Penguins domination thwarted by Anders Nilsson
The Buffalo Sabres entered last night with a minimal chance to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins. They didn't have their top two centers in the lineup and it is a lineup that even when healthy would be near the bottom of the league.
Pittsburgh clobbered the Sabres and tilted the ice for a majority of the evening. The Penguins out attempted the Sabres 67-31 during 5v5 action.Evgeni Malkin and his linemates even had a shift in the Buffalo zone that lasted for 2:13. Over two minutes without a whistle in the other team's zone. A tough achievement even in recreational hockey.
Daily xG Chart - PIT vs. BUF 2016-11-19 pic.twitter.com/t7hz8iiE7l
— DTM About Heart (@DTMAboutHeart) November 20, 2016
It didn't matter. Anders Nilsson was a brick wall. He stopped 46 out of Pittsburgh's 47 shots and then stuffed Crosby, Malkin, and Letang in the shootout. He is the reason his team was victorious and he was the rightful number one star in the game.
Marc-Andre Fleury did not see the same shot volume of Nilsson, but he was great in a losing cause. There were multiple scrambles in front of his net where he stayed square and found a way to keep the puck out. His biggest tests came in the exciting 3 on 3 overtime session. He made multiple saves in the high danger area to keep the game alive for Pittsburgh. This was the most aesthetically pleasing
"Glove save Fleury! Pulled it right out of the atmosphere!" -Mike Lange pic.twitter.com/yRvq2ztfgP
— Benstonium (@Benstonium) November 20, 2016
Pittsburgh's top two lines were dominant.
Dominance at even-strength did not lead to goals due to Nilsson. The Penguins were only able to break through on the power play. It was another #SidDownLow power play goal. It's almost as if there is a correlation to him playing that spot and goals being scored. It was Sidney Crosby's 12th goal in 12 games this season. He now has five power play goals this year which is half of the ten he scored in 80 games last year.
At the end of the second period the Penguins were very fortunate that the referees saw things differently than I did on the Brian Dumoulin hit. Dumoulin engaged Sabres forward Marcus Foligno with his numbers visible the entire sequence and sent him flying into the end boards head first. The officials only gave a minor penalty. I saw it as a five minute major and a game.
Dumoulin extends his arms. He knows exactly where they are on the ice. Bad hit and totally unnecessary.
If there was a negative to take away from the game (outside of the result) it was how ineffective Eric Fehr and Nick Bonino were. The absence of Patric Hornqvist resulted in Phil Kessel bumping up to the Malkin line and Carl Hagelin to the Crosby line. Without those two players Bonino saw limited time and was a negative possession player. The 2016-17 season has not been kind to Bonino thus far. He is a 43.3% possession player and has contributed little offense. His 5v5 points per 60 is 0.83. Bonino started the season slow last year as well, but the entire team did under Mike Johnston. That is not one of the variables this year. Nick Bonino is currently playing at a level that his predecessor Brandon Sutter played at and as a result the Penguins really only have two lines that are able to produce offense at even-strength. You can't be successful over the long haul if you are top heavy. The Penguins won a Stanley Cup because their depth played well. They fell short for years because they were top heavy.
I don't know if this will be a season long slump or if Bonino will turn it around like last year, but Pittsburgh needs to do their due diligence with Bonino coming up as a UFA. I think at some point the team needs to get Jake Guentzel some NHL minutes to see how he does. He's a natural center. He's been doing great in the AHL (17 points in 16 games). He will be much cheaper. I think the HBK line could be an HGK line next season.
The Penguins made a minor trade yesterday when they acquired AHL winger Danny Kristo for defensemen Reid McNeill. Could it be foreshadowing that Jason Botterill knows the Baby Penguins will need some offense to replace? I believe we will see Guentzel at some point in the NHL this season. It is the prudent move.
Last night was a fun game to watch. It was a great example of not needing goals for a game to be really fun. Scoring chances are what drive entertainment and there were plenty of them throughout the course of the game.
Pittsburgh will move on from the loss last night and will have back to back games against the Rangers coming up on Monday and Wednesday this week. First place in the Metropolitan Division will be in the balance.
Thanks for reading!