#Process Win (Penguins)

Sometimes in hockey you hear coaching platitudes like "stay the course", "trust the process" and roll your eyes because you know that the team isn't playing well but other times, such as last night, it is absolutely what the team must do.

The Pittsburgh Penguins abused the Buffalo Sabres the entire night and yes that even includes the first period where the Penguins found themselves down 3-0. "Staying the course" was absolutely appropriate and over time it was going to yield positive results. It is easy to get caught up with the variance of hockey at times but when you are driving play to the tune of 22 shot attempts for and only 7 against in a period and find yourself down by three you just need to put the score aside and know you are doing the right things.

Now it wasn't all good because Buffalo did score four times. However, none of those goals were scored during five on five game play. Buffalo scored two power play goals, a four on four goal, and a shorthanded goal.

Ryan O'Reilly scored his first goal in 24 games. Matt Moulson scored his second goal in 64 games. He now has six on the year. Two of which have come against the Penguins.

There were isolated moments of confusion and physical error for Pittsburgh.

Take for example the Sabres third goal. Nobody covered Jake McCabe off of a faceoff play. He waltzed in from the point unabated for the easy deke goal that left Murray exposed. Carl Hagelin who was the weak side winger was in the middle of the slot for some reason biting on a pump fake from Ryan O'Reilly oblivious to the weak side traffic he was responsible for. Pittsburgh was playing man on this sequence and Hagelin flat out lost his guy. It wasn't a good night for Hagelin defensively. He was in the penalty box during the Sabres first power play goal and on their fourth goal he lost his responsibility similarly to what he did on the Sabres third goal. He got caught puck watching and did not sag down low enough as the weak side PK man. This afforded Buffalo a clear east/west passing lane for Bogosian to have an empty net on Murray. Hagelin has played some very good hockey. Last night was the exception to the rule. Hagelin did cause a turnover and earned an assist on Pittsburgh's fourth goal which Bonino scored so all was not lost for him on this evening.

Matt Murray did not have his best night even if some of those goals can't be placed at his doorstep. He did make enormous saves down the stretch highlighted by an overtime breakaway against the Sabres young future superstar Jack Eichel.

Murray also went two for two in the shootout to help the Penguins secure the two points.

This was the first time in Matt Murray's career in which he did not earn a quality start but glass half full is that he stopped 22 of 23 shots at even-strength with some big moment saves.

Sidney Crosby had a really nice game. It looked early on like he was going to find the scoresheet multiple times but he only managed the one assist on Conor Sheary's goal.

He finished the evening with seven individual shot attempts and his line was the best of the night driving play

I could probably change from being a Pittsburgh Penguins blogger to being a Kris Letang blogger these days. The amount of great things he does nightly is starting to rack up, as is his ice time. Now that a playoff spot is all but assured they should probably start to think about waning his minutes back a tad. In his last five games here are his ice time totals: 30:07, 27:43, 29:52 31:45, and last night it was 35:14.

So how do you limit his minutes down the stretch? By playing other guys who are playing well but not receiving a ton of minutes themselves. Yup, I'm talking about Derrick Pouliot. He led all Penguins players in CF% last night with 25 shot attempts for and only 7 against when he was on the ice. Him being on the right side of the shot attempt differential isn't a new thing either. It is something he has done well his entire career.

If he had all the shortcomings that people like to harp on those bars wouldn't look like downtown Manhattan.

If I told you that Conor Sheary leads the team in Goals per 60 at 5v5 would you believe me? He does at 1.10 h/t to the Garage League Podcast for that factoid. This is a good example of why rate stats are useful. Goals per game wouldn't be kind to Sheary because not all players receive the same amount of ice time each game (Sheary receives minimal minutes). If you only take into consideration the time he is actually on the ice you can get a better picture of who is producing with the ice time given to them. This doesn't mean Sheary is the best goal scorer on the team. Just that he's been productive with what he's been given which is all you can ask for from a depth player.

Matt Cullen is a savvy dude. His pass to Tom Kuhnhackl on their shorthanded two on one was a thing of beauty.

I absolutely love Cullen's maneuver to pull puck into a shooting position only to change the defenseman's stick angle to create a passing lane for Kuhnhackl's wheelhouse, brilliant.

Kuhnhackl also did a great job in the neutral zone slowing up the flow and then dishing to a full flight Bryan Rust on the Penguins first goal. Rust's speed took Mark Pysyk by surprise and allowed him to get a step wide and make the pass across to Ben Lovejoy.

Trust the process, folks. It wins out over time.

Pittsburgh takes on the James Neal and the Nashville Predators tomorrow night. It just won't be the same without Nick Spaling around anymore.

Thanks for reading!

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