The Pittsburgh Penguins are more than a quarter into the season and like most teams they are still trying to figure out their line combinations.
After a slow offensive start from Sidney Crosby he and Phil Kessel were broken apart in order to give Evgeni Malkin some time with the new star winger. The Perron-Malkin-Kessel line has been the most used trio by Mike Johnston this season but there has been a good share of line juggling with the other combinations. This has left Sidney Crosby with a rotation of wingers and some have been better than others. Here are all of the Crosby combinations that have been used so far this year. Obviously some samples are larger than others
One of the things that sticks out like a sore thumb is just how out of place Pascal Dupuis has been playing in the top six. His presence has brought higher CA/60 numbers and not enough CF/60 to offset it. We have similar sample sizes of Beau Bennett playing with Sidney Crosby. One has Pascal Dupuis and one has Chris Kunitz. The results are a polar opposite of one another. The short lived KCD experiment was a complete tire fire. Pascal Dupuis is the common variable in a lot of these line combinations failing. When we talk about why Sidney Crosby was off to a slow start perhaps it is because he has spent half his season (155 minutes with vs 162 without) playing with a guy who is playing at below replacement level. Here is what happened to Nick Bonino after Pascal Dupuis was placed on his line:
Chris Kunitz isn’t what he was but he is one of Pittsburgh’s better left wing options for the top six. The Kunitz-Crosby-Bennett line has some of the best numbers a Crosby trio has had this year. It would probably be smart to let that play out and see if it is a mirage or something that can be somewhat sustainable.
If that doesn’t work perhaps going back to the old Kunitz-Crosby-Hornqvist line is worth a shot. In a microscopic sample this year they have had good numbers. In 2014-15 in a much larger sample they had good numbers as well.
Mike Johnston has taken some well-deserved criticism but his decision to load up and put together a superline of Malkin-Crosby-Kessel at the end of periods is a wise one. They have terrific numbers in their limited work together. This is a strategy that should become commonplace.
So what this shows is that there are some OK options for the top six moving forward as long as none of them include Pascal Dupuis.
Here is a visual of all of the Penguins forwards so far this year
*Chart courtesy of
Sean Tierney of Today’s Slapshot*
Sergei Plotnikov has quietly gone about his business so far this year. He has been really good albeit unlucky when he has been on the ice. He should probably get a look in the top nine again at some point.
This may surprise some people but in the last 17 games Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are producing at the same rate as the Tyler Seguin/Jamie Benn duo at even-strength
In other news that may surprise some people. The recently waived Alexander Semin (1.59) has a better 5v5 points/60 than every single one of Pittsburgh’s players this year with the exception of Malkin (2.20) and Crosby (1.60). That either says that Alex Semin isn’t as bad as people make him out to be or that Mike Johnston’s system is horrendous for offensive generation, or both.
Lastly, the referee last night was not happy with James Neal
Thanks for reading!
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