Blowouts happen over the course of an 82-game season. Suffering one doesn’t always mean it is time to overreact. Although, there are some trends happening at the moment with the Penguins that deserve mention.
The first is that Tristan Jarry is starting to show cracks in the foundation. He’s been tremendous this year and surpassed any of my expectations of him to this point. The Penguins leaned into his stellar play and as a result have worked him as hard as any goaltender in the league. It might be starting to catch up with him. He has allowed four goals in three straight starts and five out of his last seven. His high-danger save percentage in the last seven games is .707. Prior to this stretch it was sitting at .840. Seven games isn’t a huge sample, but Jarry being overworked has been a topic of conversation for much of the season. It isn’t out of the question he is getting tired and it is starting to affect his play. Tracking his high-danger save percentage moving forward will give a good gauge on how well he is actually playing. Casey DeSmith needs more starts (meh) or the Penguins need a reliable backup.
The other issue is depth scoring. The Penguins have none. Evan Rodrigues dried up after a great start. Kasperi Kapanen has been a lost cause and might be playing himself off the team. Brock McGinn has one goal in his last 17 games played. Jeff Carter has two goals in his last 17 games played. Danton Heinen has two goals in his last 17 games played. There are a few of of mid-tier contracts here not scoring goals at all. The Penguins, even with Evgeni Malkin back, are a one-line team at the moment. That is no recipe for success when combined with Jarry’s slump. What can they do about it?
Mike Sullivan’s strength as a coach is how he implements his systems and gets players to buy in. He’s one of the best in the league in getting his players to buy in. It’s a big reason why the Penguins are successful year after year. His weakness as a coach is creativity with lines and making changes when things go dry. This has been especially true in playoff series when the Penguins are struggling to score.
There is no rule that says every game Sidney Crosby plays in the NHL he must have the team’s two best wingers. Sidney Crosby is one of the best players in the league, still. Treat him as such. Make him elevate an average player for once. He doesn’t need both Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust every single game of the year at the expense of the rest of the forward depth. At best, the Penguins can be a two-line top-heavy team at the moment given how Kapanen is playing this year and with Jason Zucker out. At worst, which they are at the moment, is a one-line team with no offensive punch to speak of.
Give Evgeni Malkin some help. It is flat out amazing what Malkin has done throughout his career given the fact he never gets the best wingers or defense pairings at even-strength unless Crosby is out of the lineup. Spread the wealth a little bit. Malkin is still plenty capable of being dominant when given proper QoT. When Sid was out in 2019-20 and Geno had an opportunity to play extensively with Guentzel and Rust he was phenomenal. The line was phenomenal. It’s time for Mike Sullivan to share the talent with both of his amazing centers for the time being. Crosby can have one of Guentzel or Rust and Malkin can have the other. This isn’t hard.
Guentzel-Crosby-Rodrigues
Heinen-Malkin-Rust
Or
Heinen-Crosby-Rust
Guentzel-Malkin-Rodrigues
I’m using Heinen because I think he has the highest offensive upside among the available left wingers unless you really wanted to ruffle some feathers and put Dominik Simon back up on the Crosby line with Bryan Rust. I have no interest in having Kapanen in a top six role at the moment. In fact, I would be actively shopping him.
Mike Sullivan isn’t the only one who needs to make some changes. It is about that time for the front office to provide some more help by making some moves. Yes, Jason Zucker and Teddy Blueger will be very welcomed additions back into the lineup, but they need more. Ron Hextall isn’t known to be a mover or a shaker like the last Penguins GM, but Brian Burke certainly isn’t shy. Something has to give if they are going to make a reasonable run at things. It will be a difficult task considering their lack of futures and prospects, but I would definitely be looking to trade that 1st round pick. This team doesn’t need to wait on the next Sam Poulin and shouldn’t have waited on the actual one, either.
In the not-so-distant future the Penguins will have Tampa Bay, Carolina, Florida, Vegas, and Carolina all consecutively. Pittsburgh is currently on a three-game losing streak. They need to figure things out and fast.
Thanks for reading!