Pittsburgh got the result they deserved last night. The score was close and the Penguins trailed for much of the game, but they did control the flow of play in commanding fashion. The evidence:
Lots of good things here. The third line was very good last night and that is something that hasn’t always been the case this year. Yeah, it’s the struggling Sabres, but you have to start somewhere.
Speaking of struggling, the captain got back on the board last night. Sidney Crosby broke his extended goal drought on the power play by doing the thing that works best for him #SidDownLow He also had the primary assist on the game winning overtime goal. He shrugged off Evander Kane behind the net as if he were a gnat and Conor Sheary was able to sneak in behind Jack Eichel for the short side goal that was too quick for Lehner to recognize.
It only took 16 seconds for that to happen.
Phil Kessel continues to score goals. Last night was the fourth consecutive game in which he has scored. He is off to a terrific start. He’s on pace for 33 goals and that would be the most since the 2013-14 season. Helping Kessel accomplish this is Evgeni Malkin’s velvety smooth saucer passes
That’s easy to watch over and over again. Geno is the best.
It seems like every road broadcast is obsessed with obsessing over Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang’s plus/minus stats. They have no predictive powers and also do a bad job at explaining what has already happened. It’s a really terrible way to evaluate players. Saying their plus/minus stats don’t matter isn’t the same as saying that they have been great defensively. It’s a way of saying let’s shift the discussion to things that matter. Furthermore, a great way to have a terrible plus/minus is if your goaltending is putrid. Guess what? It has been for both players. Sidney Crosby has an on-ice save percentage of .879 and Kris Letang’s is even worse at .850(!). I don’t care how you’re playing, if you aren’t getting any saves your goal based stats are going to be terrible. The fact is that Matt Murray needs to be better and so do his backups. That’s the real issue.
Conor Sheary has been moved around the lineup a little bit this year. He hasn’t been the staple he was on the Crosby line last year. Last night he was a big part of the reason for the third line’s success. He’s a player that because of his speed is able to fill roles on different lines seamlessly. He is also capable of playing both wing positions. Eventually Rutherford is going to shake up the roster for their playoff push and having a guy like Sheary who is able to move his way around the lineup is great value.
Up next for Pittsburgh is Matt Duchene and the Ottawa Senators.
Thanks for reading!