It hasn't been commonplace the past month or so but the Pittsburgh Penguins were outplayed by their opposition. The Ottawa Senators controlled most of the game flow and even had a 3-0 lead, but it wasn't good enough. Pittsburgh scored at least five goals for the fifth consecutive game.
That five goal achievement has not happened for some time.
Pens have scored 5+ goals in 5 straight games for the first time since Dec. 30-Jan. 10 in 1996-97 season, when they had 5, 6, 7, 5, 5.
— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) April 6, 2016
That was the last year before Mario retired, the first time.
Here is the breakdown of game action in which you'll see a pretty low xWin% for Pittsburgh. That has been rarity
Daily xG Chart - PIT vs. OTT 2016-04-06 pic.twitter.com/ksbhxmhkPG
— DTM About Heart (@DTMAboutHeart) April 6, 2016
Matt Murray let in a couple of goals that I thought were mistakes on his part* but like most games where he gets beat early on he shuts the door for the rest of the way. This included some breakaway saves and standing tall during the 5 on 3 power play that Ottawa had.
*I thought Murray's angles were poor on goals two and three. The second goal he wasn't square and the third one he was too deep.
Nick Bonino continues to show his offensive instincts and abilities that he has shown in past seasons. Pittsburgh hasn't received this kind of production from their "third" center since Jordan Staal. Brandon Sutter was never good on possession and he also was never nearly as good as Bonino offensively
It is refreshing to have nice depth that is effective. It is amplified when a player like Evgeni Malkin is out.
Nick Bonino added another three assists last night and now has 17 points in his last 19 games. His 5v5 points per 60 is now at 2.06 which is first line level. Not bad for 1.8M.
Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson both found the score sheet last night. Karlsson had a fortuitous bounce off of his fellow Swede Patric Hornqvist for his 100th career goal while Kris Letang had two assists.
This was one of the few games lately that Kris Letang did not drive play positively. Erik Karlsson led all players with 7 individual shot attempts.
Both Conor Sheary and Beau Bennett were having a great game before Sheary left early because of a stick to the face. Mike Sullivan has been doing a nice job of getting Sidney Crosby out with those two to help them utilize their puck skills and hockey IQ.
Sidney Crosby scored twice and the first one was a #SidDownLow special. Crosby scored the empty net goal for the Penguins to ice the game and that is a rare event. That is only the 12th empty net goal of Crosby's career.
Patric Hornqvist, who assisted on Crosby's first goal, scored a goal of his own. This is the fourth straight game finding the back of the net.
Carl Hagelin scored two huge goals. He scored both the tying goal and the game winner. His play since joining the Penguins has been superb.
Here is a visual breakdown of why the Penguins have been so successful on their breakouts despite opponents making adjustments
NEW PENSBLOG. Throw the sink at them! Analyzing the Penguins breakout and why it's so damn lethal.https://t.co/5aJtOfhxE2
— Jesse Marshall (@jmarshfof) April 6, 2016
According to my xG model, the Penguins have a 61% xG over the past 25 games which is 4% higher than the next team (ANA). That's insane
— DTM About Heart (@DTMAboutHeart) April 5, 2016
Thanks for reading!