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Downward Spiral Continues, Therrien at Risk

The Pittsburgh Penguins continued their downward spiral on Saturday afternoon as they lost 5-3 in a matinee to the Colorado Avalanche in the Mile-High city.  The Penguins have won just 1-game in their last 8, leaving many wondering what it will take to get them out of their on-going funk.  In their last 20-games, the Penguins have gone 6-13-1 and picked up just 13-of-40 possible points.  Coming on the heels of posting one of their best starts in many seasons, the abysmal backslide seems almost incomprehensible.  Some have pointed to the rash of injuries and resulting roster challenges, while others have said that every opponent brings their “A” game when they match up against Pittsburgh.  Unfortunately, while these observations may be true, they are just excuses used to explain what appears to be a lack of focus, desire, effort and execution.  A great team finds ways to pull together at every level and work through adversity to remain competitive for every game.   

A number of things have become fairly evident over the last 20-games:

First, I am convinced that while Miroslav Satan is a generally good player, he is a bad fit for the Crosby line and more so a bad fit for this team.  In 42-games this season, Miroslav Satan has contributed 26-points (12G, 14A) in 42-games.  He has only managed 2-points in the last 10-games, however, and has finally been demoted from the top line.  The problem with Satan is that he is streaky (as advertised), and his inconsistency is punctuated by his incredibly passive style of play.  He appears unable and/or unwilling to get his nose dirty and create the havoc that needs to be created against uber-defensively-minded opponents who are trying to shut down one of the league’s marquee players.  His slow, floating style of play does not complement Crosby’s at all, and it has taken the coach too long to recognize it. 

Second, over the stretch of the past month the Penguins’ defense has at times become lazy and forgotten how to play smart defensive hockey.  We have witnessed the Penguins’ defense often stop skating and start watching the puck and the opponent in their own end.  They then get caught flat-footed and miss an assignment that exposes the goaltender and leads to a goal.  While I would expect to see this occasionally from the young rookie/sophomore defensemen, it is inexcusable when it happens to the more seasoned defensemen.  They need to work harder to tie up their opponents in front of the net and keep the traffic lanes clear.  Also, when given opportunities for a smart clear, they often commit a lazy pass to the open ice or up the wall that never reaches the blue-line before getting picked off and leads to scoring chances and goals against.  The lack of good, consistent defensive coverage has in part contributed to the inconsistent goal-tending that the team has gotten from Marc-Andre Fleury and Dany Sabourin. 

Third, the Penguins’ offense needs to start chipping the pucks along the walls and into the offensive zone while driving to the net down the center of the ice to push back the defense.  They have the speed and talent down the center to be effective.  For too long over this dismal stretch, we have watched the Penguins employ the old dump-and-chase.  Unfortunately, the dump-and-chase is only effective if you skate you butt off and win the chase-race.  If not, you end up just chasing the puck back down the ice.  There is so little puck support breaking into the offensive zone that we often see Evgeni Malkin trying to skate through 3-4 opponents at the blue line only to have the puck stripped away and turned back down the ice.  When the Penguins do manage to get possession in the offensive zone, they often end up playing a tremendous amount of perimeter keep-away, only to see it end in a bad pass attempt turnover and an up-ice rush.  They rarely get traffic and screens set up in front of the goaltender, and they look for the “unexpected pass” play so often that it is now absolutely expected and easily defended against.  Set up traffic in front, fire the puck on net, feed on rebounds and score….especially on the power-play.  Don’t wait for a clear shot at the net when the goaltender has a clear view of the shooter.  He will stop it almost every time. 

These are just a few observations and they can all be addressed in fairly short order within the current roster, with the possible exception of Miroslav Satan who may need to be moved sooner than later.  The coaching staff can fix this if the players buy-in and are responsive.  There-in, however,  may lie the ultimate reason why this funk has continued for so long.  Being on the outside looking in, one has to wonder if the coaching staff still has the ability to instruct, motivate and inspire the players.  Despite closed door player meetings and public comments made by the coach, the continuing inconsistent play and consistently poor results lends to the growing suspicion that the changes will soon come to this organization.  My bets are on a new coaching staff.  While Coach Therrien has done a fine job with this team over the past couple years, one has to wonder if his hand has been played…..as happened when he coached the Canadiens, one has to wonder if his style that was once considered an inspiration to the players has now become a liability, if for no other reason than it is being tuned out by the players.   This was the theory posed by SportsLine writer Wes Goldstein in January 2003when reporting on Therrien’s firing from the Canadiens head coaching position. 

I think we are all looking for answers, but more importantly action from the General Manager.  It is inconceivable to have two of the leagues’ top scorers, and yet have an incurable inability to win games.

Penguins Look for Answers as Slump Continues

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ woes continued on Saturday as they lost to the Florida Panthers 6-1 and fell to 9th place overall in the Eastern Conference.  The loss was the fourth straight for the Penguins, and their fifth consecutive loss at home.   In just one month, Pittsburgh has plummeted from fourth to ninth place in the Eastern Conference standings and would be out of the playoff picture if the season ended today.  Although the team has shown significant signs of improvement and life in the last 4-games, the results have just not been there.  All of this despite “motivating” public statements by the coach and post-game team meetings by the players.  Chalk it up to a lack of chemistry, lack of 2nd-tier talent, lack of determination, lack of quality coaching, injuries….whatever you want…it just isn’t working for the Penguins right now and something needs to be shaken up, and not just stirred.  If the Penguins don’t find a way to reverse their fortunes soon, they will find themselves in an unrecoverable position in the competitive Eastern Conference.

During the 1st period, it looked as if the Penguins’ forwards were shot out of a cannon and you got the feeling early that this was a statement that they understood the level at which they needed to play.  Everyone except Marc-Andre Fleury, that is, who gave up 2-goals on the first 4-shots by Florida.  The Panthers 1st-goal came at 10:12 as Ville Peltonen wristed his 5th goal of the season past Marc-Andre Fleury on the stick side.  Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton picked up the assists.  Then at 15:20 Nathan Horton wristed another shot past Fleury to make it 2-0.  David Booth and goaltender Craig Anderson got the assists on Horton’s 9th goal of the season.  Pittsburgh ultimately outshot the Panthers 10-5 in the period, but they just couldn’t get the puck past goalie Craig Anderson.  They failed to convert on a lone powerplay 30-seconds into the period, but did manage to kill off two penalties of their own to Gill (interference) and Dupuis (hooking).

In the 2nd period, Coach Therrien sat Marc-Andre Fleury in favor of Dany Sabourin.  The Penguins again came out on fire and you just got the sense that once they found a way to score a goal, the floodgates might open.  That goal came at 1:37 as Ruslan Fedotenko stole the puck deep in the Panthers zone and quickly released it to beat Anderson from a bad angle.  However, despite the apparent momentum gained by the goal, the floodgates never opened.  Instead, the tides turned back on the Penguins after Miroslav Satan took an ill-advised offensive zone roughing call at 7:42.  Just 21-seconds into the powerplay, Bryan McCabe wristed the first Panthers’ shot of the period past Sabourin to make it 3-1.  Cory Stillman and Stephen Weiss were credited with the assists.  Then at 9:29, Evgeni Malkin was called for interference in the offensive zone and the Panthers’ powerplay converted again at 11:24.  This time it was Richard Zednik who got behind Hal Gill and beat Sabourin.  Bryan McCabe and Nick Boynton assisted on the play.  At 11:47, Sidney Crosby and Gregory Campbell got matching minors after exchanging words in the faceoff circle and other pleasantries in the ensuing play.  After the penalties expired, Max Talbot found himself in the faceoff circle with Gregory Campbell and decided to take him to task.  The two whirled around on the ice for a lengthy bout that was largely a draw with maybe a slight advantage to Talbot.  Then, in the ensuing faceoff, Sidney Crosby jumped Brett McLean as the puck was being dropped, pulled his jersey up over his head and drove him face-first into the ice.  While I was happy to see Crosby vent some frustration, I was not happy with the way he went about it.  You don’t jump a guy and then pile drive his jersey covered head into the ice and still expect to get respected by other players in the league.  The officials weren’t too happy with it either as they assessed Crosby 19-minutes in penalties (5-min fighting, 2-min instigator, 2-min unsportsmanlike, and 10-min misconduct).  Then at 18:31, Nathan Horton picked up his 2nd of the night to make it 5-1.  Keith Ballard and Karlis Skrastins got the assists.  The Penguins were outshot 12-11 in the period and were 0-for-1 on the powerplay and gave up two goals on the PK. 

In the 3rd period, Marc-Andre Fleury found his way back into the net for the Penguins as the frustration continued.  At 4:14, Michael Frolik wristed the Panthers’ 6th goal of the game past Fleury.  Cory Stillman and Stephen Weiss picked up the assists on the final goal of the game.  The Penguins outshot the Panthers 9-7 in the final frame, but failed to convert again on the powerplay, extending their man-advantage drought to O-for-24 over the last 6-games.  This is the longest powerplay drought in 5-years. 

• VIDEO:  Game Highlights
• VIDEO:  Coach Therrien Post-Game
• VIDEO:  Crosby Post-Game
• VIDEO:  Fleury Post-Game
• PHOTOS:  In-Game Photos
• AUDIO:  Post-Game Hotline
• Game Rosters
• Game Summary
• Boxscore
• Shot Summary
• Faceoff Summary
• Pittsburgh TOI

The Penguins managed to get Tyler Kennedy back into the lineup for his first game in a month since going out with a sprained knee, and they sat Mark Eaton.  The Penguins have will have Sunday to recoup and reassess before matching up against the New York Rangers on the road on Monday, and then hosting the Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday.  It is quite clear, however, that there is no quick fix to whatever is ailing the team psyche right now.  The first step is to get a win, and then build from there.

Crosby vs McLean

Talbot vs Cambpell

And For Some Much Needed Comic Relief….

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