Penguins Speed Bag The Flyers (Carl Hagelin)

Carl Hagelin

Penguins Speed Bag The Flyers

By Ryan Wilson

Apr 4, 2016 • 3:58 pm

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The Pittsburgh Penguins speed bagged the Philadelphia Flyers yesterday by a score of 6-2. Western Pennsylvania's favorite hockey team has been doing that to everybody recently.

In five of the last eight games Pittsburgh has scored five goals or more (six if you want to count a 5-4 shootout win vs Buffalo). The team has won 12 of its last 13 games and is showing no signs of slowing down. They are skating teams out of the building on a nightly basis

The Penguins and the Kings are the two favorites to make the Stanley Cup Final according to Micah Blake McCurdy's oscar projections

The key to this success is the speed that Jim Rutherford has acquired and the willingness of Mike Sullivan to let it do its thing. Pittsburgh is a team that swarms the puck all over the ice which makes life a hell of a lot more difficult on the opposition. By playing with swarming speed the Penguins don't give the other teams any time to get set and make plays.

Like any "system" Pittsburgh's can be beat but the Penguins are daring the other teams to make precise plays with minimal time. Over time the Penguins are going to cause more turnovers than the number of times the other team will execute a"perfect" play in their limited time with the puck.

This speed also crushes the hopes of the opposition gaining clean zone entries with time and space. Pittsburgh always has back pressure which allows Pittsburgh's defense to hold strong up at the blue line. This will usually result in chipping and chasing which allows Pittsburgh's weak side defenseman to go scoop the puck up. Pittsburgh's defense corp. doesn't really have anybody that skates in cement so most times they are able to go back and retrieve the puck. This is effectively a forced turnover more times than not.

This pressure has had significant tangible results

Pittsburgh is going to try and outscore teams. They are going to play to win, not defend.

Even if teams are able to break through and create chances not many of them have been going in. What could have been a setback has actually turned into a bigger strength (at least for the short term).

Matt Murray has been excellent in relief for Marc-Andre Fleury. In fact he has been so good he was named one of the NHL's three stars of the week

It isn't just people in Pittsburgh who think Matt Murray is a rising star

Some other notes from the game yesterday:

Philadelphia was very unlucky when Pittsburgh scored after Andrew MacDonald was boarded by Tom Kuhnhackl. It should have been a minor boarding penalty which would have drawn a whistle. Why a minor penalty and not a major? Andrew MacDonald toe picked before any contact was made and was already falling towards the boards. Kuhnhackl engaged a player with his back turned into the boards which deserves the minor penalty. The force of the actual hit was not severe enough to warrant a major penalty.

The goal that did result from that missed call was aesthetically pleasing

The aforementioned Kuhnhackl now has eight points in his last eight games.

Eric Fehr had his first multi-goal game since December 27th of 2014. Those two goals came against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a Washington Capitals 3-0 victory.

Patric Hornqvist scored for the third consecutive game as his streaky ways continue. Previously he had gone eight game without a goal.

Phil Kessel did not score a goal last night, what a bum. He does have 11 points in his last six games.

Sidney Crosby is quietly going about his business lately. He has six points in his last six games including last night's power play goal #SidDownLow

Kris Letang added yet another two points to his stellar season total. He is starting to get more and more Norris love.

If I asked you to guess which Penguins player has the highest 5v5 points per 60 on the team would you say Carl Hagelin? He does at 2.77. He is looking like the Penguins new Pascal Dupuis. Fast player, probably not the best hands in the world, kills penalties, and has to do all his offensive damage at even-strength with no power play time.

Sneaky good pass by Bonino there.

Beau Bennett scored for the first time since December 7th last night as a result of Conor Sheary's great individual effort.

Both Sheary and Bennett have done a good job at generating even-strength goals with the ice time they have been provided.

Probably a lot better than most people thought. Keep that in mind when Malkin returns.

Lastly, the Penguins top forward prospect has been tearing apart the QMJHL. Daniel Sprong put his team on his back and guided them to a first round victory. Sprong scored two goals and had an assist in the series clinching Game 6. He had nine points overall in the series. He finished the regular season with 46 points in 33 games. When his season wraps up in the QMJHL he is expected to join the Baby Penguins in the AHL.

Thanks for reading!

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