The Penguins did not pick up the victory in Ottawa against the Senators. They did pick up a standings point after losing in overtime via a Brady Tkachuk goal. It was a special kind of game. Special teams made up a third of the contest.
Either Pens or Sens were on the power play for 21:01 of tonight's game (14:07 for Sens).
— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) January 19, 2023
This was problematic for the Penguins as they only killed five out of the nine Ottawa power plays. Mike Sullivan isn’t one to speak out against officials. He did last night.
Mike Sullivan on officiating: “Ridiculous.…
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) January 19, 2023
More Sullivan on officiating: “I question a fair amount of the calls.…
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) January 19, 2023
As far as criticism of the referees goes this is about as hard as Mike Sullivan is going to go at them in the regular season. There are valid gripes to be had. However, the Penguins also got worked over at 5v5 so while the reffing wasn’t stellar, neither were the Penguins. They were out-attempted 41-24 at 5v5 and had an xGF% of 42.7. They got worked over by the refs and the Senators. They were pretty fortunate to escapes Canada’s capital with a single point. They probably deserved none.
Since taking over for Tristan Jarry in the Winter Classic on January 2nd Casey DeSmith has stopped 165 out of a 186 shots. He is at an .887 save percentage. Not good enough.
Jon Gruden had 3:20 of ice time, total with 1:25 coming on the penalty kill. I really don’t like rostering players who aren’t able to eat a normal amount of 4th line minutes considering the top-heavy roster construction and their ages. Gruden isn’t a long term answer to whatever question is being asked, but you can’t have guys playing minutes this low in the dog days of the season.
In the last six games Evgeni Malkin has ten points with four goals. He has 44 points in 44 games. This is necessary production for the Penguins to be comepetive in the 2022-23 season. Malkin has delivered. In the same six game stretch, Malkin’s linemate, Jason Zucker has six points. He now has 29 in 40 games. This was a must have development in the season. Zucker has been one of the Penguins most notable players in a positive way. Where would this team be if Zucker wasn’t putting up legit top six production?
With Rickard Rakell’s 16th goal of the season last night he is on pace for… 30. He has been a great complement to the top six.
I said before the Anaheim, Ottawa, Ottawa stretch began the goal should be to take at least five out of six points. The Penguins still have an opportunity to accomplish doing so. They can’t afford to drop standings points in consecutive games to Ottawa.
The team is not practicing today. Classically, the Penguins injured players get a practice in directly before the game they are returning in. If this holds don’t expect any help on the blue line for Friday’s game.
Thanks for reading!