun with plenty of questions and cause for concern as the Penguins have lost several blowout games, have a goal differential of negative 14 (third worst in the league), and have yet to win a game with their backup goalie in net. Fans worry about their depth at forward and at defense. The effort so far this season has been questionable at times. In spite of all of this, the Penguins, as of Wednesday, November 8, have the fourth most points in the entire league.
Now, this statistic is inflated by the fact that the Penguins have played the most games of any team so far this season. Still, it should encourage the Pittsburgh faithful that the team still has a favorable position in the standings despite sub-par performance so far.
In the week since we last checked on the Penguins after their 7-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, they have gone 2-1-1 with wins in Edmonton and again in Pittsburgh against the Coyotes. Their regulation loss came in Vancouver, and their overtime loss came in Calgary. In those four games, the Penguins scored 9 goals and gave up 9 goals. So now, the team’s concerns seem to fall more on the goal-scoring side whereas they were previously concerned with their goals against average.
Coach Mike Sullivan has been tinkering with his offensive lines for several games because of the team’s lack of scoring at even strength. Their power play has carried a lot of the offensive load for the last couple weeks, but they need much more out of their 5 on 5 play.
The Penguins currently sit at 26th in the league with 2.65 goals per game, which is a poor showing for a team sporting the talent of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel. What’s worse, they have 18 goals on the power play, leaving only 27 goals scored without the man advantage. That means the Penguins are only averaging 1.59 goals per game without their power play. Their forward lines need to improve as the season goes along, which will hopefully come as they develop chemistry.
For those worried about this switching of lines, remember that the fan-favorite HBK line barely made an appearance in the 2016-2017 season after having a profound impact on the prior Cup run. Just because something works one season, does not mean Sullivan will stick with it the next. Players develop, and defensive schemes adapt. People begging for “Sid and the Kids” to get more ice time together should trust what Coach Sullivan is doing. It’s a process.
The defense is slowly shaping up, too. The return of Justin Schultz on Tuesday helped, and Matt Hunwick is not far from a return also. However, Kris Letang has still yet to perform up to the high expectations placed upon him. Olli Maatta has appeared slow at times, allowing opponents to get in behind him for quality chances. The defense might not be cause for concern immediately, but that is not to say that more is not needed from them if they hope to make a deep playoff run. Again, though, nobody believed in the Penguins’ defensive corps heading into the playoffs last season, and look how that worked out.
The Penguins are definitely not where fans want them to be to feel comfortable thinking a third straight Cup is coming this year, but they aren’t in any different place than they were either of the last two years. The coaching staff needs to identify the appropriate steps in the process of this season and get the players there. They need to focus on 5 on 5 scoring, raising the play of the defense, and locking in a solid backup goaltender. If one thing should instill confidence for this group, it’s that their core of players has shown no trouble in buying in and following this coaching staff, and the coaching staff has shown a keen ability at creating a winning blueprint. For now, we’ll have to do our best to enjoy the process and look for what further steps await.
