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If the Pittsburgh Penguins don’t play the most entertaining playoff hockey games, I’m not really sure who does. When the Penguins hit the ice in the playoffs you are pretty much guaranteed lots of goals and probably a few lead changes.
Penguins games usually take their fans through gauntlet of emotions that include but are not limited to bitching, moaning, confidence, panic, jubilation. These emotions come in no particular order in any given game.
Last night was another game where a team got out to a 3-1 lead, yet lost the game. This time it was the Penguins turn to comeback and steal the game.
The Penguins started the game off rough, they were down 2-0 before they could blink. Marc Andre Fleury kicked out an unnecessarily juicy rebound on the first goal and Beau Bennett lost his coverage on the 2nd goal.
The Penguins did not look very good for the 1st half of the game. There were too many times where the simple play was ignored and the more complex play failed. During this time period the Blue Jackets had some chances to extend their 2 goal lead. If not for Marc Andre Fleury’s performance, they would have.
Fleury played very strong after Penguins got down 2-0. He made many difficult saves from the dangerous scoring areas.
In the other crease it looked like Sergei Bobrovsky was in cruise control. He was seeing and stopping everything. It got to the point where his confidence level was so high that he pulled out the Ol’ Patrick Roy Statue of Liberty pose after making some glove saves.
The confident posing came to an end courtesy of an unlikely source. Brooks Orpik executed a mini spinorama and beautiful backhand toe drag to make it a one goal game with time running out in the 2nd period.
I don’t like to overstate things and I do believe “momentum… is an overrated concept, but I think that the Orpik goal may be the turning point of the series. While I don’t believe much in momentum I do believe that when a team feels defeated and they unable to score, that team will press and not play relaxed. This leads to missed opportunities, increased frustration, and ultimately undisciplined plays. The Orpik goal changed the whole mindset of the Penguins team. Instead of going into the 2nd intermission disappointed/frustrated, they were hopeful and hungry. By beating Bobrovsky the Penguins knew they could find a way. Even going down 3-1 they knew they just had to get pucks to the net.
The Penguins did just that and started to absolutely own the possession battle in the third period.
Sure score effects play a role but this was complete domination. The Penguins also ditched their propensity to make the more aesthetically pleasing play and just got rubber to the net. When you are playing a hot goalie I find that the volume of shots is more important than the quality of shots. Eventually you will get a bounce, that is hockey. The Penguins heavily increased their shot volume and their goal totals coincided with that change in strategy.
The Penguins are winning the even strength possession battle in this series. They currently have 165 shot attempts to the Blue Jackets 129, this measures out to 56.1% which is a very solid number.
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are still goalless, that is still an issue moving forward, but they are not playing poorly. Malkin’s even strength possession leads the team at 64.2% and Crosby is 3rd with 61.1%. Stay the course and the results will come.
Jack Johnson of the Blue Jackets is on the opposite side of the spectrum. He has a goal in each of the 1st 3 games of this series. He is also the owner of a 36.8% even strength possession percentage. I’m not discrediting his goals, the point of hockey is to score goals. All I am saying is that I think only one of those two stats is sustainable for Jack Johnson and it ain’t the goal scoring. As the series moves forward the goals will more than likely dry up, the possession will stay the same. The possession will stay the same for Crosby and Malkin and the goals will start to come. This is bad news for the Blue Jackets. I believe last night’s loss will be very costly.
How long can the Jackets keep Crosby and Malkin off the scoresheet, how long can the Penguins power play stay dry?
If Jack Johnson is fair game to be called out, so are Kris Letang and Rob Scuderi. They are a bad pairing right now and unlike Johnson they don’t have the luxury of making up for some of it with goal scoring. They have both taken bad penalties and they are both a liability on most shifts. Last night this pairing received the least amount of ice time amongst Penguins defenders. The original plan was that this pairing would be leading the way for Pittsburgh, it has been the complete opposite. Not good, not good at all.
The Penguins power play right now makes me sick. It has been an abomination. The power play has gone 1-14 in the past two games and it cost them Game 2, it could have very well cost them Game 3. There is no excuse with the talent the Penguins have to be operating at such a low success rate.
My biggest gripe is that the way they set up does not maximize the skill sets of these highly talented players.
How many people on the planet have a better one timer than Evgeni Malkin? 5 players? 6 players? If that? Why on earth do we never see the Evgeni Malkin bomb from the right circle anymore? You can’t use the excuse that teams have caught on because I watch Alex Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos continue to get their looks. It is not acceptable to not take advantage of one of the best offensive weapons in all of hockey, flat out unacceptable.
Throw in the fact the Penguins also have a highly competent one timer option on the left side in Matt Niskanen there is really no reason to not see missiles fired towards the net on a regular basis. Get the smooth Paul Martin in the middle of the two and feed one side or the other. Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz are bulldogs down low and will tip shots and fetch rebounds with the best of them. Rinse and repeat.
The main key is to stop looking for “set pieces…. Instead just read the penalty killers, take what they give you. Power plays are really conceptually easy, find your 2 on 1. There is always a 2 on 1 to be had. The 2 on 1 might not be your first choice of where you want it to be but it doesn’t matter, take it. Eventually you will get the penalty killers to move in areas in which they don’t want to be. They will have to commit, read where the commitment is coming from and assertively move the puck to the vacant spot.
Last but not least shoot shoot shoot. There are no style points for pretty power play goals versus dirty garbage looking goals. It is imperative the Penguins power play is an asset for them to be successful, right now it is a liability. A quick fix when an offense is struggling is to do what the Penguins did at even strength last night, increase shot volume.
Why in the world is Craig Adams on the ice during the final minute of a one goal game? The next good reason I hear will be the first. It is easy to point to Paul Martin getting toe dragged by Brandon Dubinsky which almost led to the tying goal, but there is a reason Dubinksy had that much speed entering the zone. That reason was Craig Adams being stuck in mud in the neutral zone.
The grouping of players that made up the 3rd line for Pittsburgh last night all contributed positively to the Penguins. Brandon Sutter scored off a tip shot, Lee Stempniak sniped the game tying goal on the rush, Beau Bennett made a brilliant pass to Brooks Orpik as time was winding down in the 2nd, and Jayson Megna provided a screen which led to a goal. Secondary scoring was one of the biggest question marks heading into the postseason, in Game 3 it was a strength.
Great crowd in Columbus last night. It’s only up from here as a hockey market for C-Bus. The Penguins would be wise to try and redevelop the area by the Igloo much like how Columbus has done with their arena. They have a great setup by all accounts.
Thanks for reading!
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