The Pittsburgh Penguins played the kind of first period on why the phrase “you can’t win the game in the first period, but you sure can lose it” exists. They were clobbered by the Washington Capitals for twenty minutes. The Capitals outshot the Penguins 22-7 in the opening frame and carried an 85.66 xGF% advantage in all-situations. The most important was the lone goal they were able to generate despite such an advantage. The Penguins weathered a storm that should have had way more damage. As a result it kept them in a manageable situation and allowed them to earn a point in the 3-2 shootout loss.
With the news of Tristan Jarry being out until after the All Star break it was Casey DeSmith’s net again. He hasn’t been playing well and there has been criticism surrounding his play. Last night was a nice bounce back performance. He stopped 43 out of the 45 shots he faced for a .956 save percentage. This was a quality performance. You can nitpick the goals against and the shootout, but 43 out of 45 is 43 out of 45. The problem was the 45 shots more than the goaltending performance. The shot volume has been elevated lately
As for the shootout outside of Rickard Rakell nobody looked good for the Penguins. They dropped the extra point in lame fashion. What used to be a strength for this team is no longer one. For as good as DeSmith was in regular action the shootout just isn’t his thing
Again, if you avoid the shootout you don’t have to deal with the shootout.
Worse than DeSmith are Sidney Crosby’s shootout attempts. He is the most boring shootout player ever. He refuses to use his talent in any kind of interesting or tactical way. It is maddening. This guy could have an entire mix tape of shootout highlights if he wanted to. We can’t even get him to use his backhand on a deke. He used to be a 40% shooter. The last five years he’s at 20%.
Where is this guy?
Sid, could you please not be the most boring shootout guy in the league? You’d score more if you weren’t.
Danton Heinen scored his second goal in two games. He has four points in the last two games. The team desperately needs something like this to happen. While Heinen needs to figure out a way to find the back of the net more often than every three months he is also responding to an improved quality of teammate. His top three teammates by ice time this year? Jeff Carter, Brian Dumoulin, and Brock McGinn. Blech. Drew O’Connor and Ryan Poehling have provided him some better support the past few games. It won’t be a miracle cure, but playing guys who have more tempo and hunger will help. Heinen is a complementary player. He will never drive a line. He can be a very cost-effective complementary player.
During the power play where Alexander Ovechkin scored I noticed the Penguins using a tactic they don’t normally deploy. They played man on man against Ovechkin. With John Carlson’s huge shot out of the lineup I actually like this concept to defend the Capitals power play. There is no other weapon that comes close to being as dangerous as Ovie’s one-timer. Let someone else beat you. For a while the Penguins were committed to that approach. Then things broke down.
I think the easy thing is to blame Ryan Poehling. He was the one guarding Ovechkin and he is the one who left him. The real issue is if the Penguins are going to use this man on man approach their triangle on the other side needs to be in sync with one another and it wasn’t. Chad Ruhwedel was cheating towards a guy who was in the corner. This allowed the Capitals to place Conor Sheary in front of the net alone. Poehling reacted how players normally react to a guy wide open in front. He went to him. This was the sliver the Capitals needed for the Ovie lane. It wasn’t even Ovechkin’s best effort on the shot. It doesn’t matter, he’s the best to ever do it. In the future if the Penguins are to use this strategy Ruhwedel and the other two players need to get on the same page to allow Poehling to accomplish his very straight forward task.
These two teams have gone at it for the entirety of this era of hockey. There have been a lot of heated games and high pressure playoff series. A respect between the long time combatants has grown over the years. It was on display last night when Alex Ovechkin made a point to seek Kris Letang out before the game.
It was a nice thing to see with the two rivals.
Up next are the San Jose Sharks at home on Saturday night. The Penguins have points in six straight games and have taken nine out of a possible 12. It is a step in the right direction and a necessary one.
Thanks for reading!
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