Hellish start to Brassard era
The Derick Brassard era has looked like hell so far. Lots of Devils and not a lot of positives to talk about. The Devils outskated and outplayed the Penguins on Mike Sullivan’s 50th birthday after period one. There’s no other way to look at it within the scope of last night.
Are the Devils a bad matchup for the Penguins? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The big picture still looks pretty good even with a clunker last night. There don’t need to be any sweeping assessments based off of the first game after the trade deadline. We have a larger sample to draw from and the Penguins objectively improved their roster. The only thing I take away from last night is that whatever that lineup was it wasn’t the best one available and that needs to change. Zach Aston-Reese has done nothing to deserve a healthy scratch at this point. Tom Kuhnhackl has two goals and eight points in 50 games this year. Aston-Reese has four goals and six points in ten games.
But what about penalty killing?
What about it?
Phil Kessel is capable of replicating Tom Kuhnhackl’s shot rate against on the PK. Really anybody is, including Dominik Simon and Zach Aston-Reese. This isn’t a specialty for Kuhnhackl, it’s just where they play him. In reality a guy like Conor Sheary would be a way better option to kill penalties based on his speed and his lack of power play time. There’s no need to slaughter your ability to play at 5v5 with the Kuhnhackl’s and Rowney’s when you can throw anybody in there. The best example of this is Chris Kunitz who hadn’t killed penalties for the Penguins in his near decade of service with the Penguins until the end of his tenure. He was older and he was good at it. It isn’t magic. It isn’t rocket science. You’re either in a box or a diamond. Start playing the best 5v5 roster.
Taylor Hall had a goal and an assist and now has 20 points in his last 15 games. I believe that is the longest point streak in franchise history. He continues to have a Hart Caliber season. His year has been so good that Ray Shero dove into the rental market to reward his season. As we revisit the trade for the Oilers you can look at it as Taylor Hall for Milan Lucic and his no primary points in the last 26 games, his bloated 6M cap hit and Adam Larsson. Great hockey men making great hockey decisions.
Up next for the Penguins are Rick Nash’s Boston Bruins
Thanks for reading!