There are usually two schools of thought on what to do after a bad loss like the one Pittsburgh suffered against New Jersey last night by the score of 3-0. The first is that you just forget it happened and move on. The other one is to focus on the errors that were made and learn from them.
Sidney Crosby has some thoughts on this in speaking with
Dejan Kovacevic
“We can’t just toss it aside because we were winning before this,” he said. “We’ve got to learn from it, and we’ve got to learn quickly.”
The team didn't score any goals last night and lost to one of the weaker teams in the division so you would think there was a lot going wrong but truthfully the Penguins dominated shot attempts at even-strength:
People talking about this game being a complete tire fire may be talking from an entertainment standpoint. The odds are with the Penguins winning a game like that on most nights as evidence of an xWin% of 82.2%. It didn't happen, but the team wasn't this atrocious pile of hot garbage the result was.
So while I would forget about the even-strength part of the equation I would really try to learn from the power play shortcomings which have been plentiful.
Evgeni Malkin missing from the lineup is going to have a negative impact. That's a factual statement. However, his absence should not decimate the power play to the tune of a 5% success rate. There are 29 other teams in the league that don't have Evgeni Malkin either and they do better than 5%. Those other teams don't have Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang either.
So what's the problem? Is it personnel? Is it setup?
Let's talk personnel. Crosby and Letang are locked in stone to be on that top unit. After that there are some other options the team can experiment with. Phil Kessel should be out there because he is a skilled right handed shot and they have to have some kind of presence on the left half wall. Unless you are giving Beau Bennett that spot (and I'm not advocating they do) then there aren't really any other puck savvy righties for that role.
Nick Bonino's selection on the first power play has left some scratching their heads. I understand why they wanted to try it. Bonino is good along the boards, good hands in tight, and is a solid passer from tight spaces. These are all attributes that should help keep a power play's zone time alive. It hasn't worked to this point.
The biggest change I see in Pittsburgh's power play isn't so much what the Penguins are doing but what the other teams are doing to it. Without Malkin there is a huge void in the wow factor. The wow factor is what backs down penalty killers from being aggressive. They fear being beat badly by over pursuing. Without Geno the opposition is attacking heavily and not giving the Penguins any room to breathe on the boards. This leads to more of those 50/50 battles for the puck where in the past those were just relaxed possession sequences. Pittsburgh is losing some of those battles and as a result have to regroup the length of the ice. The issue is compounded by the fact that Evgeni Malkin is one of their better zone entry players on the power play.
The team has to be ready for the high pressure situations on the wall and have closer passing outlets to relieve that pressure. It is also imperative to hit players on their forehands so they don't have to waste time corralling it while high pressure is on the way. The team can have whatever power play setup they want but they need to realize that the opposition doesn't respect them without Malkin and are going all out. Over aggressive penalty killing units can be dissected if you are ready for it.
Some other random notes
Kris Letang played 22:46 at even-strength last night and was on the ice for 44 shot attempts for and only ten against. That is absurdly good.
Here is Pittsburgh's season to date possession numbers by player
Only a few players are leaning left here and most of them aren't on the roster anymore. Blue means a player has had a lot of ice time while red means they haven't played a ton. Keep that in mind as well.
No information as of the publishing of this blog but will update when more information is available.
Edit:
Here are how the defensive pairings looked at practice
Pittsburgh seems content with still leaving the defensive leader in CF60, CA60, 5v5 points per 60, and lowest quality of teammate as a spare part. Weird.
Very good article here about the Penguins age of defensemen
Keep in mind the prime age of an NHL player is 24-26. The last time the Penguins average age was in that neck of the woods was 2008-09...
Thanks for reading!
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