Heading into this week’s action the Penguins were flirting with a five game losing streak. Pittsburgh had just dropped three in a row for the first time since Mike Sullivan’s first week on the job and they had a combo platter of Capitals/Holtby and Canadiens/Price staring them in the face. The results were very successful. Pittsburgh managed to earn four out of a possible four points and avoid going on an extended losing streak.
Injuries are something every team faces and right now, the Penguins are doing a nice job of facing theirs. In the last two games the number of shot attempts in the game has gone up. Here are the number of shot attempts in the last seven Penguins games for both teams combined.
The Penguins are a team that has great forward depth. They are at their best when they are pushing the play. Sometimes that can lead to turnovers and goals against, but the risk is worth the reward. When the Penguins play low event hockey it does not maximize the things they are good at.
For example, last night the fourth line was very good for Pittsburgh.
The above chart was created by Micah Blake McCurdy (@ineffectivemath). These charts are free at his Hockey Viz website after 2PM Atlantic time.
A lot has been made about Eric Fehr being given the opportunity to play center again and that was why the fourth line looked very good. That could be part of it, but probably not the driving factor. Both of Pittsburgh's current wingers on the fourth line are putting up top six caliber numbers. Pittsburgh's depth is so good that they are able to do this.
There are teams in this league that don't even get that from their legit second line. Both players are above average possession players on an above average possession team with low end second line offensive production.
This is why Pittsburgh should play high event hockey or aggressively attempt to drive play even with the risk. Every line has guys that can produce.
The best line of the night belonged to the Malkin unit. They were a force the entire evening. They dominated the flow of play and were consistently dangerous. The addition of Jake Guentzel is going to pay dividends for the team. He is going to provide Malkin with the kinds of things that Jussi Jokinen did for him a few years ago. Guentzel's hands are very good, he is not afraid to get to the front of the net, he has very good vision, and also has the ability to make plays in small areas. All of these things play into possession and keeping plays alive. The longer you can keep plays alive with Geno the chances of earning points go way up. Geno is creating more than anybody in the league right now when he is on the ice.
Two plays stood out to me with Guentzel last night. The first was his tip goal. It wasn't fancy, but it shows he has a nose for the net and he combines that with his stick skills. If he stays with Malkin there will be plenty of shot attempts and plenty of opportunities for him to repeat that skill.
The other play was a super slippery zone entry which ultimately led to a penalty being called on the Canadiens
If not for Max Pacioretty interfering with Evgeni Malkin in the background that zone entry would have likely led to a wide open and dangerous drop pass to Geno.
Controlled entries are the lifeblood to consistent offensive production. Guentzel didn't have a ton of room there and still managed to pull it off. The fact he didn't just chip and chase is a great sign that he is ready to play assertive at the NHL level.
Guentzel's NHL sample is miniscule, but so far it's pretty great. He leads the Penguins in 5v5 points per 60 with 4.13 and also leads the forwards in shot attempt percentage with 57.1%. This has been a very encouraging start and quite frankly his AHL time should be over now. Everything shows that he is an NHL player at this point.
Olli Maatta scored for the first time in 60+ games towards the end of the game. His play has been better lately. Possession is on the rise and hopefully his offensive numbers are as well. His offensive contributions at even-strength have always been what he's done best and this year has been a down year on that front. In the moment things are trending in the right direction.
For the first time in a while the Penguins received a quality start from their goaltender. Matt Murray only allowed one goal on the 20 shots he faced. Given that he was playing blow average heading into last night's game in Montreal and they still went with Murray is yet another telling sign that Murray is the #1 guy. I can't remember too many occasions where Marc-Andre Fleury was healthy for a game in Montreal and didn't start.
Kris Letang has an award named after him now.
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