It’s one of those games where you have to put your arms up and shrug it off. For the second game in a row Pittsburgh played well enough to win. Instead of their league worst goaltending letting them down it was their league worst shooting percentage on this night. Jonathan Bernier earned the victory stopping 39 out of 40 shots. Pittsburgh was only able to break the shutout with 12 seconds left after Colorado already wrapped up the win.
It’s tough to be upset about the flow of play
Mike Sullivan had the line blender working for the top nine and there were positive results (minus the actual goal scoring).
Tristan Jarry had a very strong performance. He made great saves on multiple occasions to keep the game tied or within one. It wasn’t until he was literally taken out of the net when Colorado earned their two goal lead. Matt Murray will be back in the net on Thursday up against Marc-Andre Fleury, but Jarry showed enough to where the Penguins don’t have to make a panic trade for a backup goalie at the present moment.
Nate MacKinnon was puttin’ on the ritz as Mike Lange would say when he dusted Kris Letang and then Jarry. Unfortunately for him the play was a sliver offside. In my NHL this is onsides.
Here’s my thought on the blue line; as soon as the puck touches the blue line it should be considered onsides. It shouldn’t have to cross the entire line. It should be like the NFL and how breaking the plane is good enough at the goal line. This would give players more wiggle room at the blue line. Sure, there will still be offsides reviews based on where the new standard is , but the players would have to be “more offsides” than they currently are. I remember when the AHL tried to use extra fat blue lines during the NHL lockout a decade ago in order to increase the offensive zone. I liked that concept especially if you are using the breaking the plane concept on entries. Once in the zone the puck would have to come all the way out to be offside again. This is a simple adjustment that will give offensive players more room for error with no negative side effects. It’s so stupid that MacKinnon’s goal was wiped off the board.
Here was a fun exercise I saw on Twitter last night.
Remember, they have to be active NHL players. Guys like Marian Hossa, Ryan Malone, and Simon Despres aren’t eligible. The good news here is that there aren’t as many difference makers on this roster as there would be with some teams which means Pittsburgh has kept most of theirs around.
Penguins are off until Thursday when they meet up with the Flower again.
Thanks for reading!
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