There is a lot riding on today’s game for the Penguins. Yes, their season could be over today, but the psyche of their best player may be on the line as well. It is Sidney Crosby’s birthday. Crosby is one of the most superstitious NHL players in the league. It is the reason for his jersey number. He took millions lower than market value so it could also be his cap hit. He turns 33 today so if the Penguins are up 3-0 does he let Montreal come back to make it 3-3? What happens if he has a bad game? What happens if the Penguins ultimately lose? Are we going to see Sid show back up in training camp with a new birth certificate and a new jersey number? On the flip side is he going to go Darryl Sittler and have an eight goal and seven assist performance? His old nickname is Darryl after all. I’m sure the Penguins would be fine with something more traditional like a vintage three point performance or maybe we get a legendary 3G 3A performance for 33.
Tristan Jarry will be given the start in goal. This is fine. I thought he had earned the right to start the series, but make no mistake Matt Murray is not the reason the team is on the brink of elimination. He was a .914 goalie. He gave them a little more than league average. It wasn’t a damning performance. Damning is the third pairing and if nothing changes there Jarry is going to be under great pressure in his first ever NHL playoff start.
The bottom pairing is the real problem and it would take an incredible amount of hubris not to fix the most glaring deployment issue perhaps in the entire playoffs.
Here are some fun Jack Johnson facts heading into Game 4 because his benching is really the only roster move that matters.
Matt Murray had an on-ice save percentage of .750 with Jack Johnson on the ice at 5v5 this series. He had 15 saves in 20 shots Without Jack Johnson on the ice at 5v5 he stopped 56 out of the 59 shots (.949). Hmmm
Using Game Score from Dom Luszczyszyn Jack Johnson ranks 143 out of 154 defensemen with a negative score of -1.04. The next worse Penguins is Justin Schultz at a positive 0.11
The Los Angeles Kings were just another eight seed back in 2012 until February 23rd. They traded away Jack Johnson. From that point to the end of the regular season they shot up to number one overall in both CF% and xGF%. They went on to win two Stanley Cups in three seasons.
In 2017-18 the Columbus Blue Jackets had never won a playoff series. They were just a blah franchise trying to force a rivalry with the Pittsburgh Penguins. They allowed Jack Johnson’s contract to expire and test free agency. The very next season they swept the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning were the #1 seed and put up the fourth best regular season of all-time. The team Jack Johnson signed with was swept in the first round by the Islanders. The Blue Jackets were left for dead after they lost multiple high end roster players. They are currently up 2-1 over the Toronto Maple Leafs and on the cusp of winning a playoff series in back to back years. The Penguins are on the brink of being bounced in the first round in back to back years.
Jack Johnson has never played in the second round of the NHL playoffs. Why? He is 8-21 in those games. The Penguins are 1-5 with him.
Jack Johnson played for Michigan back in 2005-06 and 2006-07. I bet you can’t guess which two seasons are the ones Johnson played in
On second thought, I bet you can.
Random SKATR chart
Anyways, happy birthday, Sid. Thanks for all you do. Don’t get inside your own head and have a good one.
Thanks for reading!
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