WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Pittsburgh Penguins‘ eight-game points streak evaporated faster than the early morning fog swept away by the howling winds across the increasingly wintery prairie.
The paper stats showed an even game with the Winnipeg Jets. The advanced stats even showed the Penguins were in the game and even had the better chances for portions of the second period.
Yeah, no.
The play on the ice showed an entirely different story as Winnipeg largely controlled the game en route to a 5-2 win at Canada Life Centre.
“Too many odd-man rushes. I mean, that really hurt us. I think they came for different reasons–in the third period, you’re down. Some of those are gonna be–you’ve got to take away time and space,” said Muse, trying to choose his words carefully. “Still, we need to make sure that we’re backing each other up. Some of (the odd-man rushes), came off of decisions … Yeah, there’s a number of reasons. But clearly, there was way too much coming at us that way.”
Mama said there’d be days like this, and it was indeed a rough day for the rookies. In fact, it was a rough day for a lot of Penguins, and eventually Muse threw the lines into the blender, trying to find something that worked.
Nothing did.
Sidney Crosby scored the first Penguins goal when Erik Karlsson used him as a bankboard for a power play goal with 12 seconds remaining in the second period.
The Penguins’ power play was the lone bright spot.
The Penguins weren’t flat, but they were entirely disconnected. They weren’t lifeless, but they generated no energy.
The inexorable march of odd-man breaks kept Winnipeg on the precipice of an absolute boat race, but players racing back, a few nice saves, and a few misses kept the score respectable.
“I think it’s a challenge when you’re on a winning streak to stay desperate and stay with the foot on the gas, and doing the little things to win,” Tommy Novak told PHN. “So I think we’ll have a better effort all around next game after a loss, for sure.”
However, the Penguins didn’t get enough help from their goalie, Arturs Silovs–also a rookie. The first couple of goals were on the goalie and the young defensemen Harrison Brunicke and Owen Pickering.
PHN spoke with Brunicke after the game. The defenseman was in the process of balancing a bad start with a couple of better periods.
“I mean, obviously, the first two shifts can’t happen,” Brunicke told this writer. “So I thought after that I rebounded with a couple of strong shifts and tried to feel better, but again, that can’t happen, and obviously I want those back.”
In fact, each Winnipeg tally had a Penguins gaffe attached.
After the first couple of goals, Muse separated his third pairing, Brunicke and Pickering, though Pickering’s mistake to leap forward for a loose puck launched Winnipeg’s third goal (a two-on-one that became a two-on-two with Noel Acciari’s hard skating to catch up).
Pickering played with Kris Letang and Brunicke with Ryan Shea.
Bad days happen, and PHN has advocated for Pickering’s long-term inclusion. One issue to note is Pickering’s ever-decreasing shift time. He was down to a 37-second average Saturday. That’s not the coaching staff calling him over–that’s most likely a player struggling with his confidence at the highest level.
His shifts should be 50-55 seconds.
Tactically, the Penguins were loose. They were spread out both with the puck and defending in the neutral zone. Without a Penguins forecheck, Winnipeg was able to quickly scoot around the front end of the Penguins’ 1-1-3 system and generate speed on the weak side into the offensive zone.
The Penguins were indeed outclassed Saturday. The question that must be asked–was it a one-game beating, or the start of a hard regression to the mean?
“That’s a good team that we played. I feel like it wasn’t our best,” said Sidney Crosby.
There just wasn’t a lot to like. It was hard to circle periods of the game in which the Penguins were the better team. At best, they were equal, but even those periods didn’t last.
The haphazard forecheck didn’t bring them energy, and there was not a top-nine line that was better than their opponents. The fourth line was pretty good again, and Erik Karlsson was also pretty good.
His rebounds are an issue, but Saturday, he was very deep in his net–so much so that dangerous passes traveled through the middle of the crease. Perhaps worse, his angle/positioning was not square to the puck on those same passes, creating even more opportunity for Winnipeg.
Bad games are going to happen. He needs to rebound, no pun intended, quickly.
The defenseman was roughed up in the first couple of minutes. Brunicke and Pickering were largely innocent bystanders on the first goal, but Brunicke was victimized on the second goal, and Pickering’s position in front of the net, instead of at the post, created space for the pass to Brad Lambert to the back post.
After Parker Ford swept past Brunicke on the left wing, Lambert beat Brunicke to the net while Pickering chose to defend the front of the crease instead of the goal line.
After the start, Brunicke was indeed better.
His mistakes have been detailed in the column. The short answer is that he needs to cast aside any hesitance and play with confidence, like he did for most of his 25 games last season.
Given the short hook he received last season, Hair Gate, and the perhaps undeserved demotion at the end of training camp, it would seem the defenseman is trying too hard to avoid making a mistake rather than playing his best game. He was very good in Minnesota on Thursday, even as he bailed on the shifts too quickly.
He had a few more good nullifications Saturday, too. That’s his game, very Marcus Pettersson-esque, but he’s got to trust himself.
Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari might be one of the best fourth lines in hockey. This season, they’ve been consistent; they’ve been tenacious in the defensive zone and have chipped in more than expected offensively, too. Lizotte’s goal in the third period was yet another fourth-line goal and the result of speed and aggressiveness in the offensive zone.
Karlsson was pretty good on Saturday. His passes were probably under the radar–he snapped the puck with confidence. He was easily the Penguins’ best defenseman.
The line didn’t allow a shot against. The line didn’t register on the scoring sheet and was short on good chances, but they controlled the play.
When Muse put Hallander on the line in place of Novak, the numbers were even better, and the few chances were dangerous.
A or B? I waffled when assigning this grade because Hallander had some good chances around the net. He was again good on the wall, too. Ultimately, Hallander has to finish a few chances or he risks becoming a Dominik Simon type in which good things happen around him, often because of his involvement, but he doesn’t appear on the scoresheet.
Categorized: Penguins Analysis
By Pittsburgh Hockey Now
By Pittsburgh Hockey Now
By Pittsburgh Hockey Now
By Pittsburgh Hockey Now
By Montreal Hockey Now
By Steelers Now
Add Pittsburgh Hockey Now as a preferred source on Google?
Hockey News