The Penguins picked up another point in the standings. It was a lone point. They blew a 4-1 lead to the Buffalo Sabres and lost in the 3v3 overtime session. They are 11 points behind the Buffalo Sabres. They remain dead last in the Eastern Conference. They are only ahead of Los Angeles and St. Louis overall and they both just fired their coach.
Let’s start with the positive. Yes, there were some good things. The Penguins did score four goals on Buffalo. In the Sabres previous three games they didn’t allow the opposition to score more than two.
Tanner Pearson had a two point night and scored his first goal for the Penguins. His assist was a nice assertive pass across the goal front to Phil Kessel for a tap in. Having somebody who actually has a pair of hands on their line is going to result in more goals. Malkin and Kessel just weren’t getting any help at all in that area with Carl Hagelin this year. Here is the goal
The play I want to focus on for this goal was Evgeni Malkin’s quiet brilliance with how he regained possession for the Penguins. He used a combination of force to get the Buffalo player off balance and in the same motion toe dragged the puck out of his skates. Before you know it the puck was up top for a shot attempt and a screen in front.
Earlier in the game Malkin attempted a through the legs shot when he had a clear break on goal. In no way was that move used to show off. I love the effort to change the shooting angle and confuse the goalie. Doing that is well within his skill set and carries low risk for a player of his caliber. On this particular occasion Carter Hutton was up to the challenge.
Derick Brassard was able to score on a breakaway. He’s the biggest key to the Penguins success moving forward. If he can support Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to facilitate another scoring line there is potential for the situation to improve. The Penguins can’t defend. They need to create. Without the Crosby, Malkin, Brassard trio healthy and contributing to that I can’t see a path back to being a contender.
There wasn’t much else to take away from this game for Pittsburgh. It was another game where their goaltending didn’t have a nine in front of the save percentage. There’s been some rumbling about the Penguins and Ducks perhaps getting together on a trade. Might not be the worst thing ever if Ryan Miller was a part of those discussions. His last five years all-situations save percentages
2014-15 .911
2015-16 .916
2016-17 .914
2017-18 .928
2018-19 .924
Something has to give. The goaltending is killing this team.
The Sabres were playing their third game in four nights and were able to drive play in the later stages of the game.
The Casey Nelson goal to make it a 4-3 game was a perfect microcosm of the Penguins 2018-19 season. Conor Sheary moved to the front of the net to demand Jack Johnson’s attention and the puck goes right off Johnson and in the net. It was a nice metaphor for moving Sheary’s cap space in order to sign Johnson. Sheary has a 5v5 points per 60 of 1.91 after last night.
Craig Patrick was hired by the Penguins to be a scout yesterday, yes that Craig Patrick. The former Penguins general manager has had fantastic luck in draft lotteries in the past, perhaps Mario is covering all his bases with how the team has started this year.
The Penguins will welcome the Dallas Stars to town on Wednesday night. Hopefully Sidney Crosby is available to play.
Thanks for reading!
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