Sometimes you don’t have your ‘A’ game on the second night of a back to back on a Wednesday in March. Sometimes you don’t have your ‘B’ game. Sometimes you look like you are scraping for your ‘C’ game. The Penguins were the latter, yet were still able to snag a point in Buffalo.
The Penguins played from behind the entirety of the game and dropped a 4-3 decision to the Sabres in the shootout. They were out-attempted 45-34 at 5v5 and were dominated in the high-danger shot attempt category 12-5 which is a rarity. The Sabres came to play and earned their W.
Some thoughts from the game
Mike Sullivan had another good in-game coaching performance. He was able to get Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin *and* Jake Guentzel on the ice after killing a penalty. I love this change in direction. Nothing materialized last night, but over time and specifically over the course of a playoff series I can’t help but think good things will be on the way. It also sounds like 87 and 71 may have had a hand in it
Mike Sullivan on Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin getting more time together as of late â¬‡ï¸ pic.twitter.com/LOWgdIGgux
— Taylor Haase (@TaylorHaasePGH) March 23, 2022
Sullivan’s timeout to rest the star players in their late third period power play not only gave their legs a break, but one of the league’s better faceoff play teams were able to draw a good one up. After winning the draw they utilized space below the goal line before feeding Letang for a quick accurate shot. It isn’t easy for goalies to look back and then get set right away when the puck moves back in front. Even harder with power play traffic. Well done, Coach Reirden.
Todd Reirden draws up a play during timeout and the Penguins execute it to perfection.
— Danny Shirey (@DannyShireyPGH) March 24, 2022
How about that celebration from coach? pic.twitter.com/9HGXphVtLc
Sullivan also snuck Rickard Rakell on the Crosby-Guentzel line for a few shifts. I have little reservations about Rakell’s ability to contribute on a line like that. He has good hands and those other two will free up so much space for him to shoot. Rakell played predominately with Jeff Carter and Kasperi Kapanen again and led all Penguins players at 5v5 with a CF of 11 and a CA of 5. He almost ended the game in overtime on a very nice rush when he bursted up the ice then pulled a very understated, but highly effective curl around the Sabres defender at the blue line. It wasn’t the easiest situation for Rakell as he came right to Pittsburgh to play on Tuesday and then had to play in a back to back on Wednesday. He was one of the Penguins hardest workers.
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang all scored for the Penguins. A lot of nights it is an automatic win. Not so yesterday
This is the 10th time Sid, Geno and Letang have all scored in the same game. Pens 9-0-0 previous 9 times.
— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) March 24, 2022
I don’t get to too many Penguins games these days with life being as busy as it is. Yesterday was my first one in a few years and my oldest daughter's first Penguins game. The biggest takeaway other than enjoying the higher skilled players doing their thing was seeing how close Brian Dumoulin is to being totally ineffective. I admit this is anecdotal and the Penguins are on the second game of a back to back, but he is a half-step away from being washed. He had to work so hard to get the small amount of separation he did from the opposition. Many times, he has to eat the puck and muscle his way to getting rid of the puck. Basic plays looked like a chore at times. If he has time he’s a very good passer and sees the ice well, but he won’t have as many opportunities to utilize his strengths if he can’t find more foot speed. I would argue the status quo foot speed won’t be good enough come playoff time. The team is going to have to have some serious conversations about what they want to do there. I would move on. Take the assets and the cap space and use it to keep the core players together. The money for Malkin, Letang, and Rust has to come from somewhere. There’s no need to overvalue a mid-tier defenseman showing signs of slowing down even if he was a good player for many years. Players who don’t create or produce offense who lose foot speed don’t classically age well. Get ahead of the curve.
Tage Thompson has really developed into quite a player. He was the prospect throw-in for the Ryan O’Reilly deal and was treading water between Buffalo and Rochester for multiple seasons. It is hard to miss his size and he is able to combine it with a very useful skillset in both his skating and his hands. He’s figured out how to free up his shots and that he has a shot worth taking.
Tage Thompson, 1-0 #LetsGoBuffalo #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/W5Z9J6g7Kj
— Buffalo Hockey moments (@SabresPlays) March 24, 2022
He finished with two goals in regulation and a shootout goal. Rasmus Dahlin is finally getting some traction toward turning into the player everybody thought he would be when he joined the league. Ralph Krueger absolutely ruined him for a few years and he is now finally coming out of his shell and being assertive with his creativity and creation of offense like he was in Sweden. He’s a fun player to watch and as the Sabres surround him with more talent we’ll see it come out even more.
The Penguins will get a day off today and then they’ll be in the Big Apple for a potential look at a first round matchup.
Thanks for reading!