The off ice employees of the Penguins front office haven’t been doing a great job. The on-ice players, up until Saturday, had been doing a much better job as of late. The Penguins were on a four game winning streak banking points they desperately needed. It came to a screeching halt against the Panthers. The loss isn’t ideal considering it was against a team in the hunt chasing the Penguins. It isn’t catastrophic. Taking eight out of ten points the rest of the way will be more than enough for Pittsburgh to keep their playoff streak alive.
Things are about to get real, though. Looking ahead this month is going to have a really important and tough stretch of games.
There are games like Columbus, Montreal, and Philadelphia sprinkled in, those are the bottom three teams in the Eastern Conference. The main course are a bunch of teams either in the playoffs or fighting hard for a playoff spot. The highlight being three games against the Rangers in a four game stretch. Pittsburgh can’t afford another four or five game losing streak. They’ve had enough of those.
As for the lineup with all the new players here are how things look, minus Guentzel who isn’t skating
No surprise that Kulikov appears to be taking Joseph’s spot. As soon as the trade was made it was always going to be the younger player going to the bench. Joseph has been fine in his role this year. It is important to have players on cheap contracts being able to fill minutes. Moving forward after this year I wouldn’t be looking to replace Joseph in the lineup. They desperately need to save money in the depth positions on the roster. He is a good enough to provide the relief necessary.
The correct course of action would be to leave Joseph in the lineup and for Dumoulin to find himself on the outside looking in. He should have been traded by now. The team assesses his situation differently than I do and he remains on the top pair.
Another big change is Mikael Granlund overtaking the center position from Jeff Carter. Carter needs to be in the press box, but it doesn’t seem like it is a realistic option for… reasons. Moving him to wing is about the best change we are going to see with his deployment.
Ryan Poehling started practice in a normal jersey, but switched to a white non-contact jersey. He clearly took line rushes. Not sure what to make of that.
Danton Heinen’s status looks to be in flux. He appears to be a placeholder in Guentzel’s absence. He could be the odd guy out. I would like to see him play with Granlund who can pass. Heinen can get streaky scoring goals. A great passer won’t hurt the cause. He’s had a steady diet of Jeff Carter as his center this year, an impossible assignment.
Tristan Jarry appears to be over his illness and will be the likely starter tomorrow against Columbus. This is a big deal because the Penguins have the largest discrepancy between the standings points their start earns versus their backup.
Anybody watching the Casey DeSmith starts this year isn’t surprised by these findings. The contract negotiations with Tristan Jarry are really going to be something. Sure, he’s pretty good when he plays. He just can’t be relied on to be available. A pretty important variable, in my opinion. You aren’t worth much of anything if you can’t find yourself in the lineup. The Penguins have suffered greatly when he’s been out and he’s been out plenty.
Tomorrow is a must win game. Not in the sense losing two points will crush their playoff hopes. It is a must win game because the Blue Jackets are terrible and you need to beat terrible teams this time of year. If you’re a serious team you take care of business.
Thanks for reading!
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