The Pittsburgh Penguins now have their first regulation loss and goalless game of the year. The Montreal Canadiens were able to blank the Penguins even without the services of Carey Price.
The score was very lopsided, but I don’t think it was indicative of the game flow. Pittsburgh was able to generate their share of chances and Al Montoya was there to gobble all of them up. Montoya played a great game stopping all 36 shots the Penguins through on goal. Montoya was a great offseason pickup for the Canadiens. He is a big upgrade at the backup goaltender position for Montreal and last night offered a glimpse into that. Montreal missed the playoffs last year because of terrible goaltending. Even with Carey Price out for the year they could have made the playoffs. Last year in 25 games Al Montoya had an even-strength save percentage of .927 while Mike Condon was at .915. Perhaps if Montreal had somebody of Montoya’s caliber behind Price they would still be employing PK Subban…
In a somewhat similar situation the Los Angeles Kings find themselves without Jonathan Quicks. Quick was injured and is expected to miss 3-4 months. The Kings backup goaltender this year is former Penguin Jeff Zatkoff. He is not off to a good start. He has only stopped 52 out of a possible 62 shots for a .838 all situations save percentage. Look for the Kings to seek out a better option so that they don’t go down the same path as the 2015-16 Montreal Canadiens.
Montreal captain Max Pacioretty scored 23 seconds into the game. That was the fastest goal scored this season.
Pittsburgh did not learn from their last game. They continued to take needless penalties. There were multiple instances where Pittsburgh earned a power play only to take a minor penalty themselves less than ten seconds after earning the man advantage. I don’t foresee this as being a season long issue but it has negatively impacted their ability to win hockey games in the past two contests.
Losing 4-0 isn’t ideal but it is a long season and these things happen. What could be a big deal are the potential injuries to Kris Letang and Conor Sheary. Letang left the game after taking a hit from Brandon Gallagher and did not return. Conor Sheary took an errant high stick from Alex Radulov in the eye area. Mike Sullivan did not offer up any updates last night after the game. I don’t think I need to dive into the obvious, without Kris Letang the Penguins are nowhere as good as they are with him. He is irreplaceable. Last year at 5v5 the Penguins were a 54.78% possession team with Letang on the ice. Without him they were 51.50%. which is still good but Letang is what makes them elite. The loss of Sheary will also be felt if he is to miss time. His speed is very noticeable and he has looked like a player who was on his way to cementing a full-time roster spot with the defending champions.
Scott Wilson is trying to earn a full time spot and has been given a great opportunity to do so. Last night he did a nice job of creating chances even if he was unable to cash in on any of them. He led all Penguins on the possession front (CF 18 CA 5) at 78.26%. More games like that and he will be rewarded for his efforts.
Bryan Rust made his return to the lineup which was a welcomed sight. His speed was evident and plays well with the kinds of things Mike Sullivan is looking for from his forwards. He started his season on the fourth line and it remains to be seen if he will earn back his spot in the top six.
Olli Maatta is not in favor with the coaching staff right now. He was demoted to the bottom pairing. Then for stretches of time it seemed like Pittsburgh was only using five defensemen, Maatta being the odd man out. This changed after Letang left the game due to injury, but it is clear the coaching staff is not happy with Maatta’s play so far. Speed has never been Maatta’s best asset, but decision making has. Right now he is doing a fairly decent Rob Scuderi impression even in game situations where he has time and space. That isn’t good. He has to utilize that time to make controlled plays and not just go high and off the glass. This tells me he is pressing and doesn’t want to make mistakes. I’d rather the occasional larger gaffe happen and a player continue to aggressively push the play forward than having that player shutting down and “playing it safe”. That isn’t what made the Penguins successful last year and it isn’t what is going to potentially make them successful this year.
Sidney Crosby is scheduled to skate during regular practice today. If he takes contact that is the next step in getting him ready to return to game action. The team has gone 2-1-1 in his absence which isn’t too bad. However, his return will be much welcomed not only to the team but the HBK line specifically. The line of Hagelin-Bonino-Kessel was excellent last year but they did have the benefit of getting the other team’s scraps after they spent all their resources trying to shut down both Crosby and Malkin’s lines. This year Sullivan has used them more often in a “strength on strength” role and their possession numbers have dipped in the short term. Here are the individual 5v5 shot attempt percentages for that line so far this year
Bonino 41.23
Hagelin 44.12
Kessel 45.71
Not great.
The Penguins get the defending Western Conference champions on Thursday night. Until then we wait for updates on Crosby, Letang, and Sheary.
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Congratulations to Marian Hossa on his 500th career goal. Throughout the lion's share of his career he has been the perfect winger. There really isn't anything he's not capable of. His stay wasn't long in Pittsburgh, but it was none the less impressive. He had 26 points in 20 playoff games with the Penguins and remains the best winger Sid has ever played with.
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Brand new Hockey Hurts Podcast discusses how the Penguins are doing without Crosby and what is happening in Southern California. You can find the podcast
here
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